Huda S.
Yelp
Vanilya is truly a hidden gem of South Philly, specifically Passayunk area. Despite spending a decent amount of time exploring Passayunk Ave, my first discovery of this place was seeing it featured on a Tik Tok post of a Philly influencer. The video was comparing many highly-rated bagels throughout the city, and these ones were almost at the top of the list. More importantly, this influencer wasn't paid or sponsored to post any of the bagel spots in her video. To my surprise, Vanilya has no TikTok account at all; they have only an Instagram account with a small following.
As a an avid enthusiast, I had this place high on my list of bagel shops to try out. After following them on Instagram for a bit, an even more exciting opportunity came about. The owners had started offering hands-on bagel making classes on Tuesdays, one of the days they don't have customer hours. The class enrollment form was easy to fill out and gave a brief overview of the class objectives, time period, and take-home product. The classes take place from 5:30PM to a littler after 8PM, allowing 9-5 workers to fits some baking into their schedules. The class is $80, and you take home a dozen of your own bagels. The $80 cost is actually much more affordable than many other cooking or baking classes in the area. I had signed up with friends, and I couldn't wait to see what this class had to offer.
We arrived just around 5:30 on the day of our class. We were welcomed in by Bonnie, the wife of the couple that owns the bakery together. She was incredibly kind, welcoming, and accommodating. Our class consisted of 9 people, which she mentioned was a bit larger than their usual class size. While 9 people may not sound like a full class, the bakery is relatively narrow. It goes far back to the end of the building, but the width wouldn't be able to allow more than that number of people to be able to view Bonnie demonstrating the steps of the process well. Once we were all settled in, I was glad that everyone got a decent view of Bonnie giving instructions and demonstrating many steps.
From start to finish, this class was great. Bonnie covered everything from the science of the flour and dough fermentation to the complexity of the kneading methods to the science of parboiling bagels. Her extensive details and explanation left little questions to be asked from us. Not only did she demonstrate and explain steps exceptionally well, but she also made sure to keep the class hands-on. Everyone participated in the initial mixing process, then proceeded to have their individual work station for their respective bagel dozen. I can't forget to mention that her husband did an incredible job assisting us, answering any additional questions, and offering hands-on help if we needed it. They both facilitated the process very well each doing their part to get to our overall bagel endpoint.
Amidst the waiting periods of a few of the baking steps, Bonnie and her husband were very engaging and great to talk to. The small class size also allowed us participants to get to chat and get to know each other. Bonnie also put out several snacks, drinks, and baked goods for us to enjoy while we had waiting time between several steps.
Seeing our creations come out of the oven as final product was the ultimate form of gratification. Nothing beats the smell of fresh-baked bread, particularly bagels. Bakeries across the Northeast have their specific steps and secrets to baking, but Bonnie's recipe hit the nail on the head. The bagels combined the very perfect balance that I look for in every new bagel I try: crispy on the outside while staying soft and pillowy on the inside. The density of the bagels was also perfect, giving that perfect bite that everyone desires in a good bagel.
Overall, I have not a single bad thing to say about this bakery, class, or the owners. They did an exceptional job teaching this class. Bonnie provided great background and details on the complexity and implications of the steps, yet still kept the class very hands-on with us. It also had a very genuine "in the kitchen" feel. Many classes nowadays feel very commercialized and far-removed from the actual process of then baking/cooking being taught. This class had you take part and produce the results on your own personal dozens of bagels. The only steps done for us were the overnight yeast fermentation and the extended kneading on the professional spiral mixer that is almost impossible to do by hand. I'm so glad that I stumbled upon this opportunity; I will definitely be back bringing new guests despite taking it once before. Hands-down recommend this class to anyone with baking/food science/bagel enthusiasm.