Black Seed Bagels and chef Bobby Hellen launch Black Seed Pizza

The Black Seed Bagels team today launches a new venture — Black Seed Pizza, a collaboration with Bobby Hellen, who ran GG's on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B for three years until December 2017.

Hellen will be working from Black Seed's East Village location on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street. 

The opening menu features five pizzas, including standards such as Cheese, Tomato and White as well as several specialties like Bob's Pizza (seen below), which features sopressata, mozzarella blend, grana padano, pecorino, tomato sauce, castelvetrano olive, banana pepper, oregano and homemade chimichurri ...

The pizzas are available in two sizes — square (12" x 12", feeds 2-3 people) and round (9" diameter, feeds 1 person). Find the menu here.

Some details via the opening announcement:

Black Seed Pizza's dough is fermented for 36 hours and made from certified organic, stone ground flour from Wild Hive Farm in the Hudson Valley, non-GMO all-purpose flour from King Arthur Flour in Vermont, and a 100-year old sourdough starter. 

The sauce is made using certified organic Bianco DiNapoli San Marzano-style tomatoes from California. All pies are baked in Sicilian-style pans, in a wood-fired oven. Gluten-free dough options are available for the square pizzas, and a plant-based cheese (Numu) is available to substitute for mozzarella

The pizza will be available for pickup at 176 First Ave. and delivery through Black Seed Pizza's own site and also via the usual third-party delivery platforms. 

Hours: Sunday to Thursday from 4-10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m.
 
The Black Seed founding partners (Noah Bernamoff, Matt Kliegman and Dianna Daoheung) have been friends with Hellen for years and say that this is more than a pop-up concept, but rather "a full-fledged, standalone business alongside the bagel operation, poised to grow and potentially operate out of more Black Seed locations with wood-fired ovens."

Storefront photo by Steven; pizza pic by Shay Harrington

Black Seed Bagels closes for duration of coronavirus outbreak

Black Seed Bagels decided to shut down after service yesterday afternoon. The shop's locations, including the East Village outpost on First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street, are closed until further notice.

In an Instagram message, the owners wrote in part:

Thank you for your incredible support over the past month as we navigated how to best serve our guests and take care of our employees, as well as others in the hospitality industry.

At this time, we have decided to temporarily close our shops ... in order to do our part to protect the health and safety of our loyal staff, customers, and the general public.

H/T Steven!

Behold the Russo's-Black Seed bagel bread bomb

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Russo’s Mozzarella and Pasta (@russosnyc) on Jan 6, 2020 at 6:39am PST

Russo’s Mozzarella and Pasta, the neighborhood institution (circa 1908) over on 11th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, has teamed up with Black Seed Bagels for this combo sandwich — bagel bread stuffed with prosciutto and handmade mozzarella and served with a pesto dipping sauce.

The creation is available all month at any of the Black Seed locations, including the one at 176 First Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street.

The former DeRobertis building on 1st Avenue is now the Slater, where the penthouse is $15k

As previously reported, there have been ongoing renovations at 174-176 First Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street.

The residential units above the storefronts (Black Seed bagels has been in the north space since October 2015) hit the rental market earlier this summer.

For starters, the building has a new name: the Slater.



And a few building blurbs via Streeteasy...

Each apartment in this newly gut renovated building is sprawling with natural light from both Eastern and Western exposures.

The state-of-the-art kitchen touts high-end stainless steel appliances consisting of a Whirlpool Microwave, Fisher and Paykel Stove and Oven, Liebherr Refrigerator, LG Dishwasher and a Summit Wine Cooler.

And...

Additional features guaranteed not to be found elsewhere include USB electrical outlets, HD video intercoms and Latch Keyless entry system on every apartment door.

The building’s expansive furnished communal roof deck will also have a pergola, bbq station and high top bar for entertaining with 360 degrees New York City skyline views.

Together, these renovations are one of a kind and guaranteed to be the envy of the neighborhood. At The Slater, you’ll find premium finishes and the best comforts.

The penthouse, featuring seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, has an asking price of $15,125. (The fine print: "The price advertised is the net effective rent with one month free on a 12 month lease.")

This building was owned for generations by the DeRobertis family. They closed DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe here after 110 years in business in December 2014. The economy, age and health reportedly compelled the four DeRobertis siblings to sell the building (for $9.9 million, per public records).

In May 2018, High Point Property Group reportedly bought the five-story walkup for $12.1 million. The seller was a joint venture between EBMG, LLC and AMJ Equities.

The current landlord has said they'll return a refurbished DeRobertis neon signage to the storefront above Black Seed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ugh: The 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe closes after Dec. 5

[Updated] 110-year-old DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe looks to be closing once the building is sold

174-176 First Ave., home of DeRobertis Pasticceria and Caffe, is for sale

Let's take a look at the DeRobertis in-house bakery

What happened to the DeRobertis neon sign on 1st Avenue?

Noted (bagel edition)

[Image via Black Seed Bagels]

Of possible interest to bagel fans... Black Seed Bagels and Violet, the grilled pizza place that recently opened on Fifth Street, have partnered to create the East Bay Bagel Sandwich available starting today for the month of April.

Via the EVG inbox...

Inspired by Violet’s Rhode Island roots, the sandwich is made with chorizo, fried egg, melted provolone cheese, grilled and sautéed kale, topped with sliced banana peppers and served on an everything bagel. ($13)

The sandwich is available at all four currently open Black Seed locations, including First Avenue between 10th Street and 11th Street.

Black Seed bagels about 2 weeks away from opening

In its Fall Restaurant Preview earlier this month, the Times listed that Black Seed bagels would be opening its new location at 176 First Ave. on Sept. 17.

Based on that info, there were a few people expecting to find bagels being served from the former DeRobertis bakery location yesterday.

That wasn't the case.

Black Seed cleared up any confusion via Twitter…

@NameCantBe @evgrieve @nytimes Two more weeks. Hope to see you soon on 1st Ave!

— Black Seed Bagels (@BlackSeedBagels) September 17, 2015

H/T @NameCantBe

Previously