Today we’d like to introduce you to Peter Linde.
Peter, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It all began when Janna took her first bite of a New York Bagel on 72nd street with Pete at her side. Her first words were “Wow! This is crazy delicious!” He smiled knowingly, having grown up eating bagels the way they were supposed to taste in his native New Jersey.
A descendant of immigrant Eastern European bakers, Pete had flour and water in his DNA. Paired with Janna, a ten year food industry executive, the idea of Meshuggah Bagels was born after years of carrying dozens back in their luggage from visits to the east coast. Meshuggah– ‘Crazy’ in Yiddish– pays homage to the first taste that started it all.
“Bringing New York to Kansas City, One Bagel at a Time” means sharing the old world taste that is the essence of every Meshuggah bagel. The crusty outer shell and moist, yeasty center are the product of authentic, old-world methods; Artisan flour. A secret mix of yeast, malt, sugar, and salt with the all-important boil before baking.
We opened our first store on 39th Street in March of 2016, not knowing whether Kansas City wanted a real bagel as much as we did. We soon found out they did! Over the next 3 years, we expanded to Overland Park, LIberty, and then Power & Light.
Try a dozen and taste the difference…
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As with any new business, growing pains are inevitable. We started with old, used equipment and had our mixer fail 2 weeks after opening. With some help from our equipment dealer, and our local electrician, we bought and installed another used replacement mixer at 5:ooam the next day, made dough, baked, and never missed a customer.
There are many other stories of climbing into failing ovens to make repairs, broken down delivery vans on the way to stores, and getting locked ‘in’ at 39th street when the front door jammed–forcing us to take and fill orders through the front window.
Probably the biggest challenge came when COVID shut the World down in March of 2020. We had under 25 customers the entire first week after lockdown–across 4 stores. About 50 in week 2. Then a hurried pivot to curbside service eventually allowed us to sell enough to barely pay our bills for the next 18 months. When it was finally over, our cash reserves were completely gone; we only managed to survive thanks to a loan that we are still paying off today.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Janna and I work really well together.
She’s creative, insightful, and a great judge of people. She’s the force behind all of our cream cheese recipes, our decor, and our brand identity. She’s the one who has the final say about who we hire, and who we work with. Her instincts are incredible.
I’m the process and operations guy. My background is in Automotive Engineering with an MBA on top, so I handle the equipment, the business analysis, and the financial side.
She pushes me to accept change, and I keep us focused on staying true to what we started.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I don’t know if it’s the favorite, but my earliest bagel memory was going to buy fresh bagels with my dad on the weekend at the local shop when I was 6 or 7. We’d get a dozen, a brick of Philly, and a pre-packaged portion of Nova Salmon to take home. As time went on, the cream cheese and the fish both got better, but the memory of the fresh-baked bagels always lingered as an essential ingredient to a great family breakfast.
Pricing:
- We do our very best to sell Artisan food at a reasonable price.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://meshuggahbagels.com
- Instagram: @meshuggahbagels
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=meshuggah%20bagels
