Karl Herwig and his fianceé, Paige Taylor, in the shop Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Seven months after it closed, Red Bank’s Bagel Oven has Churned back to life.

The restart of the shop marks the beginning of a new career for Karl Herwig, a 31-year-old borough resident and former ironworker.

Mayor Billy Portman, left, getting an impromptu tour led by Herwig and business founder Dean Ross, center. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Located at 72 Monmouth Street, Bagel Oven quietly reopened on Friday after an extensive sprucing-up by Herwig that made the space in front of the counter feel brighter and more open.

Old-time customers, though, will still find the serve-yourself coffee to the left of the door, and the cold drinks in a fridge to the right.

And with luck, they’ll agree that the bagels are little changed from those produced by founders Dean Ross and Frank Grob, and at the end of the first chapter, by Grob’s daughter, Brittany Grob.

Early social media reviews have been positive, which Herwig appreciates.

“That was the goal,” he said. “Change the look, but keep the bagels exactly the same.”

Herwig grew up on Peters Place, and graduated from Red Bank Charter School and Red Bank Regional High. He and his fianceé, Paige Taylor, a Red Bank Catholic alum who’s helping out in the shop, recently bought a home on Prospect Avenue.

Having previously worked in the delicatessen and catering business, Herwig spent the last four years as an ironworker out of Local 11. All his knowledge of bagelmaking came from training he got in the process of buying the shop, he said.

Churn caught up with Herwig on Wednesday, just as Ross was giving Mayor Billy Portman, who’d stopped by for a bagel, an impromptu tour.

Ross showed off the shop’s giant mixer, the same one he and Grob used when they started the business in 1978.

“The whole building shook” whenever it was switched on, sometimes triggering the burglar alarm of the business next door, Ross said.

Learning to operate the machine was among the many steps, including boiling bagels, that Herwig had to master. But he was was not daunted, he said.

“Years of mixing concrete and mortar, I have experience working with dry materials mixed with wet,” he said. “So bagels come naturally.”

Bagel Oven is open seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Herwig is hiring.

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