Driving down Broadway in Kingston in October, you might have noticed the little shoebox space tacked onto Night Swim Kingston (formerly the Anchor) get a bright blue makeover. A cherry red door and cute signage signalled that a Moonrise Bagels pop-up was on its way.
The two-month run was supposed to close out with 2024, but five days ago, the stuffed bagel brand announced on social media that it was sticking around in Kingston. “It was amazing of the Nightswim owners to let us do that even when it was just a pop-up,” says Moonrise cofounder Ali Chetkof, about the paint job. “They’ve been tremendous partners.”
The warm welcome and spirit of collaboration are a big part of what encouraged Chetkof and her husband and business partner Jeremy Rhodes to turn the temporary pop-up shop into a permanent spot.
Since launching in Woodstock in 2021, the couple also tied the knot, started shipping nationwide via Goldbelly, and opened a spot in Poughkeepsie. “We really have been so busy,” Chetkof says with a laugh. “It’s pretty wild, sometimes I look at Jeremy ‘Why are we doing this again?’ But it’s been so fun.”
Once operations were running smoothly at the Poughkeepsie location, which opened in July 2024, the duo got the itch to do something new. They had attended the grand opening of the bar Night Swim Kingston, which took over the former Anchor location by the roundabout last summer, and the owners, Rebecca Kush and Tiffany Themens, had offered them the side spot (formerly the production space for Hole in the Wall Donuts.
“We reached out and said, ‘If it’s still available, we’re definitely interested in doing something,” Chetkof says. “It already had a hood, it was certified for food use. It was pretty simple for us to paint the front blue, get some basic equipment in there, and start selling out of there over the weekend.”
With just a takeaway window and a small production space, they limited the menu to their stuffed bagels, divvying up the selection into breakfast offerings from 7:30am to 12pm (bacon, egg, and cheese; sausage, egg and cheese; etc.) and from 12-7pm, the lunch/dinner stuffed offerings like buffalo chicken, pastrami reuben, eggplant parm, and Philly cheese steak (all $8.95).
“We talked about the lease being just through the end of year, which was beneficial for both of us,” Chetkof says. “But it was an open discussion. After a little bit, once we knew it was going well, we sat down with the owners, had a beer, and talked about if we could stay longer.”
Yesterday, January 9, was the first day of the now-permanent location, which will be open weekly Thursdays through Mondays from 7:30am to 7pm. “We’re hoping for an early morning rush,” Chetkof says. Moonrise will be adding online ordering to streamline the process. The Kingston spot will also feature the dipping sauces they’ve rolled out at their other Moonrise Bagel locations, like ranch for the buffalo chicken stuffed bagel, as well as cookies from Half Moon Rondout and chips. For an affordable combo, you can get chips or a cookie, a stuffed bagel, and a drink for $13.95.
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This article appears in January 2025.
