On a trip to Montreal in 1994, Brad Nadborne tried what he called the best bagel he’d ever eaten.
Baked in a wood-fired oven, Montreal-style bagels are unique for their crisp outside, chewy inside and distinct smoky flavor, Nadborne said. Now, he is set to bring this delicacy to Evanston by opening a bagel shop of his own.
Opening in June at 827 Chicago Ave., Lefty’s Righteous Bagels will be one of the first Montreal-style bagel shops in Chicagoland, selling unique flavors like jardinière and rosemary salt.
A former college basketball coach, lawyer and commodity trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Nadborne is no stranger to new ventures.
“I’ve done a bunch of things in my life that I’ve been very fortunate to do, and this just sparked my interest and passions,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Let’s go for it. Let’s give this a try. Let’s open Lefty’s Righteous Bagels.’”
Nadborne began baking bagels as a quarantine passion project after retiring from coaching basketball. He soon decided that his next life project would be a bagel shop, and began tinkering with his bagel recipes to perfect them.
During vacations, Nadborne had visited numerous bagel shops, touring their kitchens and talking to their owners — all as research for Lefty’s. Last summer, he signed a lease for his shop.
“People love bagels,” he said. “I liken it to an ice cream shop. You can walk into an ice cream shop sad, but you don’t walk out of there sad. It’s the same with bagels.”
Creating Lefty’s Righteous Bagels has been a family-and-friends affair. Nadborne’s brother, a real estate agent, helped him sign the lease for the storefront. His girlfriend’s daughter manages social media and marketing. And a close friend, the wife of the University of Chicago men’s basketball head coach — under whom Nadborne was assistant coach — is director of hospitality.
Nadborne’s girlfriend, Mary Lucnik-Garcia, has been supportive throughout his bagel journey, accompanying him on many bagel-eating sprees and being his main taste-tester.
“People should have their careers really be meaningful to them but also not have their career be the only thing in their life. They should do things that give them joy,” Lucnik-Garcia said. “For Brad, I think he’s picking his last career to be something that is a combination of that.”
Lucnik-Garcia said Nadborne compared the excitement of serving bagels to a basketball game day.
On a visit to his daughter’s college, Nadborne coordinated with the school’s head chef to make breakfast for students, Lucnik-Garcia said. Nadborne woke up early to bake hundreds of bagels, causing lines to span out of the cafeteria doors, Lucnik-Garcia added.
While Lefty’s grand opening is still two months away, Medill freshman Milan Hawk said she’s already intrigued to try it.
“I don’t know that many bagel places in Evanston besides Einstein Bros. Bagels, but it’s a chain, so I’m excited for a new local shop,” Hawk said.
When Lefty’s opens, Nadborne said he is most excited to wake up early and meet his customers. An extrovert at heart, he said he hopes to “get to know them on a personal level.”
“As we go along, it’s just been generating more excitement, and now I can’t wait to get going,” he said. “I think we will be rewarded when we start making good bagels for the good people of Evanston.”
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