New York BagelFest taught me I used to be doing bagels mistaken

Whereas heading to class within the morning, there’s a good likelihood you make a cease for a cup of espresso and a New York traditional, a bagel. Whether or not you get all the things, asiago, sesame or — for some god forsaken cause — cinnamon raisin, the bagel is a morning staple for busy routines.

Nevertheless, for the small companies on the 4th Annual New York BagelFest in Chelsea’s Starrett-Lehigh, bagels had been greater than that — they had been an artwork kind. Held on Oct. 20 and 21, the competition featured a number of the finest native, nationwide and worldwide bagel retailers that every provided distinctive mixtures of sandwiches, schmears, lox and extra. I didn’t know that bagels may are available in so many alternative flavors and textures — or that each state had their very own concept of what the best bagel needs to be — however BagelFest was a humbling expertise for the culinary snob in me.

“It’s all in regards to the texture, the chewiness, for me,” stated Scott Goodfriend, the Chief Consuming Officer of Final Meals Excursions, who walked round carrying a “Bagel Skilled” sash and was one of many judges for the competition. In line with him, the go-to bagel order is a cinnamon raisin bagel with jalapeño — sure, you learn that proper — cream cheese.

As we walked across the conference heart, we had been handed tokens that allowed us to vote for our prime three bagels. My favourite, by far, was Wheated, a Brooklyn-based sourdough pizza store that serves bagels on the weekends. Their burnt scallion cream cheese with chili-garlic crunch on prime was revolutionary. I didn’t understand seasoning blends aside from everything-but-the-bagel may work so effectively, however the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the nippiness of cream cheese balanced out the spicy and crunchy topping.