It didn’t take long for Emily Winston to realize the Bay Area seriously wanted her bagels.

After drawing some attention at a 2017 Eat Real Festival showcase in Oakland, Winston wanted to build on that momentum, selling her bagels out of her home in Alameda. A line stretched for blocks before she opened her doors, and about 12 minutes later, she was out of bagels.

This month, Winston will open her long-awaited shop, Boichik Bagels, on the Berkeley side of Rockridge.

For fans, the opening means the arrival of a New York-style bagel in the Bay Area. Early samples were promising: pleasingly chewy with a well-defined crust and sweet, malty flavor.

The story of Boichik Bagels begins in 2011, when New Jersey native Winston’s all-time favorite bagel spot, H&H Bagels in New York, closed. Despite having no real cooking or baking experience, the former mechanical engineer took to her kitchen to re-create that treasured bagel. Her process involves a pre-fermentation period and slow retard in the fridge before she boils and bakes them.

At her brick-and-mortar cafe, Winston wants to deliver a classic New York bagel shop experience, with some fun twists. Taking over the original Noah’s Bagels location, she knocked down the wall dividing the retail area and the kitchen so Boichik’s big mixer, dough and oven could be in full view.

“People are going to get to see the whole thing happen,” she said. “You’re taking a trip to a bagel factory.”

She plans to offer about a dozen types of bagels per day, including classics like sesame, poppy, onion and everything. She’ll have salt and pepper, which has emerged as a Boichik specialty, and bialys, the bagel’s hole-less cousin. Doughs for whole wheat, pumpernickel and cinnamon-raisin will come further down the line along with more creative specials like heirloom purple cornmeal, which was featured in Bon Appetit. Bagels will go for $3 each, with a 25-cent discount on bagels ordered by the dozen.

“I want it to be old-school but there can be some innovation,” Winston said. “I have zero plans to do a blueberry, chocolate chip, asiago or rainbow bagel.”

Some playfulness will be seen in the toppings, such as cheddar-horseradish-scallion or roasted garlic-artichoke cream cheese. Expect all of the classic fish options, including lox, kippered salmon and whitefish salad. Winston is still working on the bagel sandwiches, but there won’t be a typical bacon-egg-cheese option — Boichik Bagels will be certified kosher.

To drink, Boichik will serve coffee — in those quintessentially New York, blue-white-and-gold Greek coffee cups — and Dr. Brown’s sodas.

“It’ll just be like New York: nothing fancy,” Winston said.

The ascent of Boichik Bagels has been remarkably swift. Even Winston is amazed, looking back on her debut just two years ago, when a retail bagel shop wasn’t even in her business plan. Originally, Winston envisioned Boichik Bagels in an industrial warehouse, churning out bagels for delivery only.

First, she organized some pop-ups to gauge demand. She ended up doing only seven, realizing that making nine dozen bagels in her home kitchen once a month was not a viable business — and that she couldn’t actually feed the hundreds of people who quickly found her mailing list. She would sell out instantly and return to a home covered in sesame seeds, totally exhausted.

She searched for an industrial space, but found the rent was far more expensive than she anticipated. She considered renting from a commercial kitchen, but she couldn’t find one with the equipment she’d need for bagels. Finally, she heard about the Noah’s spot in Rockridge and decided to rewrite her whole plan.

When Boichik opens, Winston will start with irregular hours posted semi-secretly on Instagram as she continues working on recipes. She expects to announce the date soon for the shop’s grand opening, when the full menu will be on offer and a klezmer band will play outside.

Part of the hesitation with the opening has to do with Winston being a self-described perfectionist. As construction at Boichik dragged on for a year and a half, Winston grew increasingly worried. She made great bagels in her little electric oven at home, but what if she built this whole mini-factory, scaled up the recipes and the bagels didn’t come out right?

On Halloween, she made a huge test batch, giving away the results to folks trick-or-treat-style all day. Before opening the doors, about 20 fans patiently lined up outside — a sure sign of what’s to come.

“I need to retinker,” she said, squeezing a slightly overproofed bagel. “But I haven’t made anything awful yet.”

Boichik Bagels. 3170 College Ave., Berkeley. 510-858-5189. www.boichikbagels.com

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker