THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994 TAG: 9406280114
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: SAM MARTINETTE
DATELINE: 940630 LENGTH: Medium
It was about this time back in the summer of 1978 that we were putting the finishing touches on a new restaurant to be called Courtney's. Bill Ryan, then a Piedmont airline pilot, was the owner, and I was general manager. People told us then that we had strayed too far from Colley Avenue, that you couldn't survive on 21st Street.
{REST} Courtney's quickly eclipsed the Intermission as the hot spot in Ghent, and survived for about 10 years or so, until replaced by Crusoe's, then Tuffy's Seafood, and finally the Dining Car. Meanwhile, 21st Street has boomed, with the very successful Cafe 21, the Bienville Grill, and Fellini's, not to mention the First Colony Coffee House.
My nostalgia was short-lived however, as the very busy Bagelworks only slightly resembles the fern bar of yesterday. True, the blond wood walls of the dining room remain, but gone is the unusual low bar, a Courtney's innovation and sometime aggravation. (Once I had to lean over to request that a giant longshoreman lower his voice and he reached up and took hold of the knot of my tie and asked me who I thought I was. But that's another story.) Gone also are the booths up front and the old doorway, replaced by an entrance facing the parking lot.
``We also changed the kitchen completely,'' explained Bagelworks owner Bill Hanwit. ``Our operation is completely different (than full-service restaurants). Our core business is bagel and bagel-sandwiches. We do some side salads, but ideally we'll do about 50 percent take-out and 50 percent eat-in.''
Bagelworks has two locations in Virginia Beach, and the dough is worked up at the Beach and brought by refrigerated truck to the Ghent store, where it is baked. ``We bake our bagels at all of our stores because it makes a better product,'' Hanwit said.
Bagelworks carries 16 to 17 bagels, and offers a baker's dozen of 13 for $4.99. You can get a bagel and cream cheese ($1.39), with honey almond or vegetable cream cheese ($1.79), or with peanut butter and jelly ($1.69). A plain bagel is 46 cents.
There are a couple of things different about the Ghent Bagelworks location, Hanwit said.
``Our visibility is much greater than at the other two stores,'' he said, ``so we don't know exactly what to expect. We have six or eight specialty bagel sandwiches that we don't offer elsewhere, and we have a beverage island for customers to fix their own drinks, and we've never done that before.''
The specialty ``bagelwiches'' Hanwit referred to include the 21st Street Surprise (peanut butter, sunflower seeds, bananas, raisins and honey on your choice of bagel - $3.49), the Ghent Special (melted Swiss, American and Provolone cheese with sprouts and tomatoes - $2.79), and the veggie (lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, onions, sprouts and sweet peppers - $2.29).
Also offered are a hummus bagel ($2.59), a Reuben (corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing, served warm - $3.49), and a lox and cream cheese bagel ($5.09).
There are breakfast bagelwiches (served 7 to 11 a.m.), such as the turkey ham, egg and cheese ($1.89), and the egg and cheese with kosher salami ($1.89). Other bagelwiches include the smoked turkey ($2.69), chicken salad ($2.89), and the white fish ($3.49).
Hanwit said that a combination of climate and a ready market for bagels brought him and his family south 16 years ago, when he switched from a career in the chemical-pharmacy industry for one in food.
Bagelworks, at 742 W. 21st St. (622-2955), is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays; 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. by CNB