If you were at the 2025 International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) back in September, you know the gathering offered attendees an endless stream of baked goods each and every day—doughnuts with Dawn Foods, bread at King Arthur, pies at Wick’s. This editor didn’t need to leave the Las Vegas Convention Center to grab lunch any of the days I was on the floor.

Yet, there I was, sneaking out to the nearby Siegel’s Bagelmania and Pinkbox Doughnuts combo restaurant. Despite being stuffed, I felt compelled to check the place out. I wasn’t disappointed, because I’m a fan of two particular kinds of baked goods: doughnuts, and all the doughy delights that Jewish baking culture has to offer—bagels, rugelach, black-and-white cookies. This place had all of those goodies in spades.

What’s more, I wasn’t the only person playing hooky from the big baking tradeshow that day—not by a long shot. Looking around the packed lunch rush crowd, I spotted scores of IBIE badges dangling from around the necks of the patrons eagerly waiting their turn to grab a bagel, or have a seat in the dining area. Despite covering the IBIE exhibit floor, folks schlepped across the LVCC parking lot to pay for even more bakery bites.

Why were we all stuffing ourselves beyond capacity? I can’t speak for all the other IBIE attendees—I can only tell you what drew me to the joint that day. Here’s my list:

• Doughnuts are my jam; whenever I travel, I scope out at least one place to get one or two of the sweet treats. I have favorites in every city I’ve stopped in; my top spot in Chicago is Dat Donut on the south side, and my favorite outside my hometown is Minneapolis’s Glam Doll. Email me if you’d like more recommendations.
• I might have been raised Catholic, but I adore Jewish cuisine, especially the baked goods. Sit me down and put a brisket sandwich (on thickly sliced challah, please) with a Kosher spear on the side and I’m a happy girl. Follow it up with a ginormous hunk of sweet kugel, and I’m in heaven.
• Since I’ve started in this gig, the new product announcements from Pinkbox have had me and Senior Editor Liz Parker Kuhn tickled. The seasonal offerings, LTOs like a Dubai chocolate number, and classic doughnuts look tempting, but the adorable, irreverent Pooh doughnuts the growing chain is known to always put a smile on our faces.

The call of sweet glazed goods, Jewish comfort cuisine, and a sense of fun are just some of the reasons why Pinkbox and Siegel’s are part of a growing bakery company. They’re also some of the reasons why the brands are the subject of this month’s cover article. To hear more of the brands’ story, head over to the article. If you’ve snuck away from IBIE or another recent Vegas show to try the wares, let me know what you think at spinnerj@bnpmedia.com.