Food
The Bagels Are in a Parking Lot. She'll Send a Picture When She Parks.
Sweet Tea Bakery is a Bradenton cottage baker who names her sourdough bagels like a Southern aunt: All Y'all, Golden Belle, Bless Your Heart. Saturday pickup is a Lakewood Ranch Publix lot, 4 to 5 p.m. She texts a photo so you can find her.
The cinnamon bagel is called Bless Your Heart. The menu says it's named "just like the saying," a little sweet with a kick of spice. Anybody who grew up in the South knows that saying has a sweet version and a version your aunt uses on the neighbor. The bagel is the sweet one. It's right there in the description.
This is Sweet Tea Bakery, a small-batch cottage baker in Bradenton making sourdough bagels, sweet rolls and focaccia "with a touch of Southern sass." The About page says it's run by Kristy, a mom of three and former nurse who moved here recently, and that every item is made by her, start to finish. No storefront. You pre-order and pick up.
The names
Every bagel on the menu has a name:
- All Y'all is the one loaded with seeds and seasonings. The menu says it "brings the whole town to the table." Basically an everything bagel with manners.
- Golden Belle is the cheddar bagel, "dressed to impress."
- The Porch Swing is plain golden sourdough. Plain bagels never get a name. This one gets a porch.
- The Debutant is the classic cinnamon roll. The menu calls it "the perfect thing to bring home to mom and dad." I have brought home worse.
On the sweet-roll side there's also Backwoods Bonfire, a s'mores roll with chocolate, toasted marshmallow and graham cracker. The current special is Fall Festival, a sourdough sweet roll with caramel apple filling and caramel drizzle. It's October in Florida. Somebody has to commit to fall.
The money
From the pre-order page: bagels are $4 each, $21 a half dozen, $38 a dozen. Sweet rolls are $6, or $20 for a tin of four. A 4-inch square of rosemary-and-sea-salt focaccia is $5, or $18 for the 8x8 pan. Orders need at least five days' notice. Saturday is exactly five days from today, so don't make this a Tuesday decision.
The parking lot
Pickup is listed on the pop-up schedule as the Publix parking lot at 14605 E. State Road 70, Lakewood Ranch, 4 to 5 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 10. The instructions say: "Once I've parked I will send a picture so I'm easier to find."
This is the most honest pickup system in Manatee County. No app, no pin, no "look for the blue tent." A photo of a parking space. You squint at it, look up and see the same light pole. That's your bagels.
If a parking lot isn't your thing, she's at the Polo Run Craft Fair on Oct. 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Polo Run Amenity Center, 6435 Rosehill Farm Run. The schedule says no pre-order needed for pop-ups. The next pickup is Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to noon, and the bakery is closed the week of Halloween. She's on Instagram for new flavors.
Order the half dozen. Get two Bless Your Hearts. Say the name out loud when you hand one over. Watch the other person try to figure out which version you meant.
— Marina
