NYC bagel mavens are boiling and ready to throw down some dough. The cause of their outrage? A recent New York Times article claiming that “are the best bagels in California.”
“I am personally annoyed. If California wants to take on me, I’m ready, ”says Brooklyn-grown bagelman Scot Rossillo, 55, owner of Park Slope’s the Bagel Store.
Rossillo says the Big Apple’s bagel superiority goes beyond New York’s famous soft water, which weakens gluten and increases chewability.
“The water is important, but it can be replicated anywhere in the world,” Rossillo told The Post. “It comes down to the love we have for our bagels.”
Rossillo, who grew up behind Bake City Bagels in Gravesend, noted that he is the recipient of training that “goes back at least 100 years. This is not funny; bagels are my life. “
California upstarts may be throwing their hats in the (carb-stuffed) ring, but even West Coast residents aren’t buying it, said Manhattan-loyal Zabar’s and Ess-a-Bagel shopkeepers.
“Every day we ship hundreds of bagels to California,” Melanie Frost, COO of Ess-a-Bagel, whose aunt started the family business in 1976, told The Post. Bagels at the store, which has three outposts in Manhattan, are hand-rolled and baked on the premises daily.
“They can’t come close to a New York bagel – crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside,” added Frost.
California, stick with the avocado toast. You know that best. “
Scott Goldshine, 60, a 43-year veteran of Zabar, also sees a westward migration of his wares: “We ship bagels to LA, but I haven’t heard of LA shipping bagels to us. Nothing beats a New York bagel. “
True, but at least one bagel expert takes a more measured approach. He is happy that knowledge and taste are spreading like velvety cream cheese.
“I think it’s about time,” said Adam Pomerantz, 53, owner of Murray’s Bagels and Leo’s Bagels. ‘For years you couldn’t get a decent bagel outside of New York. Looking at the pictures, they have a nice shine, nice crust. They look good. I think it will be fun for us Jewish New Yorkers to get quality bagels – our soul food – out of town. “
Does he think the Big Apple should give up his bagel crown?
“Absolutely not,” said Pomerantz. “New York City and bagels go together. Getting a bagel in New York City is a special experience. “
After all, the lineage is deep. According to Maria Balinska’s “The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread,” our favorite salmon-and-a-schmear craft may have emigrated from Germany to Poland as pretzels in the 14th century. Once there, they evolved towards the centerpiece of a modern bagel approach. Eastern European Jews brought them to Lower Manhattan during the great migration of the 19th century.
“New York City and bagels go together.”
While rainbow and everything bagels are modern interpretations, the best bagels are still hand-rolled into doughy ox by our city’s latest additions. And maybe some of the magic comes from that.
“We have an immigrant community after the next one passes the torch and learned this esoteric skill,” said Peter Shelsky, 42, co-owner of Shelsky’s Brooklyn Bagels. “It was recently Filipino immigrants and then the Thai population. Now there are Mexican rollers. “
As for the Left Coast bagel superiority claim, Shelsky doesn’t sweat: “A friend of mine from the Bay Area sent me the link, and he wrote, ‘See this?’ I replied, ‘LOL. Bulls – – t. ‘
“My first reaction was exactly that. Now I recognize that one or two places [in California] could do a reasonable job. Most of all, it’s like the Vatican makes good matzo ball soup. “
Shelsky’s business partner, 44-year-old Lewis Spada, added: “To say they hold weight on a New York bagel? That is ridiculous.”
– additional reporting by Tamara Beckwith and Suzy Weiss