ROANOKE, Va. – Maggie Perrin-Key and Alex Eliades first met at Golden Cactus Brewing in downtown Roanoke and started dating shortly thereafter.
It was only fitting that their business - Hot Knots - debuted there the first weekend of March.
They both recall, “Alex made pretzels for Bread Craft every October. Last year, he did pretzel sandwiches too. And I said ‘These are really good. You need to make these available all the time. It was about two weeks later, I said, ‘Babe, why don’t we start a pretzel business? Would you like to start a pretzel business?’”
Just like their relationship together, they haven’t looked back on their business since. The two sold out quickly during the big debut at Golden Cactus, and it only took an hour and a half.
The combination of beer and pretzels is a match made in heaven - something they’ve learned from having traveled abroad. The two of them together - a baker and artist - make a great team too.
Perrin-Key says, “I care a lot about how it looks. He cares a lot about how it tastes.”
After going through the proofing process, the couple dips and salts the pretzels before throwing them in the big oven. They come out with a beautiful, golden color, as if painted onto each pretzel. When pulled apart, the soft and delicate dough is revealed.
The design of each pretzel is different, depending on whether it’s being sold individually or as a sandwich.
“We’ve got a chive butter, a mustard butter and then obatzda, which is a German cheese spread. The sandwiches are going to be ham and pickle with gruyere and mustard butter. Gravlax sandwich with chive butter and capers and then a turkey with obatzda and winter radishes.”
Now that the first event is out of the way, you can look for future pop-ups by following along on Hot Knots Instagram.