Black Seed at 176 First Ave. is working with chefs from Hearth, Porchetta, GG’s, Babu Ji and Bowery Meat Co., for a limited-edition series of bagels, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
Dianna Daoheung, Black Seed’s executive chef, said many of them got involved after stopping by to pick up orders. The East Village is "not like Nolita or SoHo, where it’s a super-touristy spot,” she said. “It’s definitely a community neighborhood."
Starting today here between East 10th Street and East 11th Street, you can try a bagel (through April 12) created by Sara Jenkins, who operates Porchetta and Porsena on East Seventh Street. Her creation is "a bagel with labne, a kind of strained yogurt, plus pickled turnip, shaved cucumber and radish and mint ($8.50)."
And from April 13 to 26, Bobby Hellen, executive chef at GG’s on East Fifth Street, is adapting his pizza in honor of the 1986 World Series-winning Mets: "a sopressata everything bagel that features the spicy salami with mozzarella, fennel agrodolce, pickled peppers and arugula ($11.75)."
Also! From April 27 to May 10, Hearth's Marco Canora will create a duck prosciutto, taleggio cheese and maitake mushroom bagel sandwich. Jessi Singh, chef and co-owner of Babu Ji has a toasted-fennel and burnt-garlic bagel with masala radish, raita and Indian-style scrambled eggs, with green chili, ginger, turmeric and scallion available May 11 to 24.
To date, no one has asked me to create a BP bagel in honor of the soon-to-close gas station on Lafayette and East Houston...
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Also on the bagel front... we hear that Bagel Belly opens this week at 114 Third Ave. near East 14th Street... there's a rack of fruit in the front window...
No. No.
ReplyDeleteNo.
The recently opened restaurant David's Café (on St. Micks Place) is also mentioned, "Where Breakfast Is the New Dinner."
ReplyDeleteBill
...leaving a trail of breadcrumbs from EV to Kosar's, in search of a bialy with a schmear. Good luck to them. Guess I'm out of step with the reality of the $12 bagel sammy!
ReplyDeleteThe Mets last won the World Series in 1986.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see a "GG" bagel inspired by GG Allin.
ReplyDelete"The East Village is "not like Nolita or SoHo, where it’s a super-touristy spot,” she said. “It’s definitely a community neighborhood." Obviously this person does not know what a tourist looks like, hint they are walking around during the day with a map and looking for that city tour bus which stops on 1st avenue.
ReplyDeleteChef's are perhaps over stating their importance in the world these days. Cooking food is nothing new and not all of us live to eat, get over yourselves only the gullible are buying your hype.
Had my first Black Seed bagel just yesterday. I was walking by and wanted to check out what it looked like in there, having been a loyal customer of Di Robertis for many many years.
ReplyDeleteOne person's opinion is that Black Seed makes a real, really good bagel, worth the price, unlike Tompkins Square Bagels which are much too heavy and doughy.
For $12 I hope they will at least toast the bagel.
ReplyDelete"The East Village is "not like Nolita or SoHo, where it’s a super-touristy spot,” she said. “It’s definitely a community neighborhood.""
ReplyDeleteSeriously? For faqs sake. Another hocus-pocus abracadabra distracting and charming you with their hullabaloo bs pr paying homage to the neighborhood. East Village not a super-touristy spot? That's a laff. ROFL LMAO and all that. Maybe they have one thing right -- East Village is definitely a community of neighborhood... a neighborhood of transients, students, bridge and tunnelers, bros, Girls, Carrie wannabes and those with self-illusion of selectivity. #SioS And that's to whom Black Seed Bagels and this limited-edition BS Bagels are for.
All bougie as #$%^ and makes me miss poppys, but come on, those do sound delicious!!!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Anon. 7.59. Not only is there nothing in that list that appeals to me, the thought of having to pay 12 bucks for the privilege is even more off-putting. Lightly toasted sesame bagel with lots of butter or lox spread, that's it for me. "Designer bagels" - Christ, you can cut the pretension with a knife.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 8:41, a bialy with a schmear??? Really? Just what reality ARE you in step with?
ReplyDeleteBlack Seed does make good bagels, but they are small. Perhaps a good motto would be, "Slightly smaller and slightly better".
ReplyDeleteWaiting for Jelly to open to check them. Pick-A-Bagel uptown makes good size good bagels.
Real New Yorkers don't toast their bagels unless they're stale!
ReplyDeleteGojira said:
ReplyDelete"Designer bagels" - Christ, you can cut the pretension with a knife.
And they do.
Who are these people paying $12 for a bagel?!
