People can't get enough of Toronto's secret new pretzel shop
Toronto's secret new pretzel shop has been selling out pretty much every night of business, on a quest to satisfy late night snack cravings.
Of course, two people in the music business could only call it one thing: Pretzel Logic.
Dylan Frankland and Simon Kou started baking pretzels together on the side in 2021, having met at a music program at Algonquin College in Ottawa.
Frankland is a producer an engineer at Candle Recording and Palace Sound, and the guitarist in bands Tallies and Head Crack, but also worked as chef de partie and garde manger at Yorkville fine dining restaurant Pangaea until it closed.
Kou is currently a shop foreman at a custom iron railing shop, drummer for the band Gloin and drum tech for another band, The Beaches.
They felt like there weren't many good late night food options in their area of Toronto, so they started providing one at their favourite bar and venue, Houndstooth, about once a month.
"When my band Tallies was on tour in Europe we played a gig in Freiburg, Germany. After we played I was hungry so I asked the bar if there was any late night food open in the area," Frankland tells blogTO.
"They said no, but they had fresh baked pretzels that they sold at the bar. I ended up eating a bunch of them. They were so good. I was blown away. I thought it was the most perfect snack to have at a bar and that every bar should have them."
The friends got to work recreating the magical late night snack, mostly studying online and reading baking books.
"Most importantly we practiced and experimented again and again until we had something that reached our standards," says Frankland.
The result is a picture-perfect, puffy, golden brown pretzel with a sprinkling of salt, served warm with a warm beer cheese dipping sauce. They also serve a grainy mustard.
With batches nearing 100 pretzels, they've been selling out and are now branching out beyond their regular hangout Houndstooth.
"Houndstooth is a bar that we hang out at and we are good friends with owners Alex and Matias. They have been so supportive of us," says Frankland. "El Mocambo reached out to us and we are very excited to start working out of there."
They're now going to be doing pop-ups for ticketed events at legendary (and recently revamped) venue the El Mo, with their first on September 23, with pretzels also available on September 25 and 28. It's a step towards taking the project full-time.
"Our future plans are to become full-time and provide more bars with a delicious late night snack," says Frankland.
If you're lusting for this midnight snack more commonly found on the streets of New York or like in Frankland's experience, the bars of Germany, you now know where to find a very solid version of it.
Pretzel Logic
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