Not every great idea starts in a professional kitchen. Bagel Fréna began in a family basement in 2019, built around a bread that most Montrealers hadn't encountered yet: the simit, a sesame-crusted circular loaf that has been a street food staple across Turkey and the former Ottoman Empire since at least 1525.

Owner Fréna brought the recipe to Lachine, opening a brick-and-mortar location in 2021, and the neighbourhood took to it quickly. The bagels are baked fresh daily, 100% vegan and nut-free, and served plain or as the base for sandwiches ranging from smoked salmon with labneh to a golden chicken schnitzel with creamy slaw. Sambousak, sfinj, homemade dips, and Moroccan tea round out a menu that feels genuinely distinct from anything else in the area.

For anyone who grew up eating simit, it's a homecoming. For everyone else, it's overdue.