Results tagged “columbiabagels”

The bigger, new-fangled bagels: "an oversized mass of sweetened dough, with a pale exterior soft as a feather pillow."Some NYC customers expect huge bagels, even though they really weren't meant to be that way. Apparently bagels got bigger to feed "whitebread" tastes, and some bagel makers use a scary sounding "dough conditioner" that gives bagels their "product softness ('Reddi-Sponge' some old-timers call it) and extend shelf life." Good God! Gothamist always assumed big bagels represented the bounty of the city, and during our carb-conscious consciousness, we've opted for bialys - or scooped out the white flesh from the big bagels. But now we know!

Of course this makes us hungry for some bagels. If anyone is thinking of splurging to give a little New York to someone outside of the city, Gothamist loves the Zabar's NYC Essentials Gift Basket - it's $180 of bagels, lox, cream cheese, rugelach and more. Of course, you can create your own NYC Essentials gift basket for much less if you're just heading to someone's for brunch. Gothamist misses Columbia Bagels, but we'll happily head to H&H (mmm, yeasty good smells) when we're on the Upper West Side; we also covered Bagelsmith in Williamsburg. And the National Institute of Health has a particularly cruel "Proportion Distortion" interactive quiz on bagel sizes.

More at Verbose Coma. And Gothamist on the closing of another Columbia-area institution, Columbia Bagels.

Gothamist was uptown for a graduation yesterday when we saw something that reduced us to tears: Columbia Bagels is shutting its doors on May 30th. Some may scoff at the significance of this loss, but generations of Columbia, Barnard, and Bank Street graduates can attest to the quality of product found at this tiny neighborhood bakery. Back in 1998, Gothamist survived for more than six months on nothing but their sesame bagels with tuna salad (and the occasional raisin bagel with egg salad- ewww!) Open all night, they were an ideal pitstop after late night drinking at 1020, or late-night vomiting outside the Night Cafe. Farewell, old friend!