Bagels

When I arrived here on a dime, I instinctively became attracted to cheap food. It's not that I don't want to experience the finer things this city has to offer; I have just become content to wait. So what to do with a couple dollars and an empty stomach? Fortunately, there are many options in this scenario. Singles burn wholes in your pockets in this city - people around here just make them so easy to use. For me, it's a bagel all the way.

I'll save the calories per pound analysis for someone who cares about it and get on to my favorite bagel in New York. The french toast bagel at The Bagel Store in Williamsburg is incredible. Enormous, dusted in powdered sugar, crunchy, flakey, delicious. I order it toasted with butter, unless of course it just came out of the oven (the Internet tells me that true New Yorkers would never order a fresh bagel toasted - guess I haven't arrived yet.) There are lots of people willing to make absolute statements on a whim (i.e. that was the best movie ever!), but understand this: that bagel is formidable, like a heavy force weighing against my self control. Fortunately for me, and much to my chagrin, the shop is difficult to get to from Crown Heights.

Apparently the art of the bagel is somewhat more nuanced than I could have imagined. Devoted food writers won't seem to touch them, which I think is more out of fear than disrespect. The only way to navigate the world of New York bagels online seems to be relying on user reviews on Google Business listings or on Yelp.com. There are different varieties to suit varying tastes, and of course there is the elusive bialy. If you ever see one down south, order it.

Lately I have been considering a new direction for some of my time spent blog writing. I would focus entirely on food, and I am thinking bagels would be an excellent category. We'll see. For now, I will keep conveying my experiences here. My next post: The Christian Church in New York City.