JERUSALEM — Over the last 30 centuries this fabled city has been taken over by Greeks, Romans, Mameluks and Turks. Now, a Jerusalem-born entrepreneur who learned his trade in upstate New York is taking hold of this city with a new force: bagels.
Eitan Saati, the former co-owner of Bagel Bite in Albany, N.Y., has opened a Bagel Bite in a rapidly gentrifying Jerusalem neighborhood less than 20 minutes from where kings, crusaders and saviors once walked.
His approach combines the American-style products, service and cleanliness he learned behind the counter in Albany, with his native-born Israeli toughness and drive. So far, this combination — rare in this chaotic, fast-paced city — is working.
Within months of its opening, Bagel Bite became a haven for North Americans looking for a taste of home, and a destination for Israelis in search of something different.
“It’s awesome,” said Sari Klaff, a customer and native of Vancouver, B.C. “It competes with Montreal-area bagels for quality. I have been here for 10 years, and I know what’s around.” She and her husband, who work nearby for a software firm, are Friday morning regulars.
Saati has been approached by several businesspeople looking to get him to expand into downtown Jerusalem.
“This is the best stuff in Jerusalem,” Saati boasted of his bagels, cream cheese and salads. “I didn’t go cheap on the equipment or the ingredients to make them.”
Saati arrived in Albany in 1985 after completing his stint in the Israel Defense Force, following in the footsteps of his brother, Uri. He did not expect to stay long.
However, “I met my wife there, and then we stayed,” he said.
He worked in construction until his brother acquired a bagel restaurant at a local shopping center. Saati told his brother he would build the restaurant if he could be a partner and could learn the food side of the business.
Five years later, with his children nearing grade-school age, he felt the need to return to his homeland.
“My kids were starting to go to school. I wanted them to learn the [Hebrew] language.” On a visit to Jerusalem he decided there were no bagel stores in town that could match what he felt he could offer.
“I said, OK, let’s go on an adventure.”
Saati packed up the contents of his house, as well as virtually the entire contents of his store — including a 10-by-10-foot walk-in cooler, bagel ovens and bagel-making machine — to bring to Israel. By doing so, Saati figured, he’d get quality equipment at a good price. By contrast, the equipment he has bought in Israel, such as serving utensils and other items for his rapidly growing catering business, has been far more expensive.
Saati did cut costs by building the store himself, replicating his experience in Albany. He financed the restaurant with a combination of private funds and credit extended by an Israeli bank and his suppliers.
He has not been able to replicate the relative ease of doing business that he enjoyed in the United States — where he said building department and other city officials practically fell over themselves to be of assistance. But in Jerusalem, he said, bureaucrats seemed to specialize in troubling him every step of the way.
“I said, ‘Show me the regulations, I’ll meet them.’ They said ‘There aren’t any.’ “
That’s when his Israeli-bred toughness and determination kicked in.
Beyond the regulatory hassles, Saati struggled to train his staff in U.S.-style manners and attitudes. He trained his workers in the English-language terms for his products, to make the American clientele he was seeking comfortable. He insisted that his help wear plastic gloves when serving food (an extreme rarity in Jerusalem) to communicate the restaurant’s commitment to cleanliness.
He picked the neighborhood, just south of downtown Jerusalem, because it is undergoing gentrification at a furious pace. Gracious stone houses built at the turn of the century and neglected for years are being renovated left and right. New luxury apartments are going up in the few empty spaces.
Unlike some places, where you can get a nice house for $200,000, he said, “here, $500,000 gets you a small apartment that needs a lot of work.”
Somehow, the restaurant opened its doors barely six months after Saati returned to Israel.
At the same time, he and his wife, Andrea, and two young children, were settling in a suburb of Jerusalem. Saati decided against living in the neighborhood near his store, because of its urban congestion, apartment blocks and high prices, even though he was born less than one mile away.
Instead, this city-bred man wanted to replicate the experience he’d had living in upstate New York, with its wide-open spaces and private homes.
“I live in a quiet, nice neighborhood,” he said. “The schools are good. I have a lot of childhood friends around me there.”
Saati said his children have adapted well to Israeli life, and have quickly learned the Hebrew they resisted learning from him in New York.
“Once they heard other kids speaking it they quickly became interested,” he said.
His wife, though, misses her friends and the ease of life in the States, and Saati has found the transition challenging. The Israel he came back to is not the country he left in 1985.
“There is much more pressure here,” he said. “People are more under stress. It’s in the atmosphere, from the news, the high taxes. People are not sure what will be tomorrow.”
Despite this, Saati has been exploring options to expand his business.