The Crier sat down with Kristi Wright of Raven Hill Bagels & Deli
Market, in the Collective. They’ve been open for almost a year, but are
really getting up to speed now with the completion of their kitchen, and
plans for a deli menu.

“We started in 2020, with a cottage permit, we were baking from home. I
really wanted to bring bagels to this community because we didn’t really
have a fresh-baked bagel. I’ve been a baker for 20-plus years, and
bagels have always stuck with me. I just love a good bagel, and growing
up I always had bagels in the house, and we never bought bagels from the
grocery store. I was always going to some little mom-and-pop and getting
a bag of bagels. It stuck with me that it would be nice to offer the
community up here a fresh baked bread item. I feel like bagels are such
good vessel for breakfast or lunch, you can make a sandwich…

“We started out just doing local delivery and I was making six to eight
dozen. Just on the weekends, I and my partner, Travis Spencer, still had
our corporate jobs. We had our 9-5s Monday through Friday and then on
the weekends… we built a website, we put it on Instagram: order online…
it just evolved that way. People posted to us on Idyllwild Facebook, it
just grew and grew. We were selling out, and I was like “wow, now we’re
baking our max capacity.” All I could do from home was fifteen dozen,
based on our refrigerator space and what output I could get done. We saw
the success there. We started doing popups and we would have a line and
sell through all of our inventory. There was just a moment when I was
like “I don’t feel happy in my corporate job anymore, even though it was
great and I was overseeing a group of bakeries, in New York, Florida and
LA, traveling, it was high stress. During that time I was a Director of
Operations… overseeing the operational side of things, which was great
to learn, but I really wanted to get back into baking. It was ‘now or
never.’”

Kristi’s friendship with Bella Gioeli, of Mountain Poppy Floral Cottage,
led the two to look for opportunities together. “We started doing a
pop-up across the street in that little patio area. She was doing
flowers and we were doing bagels. We’re like ‘how great would it be if
we could have a brick-and-mortar?’ At first we were just thinking maybe
we could do something together, still along the lines of grabs and go
bagels, I couldn’t really wrap my head around doing a whole kitchen
build at that point. Bella started talking with her dad Kenny and her
mom Eva, they were very supportive. When we were looking at [another]
property they showed up. It ended up not being the right fit. Then Kenny
told Bella, ‘I think I have an idea.’ That’s when they purchased this
property.”

Then there is the “market” side of the business. “I wanted to do bagels,
but I also wanted to have this specialty item store, something
different. It can be challenging to find the ingredients you need here.
Fairway and the Village Market do a great job, but there are other
specialty ingredients that I thought would be so nice to have available
for the community, like specialty spices, nice organic small-batch
tahini, olive oil, balsamic vinegars, all of it. I did not know how that
was going to go, but then when we opened it was very well received and
supported, and we got to grow the market items even more. We expanded
out into specialty cheeses and now we’re doing meats.”

Take a peek into their market refrigerator and you’ll see wild boar
chorizo, ground bison, venison medallions…. “Wild boar, that’s Force of
Nature, they work with regenerative farms, and no hormones or anything
like that. That is where we wanted to go, good quality meats, and
connecting with some of these smaller vendors that are doing amazing
things. One of the cheese makers that we carry is one of the two oldest
cheese makers in the country. Bringing some of those really special
items that people can cook with or build cheese plates, this can be
their go-to spot.

And customers will soon be able to order sandwiches. “I always loved
fresh sliced deli meats. Just being a place that people can trust, that
if they come here to get sliced turkey, they are going to get a good
quality. That was the whole idea behind Raven Hill.” Expect the
classics: roast beef, turkey, pastrami.

With all this their bagels are still their signature item, and close to
Kristin’s heart. “The way that we make bagels is the east coast style.
We boil and bake. I do a pre-ferment dough, it’s about a 15–20-hour
process before we even start mixing the dough completely. An overnight
proof (ferment) with quick-ferment dough; flour water salt and yeast.
Then I incorporate that dough with all the other ingredients that makes
the bagel dough. Then I do a nice overnight slow proof, refrigerated.
Morning-of it’s shaping, boiling, and baking.” Wright finds the slow
proof gives the dough extra flavor over warmer fermenting methods. Bagel
lovers will find the standards, poppy or sesame seed, onion, cinnamon,
and a few twists like jalapeño cheese and rosemary sea salt, “one of the
most popular ones.” Bagels, market, deli; Raven Hill is taking shape in
response to the support they are finding. “We have other ideas of things
we want to offer the community. We just started working with a farming
company based out of Carpinteria in Sant Barbara [county.] We’re doing
our own CSA boxes [Community Supported Agriculture, a subscription-based
model for farm-to-table distribution.] That is every other Monday; we
sold out of those; we have a waiting list now. It’s another option for
people to get organic produce and certain ingredients. We would also
like to offer out our kitchen to folks that have a specialty product
that they can make and sell out of our market. Bean, of Sweet Bean
Bakery, is going to be making her pot pies. She is using our kitchen,
she is going to be making a vegetarian pot pie and a chicken pot pie,
and they’ll be available in our freezer for grab-and-go. It’s a nice
easy throw-in-the-oven meal, but she’s using all great ingredients, and
its quality, and they’re delicious.” We always ask people how they came
to Idyllwild. “My dad and my stepmom moved here in, I think, ’87. My mom
lived in the Redondo Beach area, but I came up here every other weekend
and spent summers and winters up here. My step brother and step sister,
they were up here full time. That was my childhood, going back and
forth. Always loving it.”

Kristi is proud of her career but doesn’t miss the city. “LA was great,
had those days, done, I can’t even imagine going back. It’s just been
incredible, this opportunity, to be up here in Idyllwild doing what I
love, actually opening up our own bakery. It’s been lovely, I love the
local community. The locals are what has supported us.”

And what about the Raven? “Growing up here I wanted to incorporate them
somehow. They’re fascinating, so intelligent, clever, they are all
around here in Idyllwild. I love them.”

Raven Hill Bagels & Deli Market, 54440 North Circle, in the Collective.
Thurs.-Sun. 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., Mon. 9 a.m – 3 p.m.