Courtesy of Marina and Jeremy Kratzer

Every Sunday before sunrise, Jeremy Kratzer is hard at work putting bagels into a wood-fired pizza oven to prepare for a morning serving customers that travel from near and far.

Kratzer and his wife Marina started operating Dutchman’s, a bagel pop-up housed in Nomad Pizza’s cafe space, in November of 2022. Since then, the pop-up has only grown in popularity, with more and more customers making their way toward the Fort Andross Mill Complex in downtown Brunswick every Sunday morning from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Kratzer is a bagel journeyman, having worked at The Purple House in Yarmouth making wood-fired Montreal bagels and Rose Foods in Portland making New York-style bagels before landing at Nomad to start Dutchman’s. His roots and the places where he learned and honed his craft are all reflected in Dutchman’s bagels.

“Coming from New Jersey and having worked at the Purple House and Rose Foods, I’ve seen a lot about how bagels are made, baked and just the different overall way they can be,” Kratzer said. “I love to describe our bagels as a New York-style bagel baked in a Montreal type of way. It’s not quite Montreal, and it’s not quite New York, it’s somewhere in between.”

Dutchman’s has many traditional bagel flavors, like everything, sesame and plain, but they also have more unique flavors, such as toasted cheddar and sea salt chocolate chip. All bagels are prepared Saturday morning, proofed in the fridge for 24 hours and baked in Nomad’s wood-fired pizza oven every Sunday morning.

The bagels are a welcome addition to Brunswick, as there are not many true bagel shops in the area, a complaint often heard by Kratzer.

“From what we’ve heard and the people we’ve talked to, there really isn’t a great bagel in this immediate area,” Kratzer said.

The bagels, while attracting interest for their taste and unique style, also uphold sustainable practices. Instead of lighting a new fire in the oven each week before baking, Kratzer uses the leftover heat from the night before to cook the bagels.

“That’s not something I try to advertise and put out there, I just try to make a great product and let it speak for itself,” Kratzer said.

This holds true in more ways than one. Advertising their bagels takes a backseat to the bagel preparation process, as Dutchman’s currently only advertises through their Instagram page.

Despite this lack of focus on advertising, Dutchman’s has both a reliable and growing customer base. As the business grows, the Kratzers plan on making improvements to their operation, including a new online ordering system and a website so more people can discover Dutchman’s.

With these plans for the future, it raises the question of whether Dutchman’s will shift to a more traditional schedule and operate for more than one day a week.

“That’s always been the goal,” Kratzer said. “Doing the pop-ups the way that we’ve done them has really allowed us to see if there was going to be enough interest to make it worth it.”

Luckily, the Brunswick community welcomed the pop-up with open arms.

“The community support and the support in general has been very, very great … overwhelming to an extent, because we didn’t expect it to be what it was from the get-go,” Kratzer said. “From there it’s taken off. We’ve seen growth week over week.”

In the future, the Kratzers plan on opening Dutchman’s for normal bagel operations Thursday through Sunday in the same cafe space. They also want the space to be open Monday through Wednesday as a cafe and coffee shop without bagels.

Dutchman’s also plans to offer catering services in the future, specifically for morning events in the Nomad space.

“This space is so great and with all the stuff we have here to use, it would be foolish to not try to maximize the potential for all this stuff,” Kratzer said.

While these changes loom on the horizon, for the time being, the intricate bagel song and dance will all start again this weekend, with Marina running front of house operations and Jeremy operating back of house.

And as is common every Sunday, customers will come in droves to support the local pop-up, something the Kratzers certainly don’t take for granted.

“At the end of the day, I want it to be known that we’re super thankful for all the support we’ve had so far. Everyone who follows us and has come out and spent their money and really supported us. It allows us to have the vision to be able to do more,” Kratzer said.