BagelUp Industry Pro Tour and Class

March 10 / 9:30am - 4pm ET

Join us in New York City for an immersive journey into the craft, culture, and business of bagels. This unique program connects professionals and passionate enthusiasts with the people and places that define the city’s bagel scene—and reveal its exciting career and profit potential. 

Guided by Sam Silverman, founder of BagelUp and NYC’s “Bagel Ambassador,” who will provide expert insights into the city’s dynamic bagel scene. You’ll visit two iconic bagel shops in Brooklyn and hear directly from shop owners and operators, about the history, cultural significance, and lasting appeal of bagels, and what it takes to thrive in today’s market. 

The day concludes with a hands-on class at Bagel Market with Bagel Baker and Educator Ethan Marks. Learn to refine your bagel-making skills by comparing dough formulas, mastering the rope-and-loop shaping method, and picking up pro tips to take your bagel game to the next level.  

The Bagel Lineup (locations subject to change): 

1. Russ & Daughters (Brooklyn Navy Yard) 

2. Apollo Bagels (Williamsburg) 

3. Bagel Market (Midtown Manhattan) 

Presented in partnership with the King Arthur Baking Company

Getting There and Back: The tour will meet at Russ & Daughters, located inside Building 77 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Please allow extra travel time both to reach the Navy Yard and to locate the meeting point. The tour will end in Midtown Manhattan. If you need to return to Brooklyn afterward, plan to take public transportation, a taxi, or a rideshare. 

Speakers:

Sam Silverman, known as New York’s “Bagel Ambassador,” is the Founder & CEO of BagelUp, the company behind NYC Bagel Tours, the New York BagelFest, and a growing portfolio of bagel-centric experiences. 
 
Sam is dedicated to celebrating and elevating bagel culture through immersive classes, guided tastings, and large-scale events, most notably, the annual New York BagelFest at Citi Field, which now draws over 2,000 attendees and dozens of vendors from around the world. In 2023, he was named one of Brooklyn Magazine’s “50 Most Fascinating People” for building a national platform around this iconic food. 
 
Before founding BagelUp, Sam held roles in business operations at Bridgewater Associates and Walmart, where he led complex projects and helped scale strategic initiatives, experience that shaped his unique ability to blend hospitality, storytelling, logistics, and community building.

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Ethan Marks is a baker, educator, and consultant specializing in bagel production. As part of the team at Apollo Bagels—known for its sourdough bagels—he helped grow the business from a single retail location to six successful stores across New York and New Jersey. Ethan also serves as chair of the Guild’s Programs Committee. 

Bread Production Fundamentals: A 3-Day Hands-On Baking Class at the Artisan Baking Center, Petaluma, CA 

Monday, April 13 | 12:00pm–5:00pm PT 

Tuesday, April 14 | 9:00am–5:00pm PT 

Wednesday, April 15 | 9:00am–4:00pm PT 

This intensive three-day course, taught by renowned baker and educator Craig Ponsford, is designed for working professional bakers and aspiring professionals seeking a strong technical foundation in artisan bread baking. Instruction is grounded in real-world bakery production, focusing on scale, process and workflows for efficiency and consistency. 

Over the course of the class, participants will explore: 

• Essential ingredients and baking terminology 

• Fundamentals of bread formulation 

• Working with yeasts and preferments 

• Mixing methods and gluten development 

• Fermentation styles and timing 

• Shaping and scoring techniques 

• Baking and product evaluation 

Day one focuses on the fundamentals of bread baking as they apply in a production environment. Craig will also cover flour and milling and examine the roles of key ingredients—including water, yeast, and salt—and how they influence dough behavior and finished bread quality. 

Days two and three turn theory into practice. In a hands-on production environment, participants will work in teams to move through the complete bread-making process—from mixing and shaping to proofing and baking. Each step is designed to reinforce core concepts through repetition and practical problem-solving. 

By the end of the course, participants will leave with a stronger technical understanding of the full bread-making process, along with practical skills they can put to work at scale in a bakery environment. 

Students must have a working familiarity with baker’s math. 

This session is presented in partnership with the Central Milling Company. 

To make it easier for bakery owners to bring team members, we’re offering two ticket tiers for members:

• First ticket: $650
• Additional tickets: $550 each (15% discount)

Craig Ponsford graduated from the California Culinary Academy with top honors and opened Artisan Bakers with his family in Sonoma California in 1992. In 1996 his breads won the gold medal at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris. He then went on to coach the US Team to victory in 1999. He has been part of coaching each U.S. team since and served as U.S. judge at the 2002 and 2005 Coupe du Monde and 2007 Louis LeSaffe Cup held in Argentina. He currently is an instructor at the Artisan Baking Center in Petaluma, California and has his own bakery/innovation center, Ponsford’s Place, in San Rafael. Craig was an early member of the Bread Bakers Guild of America and was the Guild’s Chairman for eight years. He has taught at various culinary institutions around the world and United States. He has worked at many different ingredients companies to help with product development and systems optimization he emphasizes quality of ingredients, techniques, and products. 

Guildhall Gathering at Artisan Baking Center (Petaluma, CA)

Thursday, April 14 - 6pm - 8pm PT