ReplyDeleteWhen you toast Black Seed bagels they taste bitter due to their burnt wood flavor from the baking process. I had one toasted with butter, big mistake, it tasted strange. Most bagels taste fine with toasting, but not these.
ReplyDeleteIs Empire Biscuit in on this? I want a biscuit in a bagel.
ReplyDeleteChefs have become parodies of themselves. Look I'll be fair, I'm sure these bagel creations taste great in the mouth and what not. But all this celebrity-chef rhetoric reads like parody.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry but chefs are not artists. They are artisans and craftsmen. Not trying to take away from what chefs do. Just trying to distinguish between those that strive to express something about the human condition, and those who make things to eat.
The only bagel which matters is an H&H Bagel.
ReplyDeleteI chuckled at 9:36am's "Girls" where he's saying there are women like the ones in "Girls".
The East Village is culturally dead. It's over, been over for many years, and it's not coming back.
You'll pay these prices for a specialty sandwich anywhere. Black Seed bagels are good, but I recommend getting them to go to avoid the crowd.
ReplyDeleteB&H Bagels are still available in some shops UWS..still the best.
ReplyDeleteLimited fucking edition? Umm they do get fucking moldy eventually right? It's a bagel- not a fucking Twinkie.
ReplyDeleteReally @9:47 ? Bialy's are the bomb..... and I am not the original poster.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but Black Seed bagels are not NYC style bagels, therefore making them obsolete.
ReplyDeleteThey are small enough to be eaten in a few bites, and they lack the real flavor and texture of a true New York bagel. They aren't yeasty and don't have the right crunch on the outside to soft on the inside texture which makes the bagels here so great and unique.
I am all for supporting local businesses but this Montreal style bagel should have stayed where they came from.
Whats next? A Montreal style deli serving up Pastrami sandwiches?
Oh yeah, we have Mile End for that, which is owned by the same people who own Black Seed. Its like listening to Green Day and calling it Punk Rock when those who really are in the know, will be listening to the Ramones and Black Flag all day...
This is a designer and limited-edition comment.
ReplyDeleteSome cranky people.
ReplyDeleteBlack Seed bagels are really delicious. I generally just got a sesame with some cream cheese. Yes, they are not a traditional New York bagel but who cares.
The bagel sandwiches are a little pricey, I agree on that. But finding a real sandwich for much less than ten bucks isnt that easy these days.
My only criticism of BSB is that the service is pretty indifferent at times. It's disorganized and a lot of the employees feel like they aren't trying that hard to get things right. A lot of them seem a little cool for school.
But the bagels are delicious. I definitely strongly recommend getting in there at 8 AM and seeing if you can get a sesame bagel straight out of the oven. I had one a couple days ago that was without a doubt the best bagel I have ever had. Just the perfect consistency....
This snobbery about bagels is idiotic. It's BREAD. Don't like it, don't eat it.
ReplyDeleteThe people who can afford to pay $12+ for a designer bagel are the tourists who the manager of Black Seed bagels disingenuously doesn't think exist in the EV.
ReplyDeleteWhy, oh why may I not wish for a bialy with a schmear. Asking you, 9:47. Or are you being funny?
ReplyDeleteHey Eyroll, is that a new piece of sushi made from fish eyes? If it is you could sell them for $14 to foodies all day long.
ReplyDeleteAfter noshing on this, will the poop also be designer and limited edition?
ReplyDeleteI find the whole "war against nice things" to be pretty absurd, but $12 for a bagel is just pure hubris.
ReplyDeleteBRING BACK FIRST FLIGHT MUSIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love how you all complain complain complain then you lose a REAL part of the east village .....nothing. Shame on you!!!
ReplyDeleteNot trying to take away from what chefs do. Just trying to distinguish between those that strive to express something about the human condition, and those who make things to eat.
ReplyDeleteI love you 11:13 AM
As a life-long New Yorker, I like my bagels (a) affordable and (b) without pretentiousness. BSB fails on both counts.
ReplyDeleteEvery bagel described in this write-up is a joke, a bad & stupid joke. But it's a joke that will be lost on the bros, who'll think that it's just the most cutting-edge thing imaginable.
Thanks, but I know where to get really good NYC bagels, and BSB isn't the place.
Seriously, I don't get why anyone would pay any money at all for an overprized, overpriced small-sized bagel that arrives burned and smelling of burned wood. Must be an instagram "need". A better bagel at a better price can be found on Ave. A.
ReplyDelete11:08 AM: Just had a toasted BSB this morning. Didn't notice any bitterness. Are you sure the bitterness wasn't in your mouth already? Their rye bagels have a very nice rye taste.
ReplyDeleteI doesn't matter if no one buys the $12 bagels. They've been good publicity already. But I'm sure people will buy them.
