Wait — what the gap?
Brace yourselves, New York — based on the specialists, the very best bagels are not boiled and baked within the Large Apple, however in Texas.
The shock schmear on Gotham’s status as a number one carb capital got here courtesy of a panel of judges on the 2025 BagelFest, held at CitiField in Queens over the weekend — the place Starship Bagels, an upstart from Fort Value, took prime honors over dozens of native greats.
Extra humiliating nonetheless, the Folks’s Alternative award on the edible occasion — attended by hundreds of New Yorkers — went to Baltik’s Bagel in Richmond, Va., a five-hour drive away from the closest of the 5 boroughs.
Brooklynite Sam Silverman, who based the pageant six years in the past, informed The Publish he stands by the astonishing verdict — and that it’s time for rest-on-their-laurels NYC outlets to boost their sport and show the professionals and fest attendees fallacious.
“I feel [New York bagel makers] must be extra aggressive,” mentioned Silverman, 33, noting that too many native joints assume they don’t even must attend the occasion to defend their honor. “Bagel outlets from across the metropolis, Lengthy Island and New Jersey must step it up and put their product to the take a look at. Let’s duke it out!”
“I feel numerous them take a look at it like they’ve extra to lose than to achieve — within the sense that in the event you’re a New York bagel store and also you win the Finest Bagel award, you’re anticipated to,” Silverman defined. “However in the event you don’t, it’s like what’s the deal, why didn’t you win?’”
He hastened to level out that certainly one of his native favorites, the Whitestone, Queens-based Utopia Bagels, managed to snag the highest prize final 12 months.
The shocking slight comes amid a latest shift within the New York scene, the place brash new entrants like Apollo Bagel are ready to attract prolonged strains for his or her lighter, sourdough bagels, a mode popularized lately in cities like Los Angeles.
BagelFest started in 2019 as a semi-small gathering in Bushwick, New York, although Silverman mentioned he first baked up the thought in 2017 when he realized New York Metropolis had by no means hosted a pageant of this sort earlier than.
Roughly 300 followers of the breakfast staple obtained collectively that first 12 months to rejoice their mouthwatering love and appreciation for bagels of every kind, courtesy of the work of Silverman, his then-fiancé and buddies.
Since then, the meet-up has ballooned right into a complete commerce and shopper present. This 12 months, round 2,000 attendees joined collectively to take part within the making, judging and consuming of their favourite carb creation.
Recipes starting from conventional favorites to new spins on classics are swapped on the occasion throughout reside demos and tastings. Bagel-making lessons, panel discussions with prime business leaders and networking alternatives are additionally included.
Moreover, Silverman mentioned, the gathering propels the enlargement and funding of each established and up-and-coming bagel outlets which can be awarded every year with a few of BagelFest’s most vital achievements.
“[In 2021] was the primary time we held a Finest Bagels competitors,” the Greenpointer defined. “To everybody’s shock, a small upstart from Westport, Conn. beat out all these actually established outlets. It was PopUp Bagels.”
PopUp, one other store that has distributed with custom and introduced a brand new sort of bagel expertise to town of late, has since gone on to construct a cult following and has expanded to scores of areas nationwide.
Mike Varley, a longtime decide for the competitors and creator of EverythingisEverything.NYC, an internet site the place he’s managed to log greater than 200 native bagel store opinions — Utopia is one his favorites, as properly — shared that he feels the rising presence of non-local bagels at BagelFest is an efficient factor for the NYC bagel scene.
Varley informed The Publish that the outsiders are of a selected mindset: “I’m not attempting to be a New York bagel. I’m attempting so as to add to the dialog.”
“I feel transferring ahead, it’s really nice for New York Metropolis, as a result of it’s not nearly, ‘Oh, I’ve this one type’,” Varley continued. “The factor about New York Metropolis is, if you can also make it right here, you can also make it wherever — for something. The bagels are not any exception.”
5 finest conventional bagel outlets in NYC that deserve your dough
You don’t should go all the way in which to Texas for a fantastic bagel — listed below are 5 of the very best NYC bagelries to go to (or revisit!) proper now:
1) Bo’s Bagels – Uptown beginner that’s overtaken a lot of the basic competitors.
2) Utopia Bagels — As soon as a Whitestone favourite strictly for those-in-the-know, the winner of final 12 months’s BagelFest has turn out to be a neighborhood biggie, with outlets in Manhattan and Lengthy Island Metropolis. Order Utopia Bagels on Goldbelly.
3) Tompkins Sq. Bagel — A stylish downtown favourite that respects respect native custom. Was round properly earlier than the latest bagel craze kicked off. Order Tompkins Sq. Bagels on Goldbelly.
4) Broad Nosh — One other comparatively new add that manages to maintain the basic really feel; 4 Manhattan areas saved busy by locals and guests alike.
5) Ess-A-Bagel — Too usually hit and miss, however once they’re on, there’s few higher than this Midtown staple with a number of areas now. High NYC winner at this 12 months’s BagelFest. Order Ess-A-Bagel on Goldbelly.
extra reporting by David Landsel
