Schreiber learned from the best: His mom taught him the important life lessons, By Ginny Raue In Russia they are called bubliki and they are said to bring good luck. In Norway 13 of them placed on a door sill reportedly bring bad luck. Known by many names around the world - beigen, beugel, bajgiel - in the United States they’re known as the ever-popular bagel. The American bagel industry had its formal beginning around 1910 with the establishment of the Bagel Bakers Local #338. At that time membership in the local was limited to bakers’ sons only. Fortunately for Paul Schreiber, owner of West Milford’s Bagel Town Café, and for bagel lovers of the township, that hierarchy no longer exists. Schreiber, a resident of West Milford, was raised in Fort Lee. His father died when Schreiber was 12 years old and his mother, Phyllis, took over the responsibility of providing for her two children. To this day, he marvels at his mother’s dedication. Schreiber attended the University of Massachusetts, gaining a degree in hotel and restaurant management. Prior to opening his own bagel shop, he worked in retail and for a time managed a Ground Round restaurant. Preparing to open his café, Schreiber trained at Goldberg’s Bagels in Ringwood. His experience in management and his food background now came into play. “I had learned to run a business and I’m good at customer service,” he said. Making people happy is important to him and he’s now looking forward to celebrating the store’s fourth anniversary this month. Since all of the bagels are made on the premises, the process starts early - around 3 a.m. As the 9 x 12 foot oven heats up, the bagel roller prepares the dough and the bagels are then shaped by rolling the dough around the hand, producing the characteristic hole in the middle. They are allowed to rise, then refrigerated. In order to get the hard shell, the next step is to boil them in water for a few seconds. Then the seeds are added and the bagels are baked for 15 minutes. “These are water bagels, New York style,” Schreiber said. While his bagel roller has 40 years experience on the job, Schreiber is just recently getting the hang of it. “When I first started rolling they didn’t have holes,” he said. He originally bought a rolling machine, but never used it since he found that the machine-rolled product does not stay soft as long as the hand-rolled bagel. Bagel Town Café produces 12 different types of bagels plus a large variety of other bagel treats and homemade cream cheese spreads to top them off. Warm bagels and hot coffee are ready for the earliest of risers when the store opens at 5:30 a.m. The store’s location in the Bearfort Shopping Village allows for outdoor seating in nice weather. On average, the shop sells 250 bagels on weekdays, 800-1,000 on the weekends. A full lunch menu is also available and the café’s homemade soups have grown in popularity. Schreiber has seven employees and the most important one, his mother, comes from Fort Lee several times a week to make soups, potato pancakes, and lots more. She’s now cooking up something new for the shop, meals-to-go, a selection of homemade dinners and lunches packaged in microwave safe dishes. “I’ve made so many friends in town,” Schreiber said, and noted that his typical customers are commuters, construction workers, contractors, policemen, and local business people. When not wrapping a bagel around his fist or ladling up soup, Schreiber enjoys playing softball on the town’s 40-and-over league, roller blading, bike riding, and golf. He’s also an aspiring stand-up comic. Schreiber doesn’t cook much at home. Now, though, he can still enjoy mom’s cooking by bringing home one of her packaged dinners. He has submitted a favorite soup recipe. Cream of Carrot Curry Soup 8 tsp. canola oil 1 cup onions, chopped 2 garlic cloves, chopped 8 tsp. flour 4 cups chicken broth 5 cups carrots, sliced 2 1/4 tsp. curry powder 2 cups milk or half and half 1/2 tsp. salt Few dashes of white pepper Saute onions and garlic in oil until translucent. Stir in flour and coat for one minute Add broth, carrots, and curry powder, simmer for 20 minutes Add milk, salt, pepper, and emulsify Adjust seasoning if needed