Maybe BS Bagels are good, satisfying, tasty, whatnot. But the whole notion of attaching an excuse, aka, pr/mission statement to a simple food is as annoying those who would consume and be enthralled by this. This is just another polarization between the wealthy and middle/working class; the transients and locals; the gentrifiers and gentrified. It is just another daily food elevated to a level that is vanity to satisfy the infantile needs of the foodies, instead of a bagel just being a bagel. So when places like Black Seed Bagels sells pricier fare that is made differently, all of a sudden it's a foodie trend. But in reality it is just a middle-brow standard. Eating food in NYC, esp. the EV/LES has become a tedious chore.
ReplyDeleteI a native New York friend said to me 20 years ago, "blueberry... that's not a bagel".
ReplyDeleteBlack Seed Bagel is a great place to hang out. Maybe all you whiny babies should actually go inside sometime.
ReplyDelete"BRING BACK FIRST FLIGHT MUSIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love how you all complain complain complain then you lose a REAL part of the east village .....nothing. Shame on you!!!"
ReplyDeleteAgreed!!!
Meanwhile, Black Seed Bagels are excellent. They are not small; they are a reasonable size. The bagel inflation in the city is ridiculous; bagels seems to increase in size about 5%/year...as do the waistlines of humanoids.
However, what's with the LOUD I DO MEAN LOUD and CHEESY I DO MEAN CHEESY music in Black Seed? It isn't a bar. Maybe the music is designed to keep people from lingering too long.
- East Villager
They should name the bagels after people in the neighborhood like other idiots have. That kind of selling point shows the highest level of ignorance on the part of its creator.
ReplyDeleteThe Crusty - $1 (stale, preferably with saliva soaked in)
ReplyDeleteThe Bro - $2 (patch of mold, preferably with piss soaked in)
The Carrie Bradshaw - $3 (same as The Bro cuz Carries usually carry more money than Bros)
The Hipster - $10 if you look like a hipster
The Selfie - $15 if you look like you're gonna whip out an iPhone and take a photo of it for your Instagram/Facebook/whatever
The Shaoul - $30
The Soldano - $40
The Kirschner - $50
The Varvatos - $100
The Lifer - Whatever the fuck he/she thinks the bagel is worth (proof of residence before 1990 required)
You can always count on bagels to bring out the posters. You would think that existentially bagels have no meaning beyond what pleasure they do or do not bring to individuals. What annoys me in Anon 5:07's post is the statement "proof of residence before 1990 required" (whatever that means). Does it mean that the right to have an opinion about what is going on in the EV or LES is predicated on when you moved here? This type of comment surfaces a lot on this blog--as if you have to post your first Con Ed bill to prove that you have the right to make a comment. Oh My God, it's just a bagel. The world will not end if I don't buy a Black Seed designer bagel--nor will my life have more meaning if I do.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to go in, if you're a millineal. They have the music loud to dissuade old people from lingering too long. This ain't no Dunkin'Donuts afterall. Only the young and beautiful are treated and served kindly here.
ReplyDeleteI bought a bag of Key Food Bagels for three buck. I win, Muhahahaha!
ReplyDeleteTown & Village reported today that Ess-a-Bagel plans to re-open in StuyTown in May. No word on whether they will finally offer toasting.
ReplyDeleteOh, I get it Giovanni, you miss Bob and Ray's House of Toast. Do you want your toast buttered on the far side or the near side. What is this obsession about toasting or not toasting bagels. Get a life.
ReplyDeleteWhat a hilarious bunch of cranky gasbags we've become! Listen: the bagels at Black Seed are chewy, tasty, Montreal-style. They don't claim to be NY bagels. Sara Jenkins--whose bagel creation sounds terrific--is a small-business owner in our neighborhood, employing and feeding our neighbors. Black Seed took over a beloved local space and, instead of tearing it apart and making something sleek and soulless, restored it, polished it, and made it a vital place again. If your idea of an ideal bagel involves Homeric size and affordability, then by all means, grab some Key Food bagels, no judgement. But stop judging businesses that are trying to be respectful and make a profit.
ReplyDeleteAnn: Thanks for telling everyone what to do and how to feel...how not to have an opinion about prices or styles of food.
ReplyDeleteWe feel better now knowing that you're in charge!
"No judgement" said the poster who just judged everyone who has an opinion different from hers. Criticizing people who want affordability makes her sound like a landlord who buys a building full of affordable apartments and then spends all their time complaining about the rent stabilized tenants who have lived there for years. The only cranky gasbag around here is the one looking down her nose at people who don't buy the crazy notion that a business that sells $15 bagel sandwiches automatically deserves our respect.
ReplyDelete