In September 2014, Bethesda Bagels first got the call from the U.S. House Democratic caucus—members were on the hunt for smoked salmon per a request for their weekly breakfast meetings.
A few minutes later and after a little convincing, Bethesda Bagels had its first full catering order from the nation’s top Democratic leaders, said Danny Fleishman, one of the owners of the Bethesda-based family business.
“They’ve been valued customers ever since,” Fleishman said.
According to Roll Call, the Democratic conference has spent $40,000 on more than 17 orders from Bethesda Bagels since January 2015. Fleishman said the 190-member strong caucus has a standard hot breakfast buffet order and also rotates through options for special dishes. The members want their food delivered at 6:45 a.m.—an early delivery even for a breakfast shop, Fleishman said—but the shop is willing to make it work.
“As long as they are happy, we are happy,” he said. The shop has filled the Democratic caucus’ large orders, including scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and bagels, even after receiving the call the night before, he said. It’s all about a “long-standing relationship with all our customers.”
For these orders, the business delivers from its Dupont Circle location, which is only about 10 minutes from Capitol Hill. The business began in 1982 in its Bethesda location on the 4800 block of Bethesda Avenue, Fleishman said, and will soon expand to a third location come 2017in the Navy Yard near Nationals Park..
“[Serving members of Congress] has helped expand our catering in the downtown D.C. area,” Fleishman said. But more importantly, he said it means a lot to his family that its business is valued by some of the nation’s top leaders.
“I did find out after the fact that we’ve fed Hillary Clinton a couple times and [Barack] Obama once,” Fleishman said. “I’m a little proud we get to feed some of the highest-ranking officials we have.”
Though the business has become a favorite of House Democrats, he was clear that “whoever wants food, we are happy to serve them,” no matter a customer’s political affiliation.
To taste what some of the top Democrats enjoy during their weekly meetings, Fleishman recommends the everything bagel with chive cream cheese and nova lox—a favorite for politicians and their voters alike, he said.
