Photo Phriday: This is how we dough it behind the scenes at Alpine

Standing over a steaming vat of bagels, we snap photos much to the chagrin of the workers. One of the employees, Berenice, calmly slices a cucumber while we pester her for a quote. We never got one. They were too busy.

That’s how it goes at Alpine Bagel Café during the lunch rush. We’re used to it though. We’ve both worked there for quite some time.

Alpine is a staple for UNC students craving a caffeine fix or a toasty bagel. But it’s important to recognize the hard work and personal touch that goes behind each baked bagel at this beloved café.

We’ve had experience at the register as well as being “bagel artists” working on the line. It can be fun, exhausting, tedious and rewarding. The rewarding aspect mostly comes from the people – the students we serve and the personal interactions we have with each one.

To offer students a glimpse into the people and procedures behind each handcrafted bagel, we have gone behind the scenes to document the microcosm of deliciousness that is Alpine Bagel.

The kitchen in the back of house at Alpine is the lifeblood of the whole café. Many on the kitchen staff speak Spanish as their first language, but everyone makes a strong effort to overcome the language barriers. The back of the house staff are saddled with quite possibly the most difficult tasks as well.

From slicing vegetables, boiling and baking the bagels, washing dishes and prepping all the food, these employees work diligently everyday to prepare the ingredients that go into your bagel. Just don’t stand in their way during lunch rush – these guys have a lot to do, and everything depends on them.

Once the bagels are finished baking, they’re placed into baskets accessible by the bagel artists. And no, the cinnamon raisin bagels don’t have the sugar on them. Those are the cinnamon sugar bagels.

The front of house is where you see all your resident bagel kings and queens. We toast bagels, craft sandwiches and handle espresso drinks. Extra hot sauce on that Oval Office? You got it.

And if someone on the line looks miserable, there is a 0% chance the source of annoyance is you, the customer, and a 100% chance the source of annoyance is the sweltering heat coming from those damn toasters.

Mary is the iconic veteran of Alpine. Having worked there for over seven years, she’s the vivacious assistant manager we’ve all heard calling out for lox or tuna a time or two. Her favorite part of working at Alpine is interacting with students.

When asked if she likes serving students, she said: “I love it.”

She said her favorite bagel is tied between the jalapeño parmesan and the garlic parmesan. “The garlic parmesan is that fire.”

Michelle Ford is one of the shift supervisors. She has worked at Alpine for about two years.

When asked about her favorite part of the job, Michelle said: “The guests, the customers, the students that come in. Conversing with them and making their day.”

Bagels at Alpine are made fresh every day. The dough is brought in, put in the walk-in refrigerator overnight, boiled the next day, baked, and then consumed.

Jon Thomas is one of the newest additions to the Alpine family, having just started four months ago.

He said: “It stays busy, keeps you occupied. It’s fun to work with students. Remember to speak up and be nice to the guy making your food.”

Everyone knows the lines at Alpine can be awful. The ongoing joke among employees is the line is such a tease and never dies – because just when it looks about finished, it grows to be twice as long as it was before.

Also, a related thought: it means the world to those who are making your sandwiches when you get off your phone before ordering. Employees aren’t just bagel-making robots.

Oh, and remember, Tar Heels: keep calm, drink some coffee and…

All photos by Connor Atkins for The Tab UNC

Reporting by JP Gemborys