You won't be blamed for thinking the above sentence is "so Fitzroy", but hey, it is what it is. Johnston Street's been low on the bagel action since the departure of Beans and Bagels (where Sir Charles is now), but Mile End Bagel's arrival is filling the bagel hole-sized gap with heaping serves of schmear.
Owners Michael Fee and Benjamin Vaughn have converted the warehouse into a café and bakery, complete with a custom-built wood-fire oven not unlike one you'd see in a pizza shop. Every step of the bagel-making process is visible to the customer: you can see the bagels rolled into shape on metal counters, shoved in long lines into the oven, left out to cool on racks, then sliced and schmeared with cream cheese.
So what's a Montreal-style bagel? Usually, it's smaller, thinner and denser than New York style we might be more familiar with. The bagels are also sweeter as they're boiled in water sweetened with honey after the final proofing, before they go in the wood-fire oven. The options for fillings at Mile End are pretty simple so far, you can get a bagel sandwich with roast beef or lox, and your schmear options include PB&J, and dill, Vegemite, original or spring onion cream cheese. More sandwiches are going to be introduced as the bagelry settles into its new digs.