SHREWSBURY - Growing up in a family of six, Matt Cottrell learned the value of hard work from his parents, who did not have a lot of money. It was the kind of lessons that paid off when he took over Bagel Masters in Shrewsbury.

“I was taught to hold myself to a high standard when it came to work,” Cottrell said. “My father was a Vietnam veteran and worked for JCP&L for over 30 years. My mother was a stay-at-home mom for a while, but started working soon after I was born. She went to school and became a social worker. They set an example for us, as far as hard work goes.”

Cottrell started playing sports at a young age and it gave him structure. “Sports helped me a lot back then when I played baseball and football,” Cottrell said. “One of many things that my parents drove home was to always show up on time for practice and games. They taught us to finish what we started, and that actions spoke louder than words. When you grow up in a house like that, hard work is valued very highly, and we learned that early in life.”

Cottrell admits he was not the best student in school and did not going to college after graduating high school. Needing a job, he got into the restaurant business.

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“I initially felt like I wanted to try a few different things, but, in the end, I gravitated towards the restaurant industry,” Cotrell said. “When you’re younger, it’s a lot of fun because, on one hand, you work hard and make good money, but it’s also a more relaxed atmosphere than working in an office. It was always a good time for me.”

'I felt lucky'

Cottrell began his restaurant career as a busboy and graduated to a server at a Hightstown restaurant called Tre.

“I worked there for five years and until I was 22,” Cottrell said. “I had the chance to work for a fantastic manager at the time and was having fun and making great money. For me, I don’t believe a lot of people can say they enjoy their job, but I honestly can testify that it was a great experience for me and I felt lucky that I could not see myself working anywhere else. It grew from there.”

After taking some time off from the restaurant industry and doing some odd jobs, Cottrell went back to Tre, but this time as a manager in a new location in Brick.

“I worked that job for a few years starting in 2019 up until COVID-19 hit,” Cottrell said. “We ended up closing in March of 2020, but we reopened a short time later and we did strictly outdoor dining. Unfortunately, none of the other managers returned, except for me. I was the sole remaining manager, and I became the general manager for both restaurants in Hightstown and Brick. I learned a lot and developed a lot of very good skills.”

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As Cottrell began to think seriously about his future, he decided the restaurant business just wasn’t the right spot.

“My fiancée and I talked about our future and felt like it was time to move on because it wasn’t sustainable,” Cottrell said. “We had very similar goals and aspirations and we decided to veer away from that path. I ended up leaving those restaurants altogether in the summer of 2021.”

Cottrell worked as a catering manager for another company and, while doing so, got a call from an old friend, Dennis Tafuri, about taking over Bagel Masters in Shrewsbury together.

“My current lifestyle wasn’t working for me anymore and I was ready for a necessary change,” Cottrell said. “The quality of life just wasn’t there, so I began to take on a new challenge. It was a great fit for me because it was a smaller location, and I would get out earlier with time to spend with my family. My wife was the one who encouraged me to go through with it, so we pulled the trigger on it.”

Previous owner Darren Weinstein ran business for over 25 years, and he paved the way for Cottell to take over in January 2022.

“Darren made this business a staple of the community,” Cottrell said. “He did an amazing job of hiring and developing an amazing staff. We were lucky enough to inherit all the great things he did with the business and things couldn’t have worked out better.”

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'You don't fix what's not broken'

After taking over Bagel Masters, Cottrell made some changes to the way he wanted to run the business, but what he did not change were the ingredients and the quality of the food.

“There’s an old saying, 'You don’t fix what’s not broken,'” Cottrell said. “That really applies to this business. In terms of recipes and food items, we didn’t change a single thing. We’ve added some new types of sandwiches and things like that, as well as some back-of-the-house changes, but for the most part, we just kept everything the same.”

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Cottrell is the face of the business, but is part-owner with Tafuri.

“I have known Dennis for a long time, and he has always had my best interest at heart,” Cottrell said. “He is an amazing partner and a hard worker. We work well together, and we both make each other better businessmen.”

Cottrell wants to grow the business and focus on customer satisfaction.

“We have gotten to a good point so far, in terms of understanding how the business runs,” Cottrell said. "There are many positives and negatives about running a business, but we will always be thinking about what to improve on and how to meet expectations. What we have here is special.”

Bagel Masters

Address: 661 Broad St., Shrewsbury

Phone: 732-224-0333

Website: www.bagelmasters.com

Hours: 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. weekends

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bagel Masters in Shrewsbury NJ has new owner, but taste doesn't change