Photos and story by EVG contributor Stacie Joy
I had my first bialy at age 17 when I moved to New York City. And I was hooked. Immediately.
Through the years, I’d had bialys from many locations, but my go-to was Kossar’s Bialys at 367 Grand Street. It’s a straight line downtown from my Avenue B apartment. There were seemingly always open and had delicious oniony bialys (as well as bagels).
I quickly developed a breakfast habit: bialy, sliced across, toasted with butter, smattering of sea salt. And a strong cup of coffee.
So when I heard that Kossar’s was being sold, like many regulars, I panicked.
When Marc Halprin (president), Evan Giniger (co-owner), and David Zablocki (director of operations) took over last September, they managed to improve the quality of the bialy without losing any of the things that made Kossar’s so famous and reliable. Bialys were fresh-baked every day, and end-of-day leftovers given to Food Bank for NYC as well as local houses of worship.
[David Zablocki]
David and Marc were kind enough to grant me a tour of the bakery (which, by the way, is available if you call ahead and request one!) and allow me to shoot some photos and pester them with bialy based questions. (Hey! Being a bialy ambassador is about bringing bialy knowledge to the people.)
Bialys are made up of only four ingredients (not including the onion or garlic findings that go in the center dent): Water, flour, yeast and salt. Skimp on the quality of any of them and the final product suffers. Bakers start at midnight mixing the ingredients, shaping, resting and proofing the dough (called kuchen). It’s a 3-hour process from start to finish, not including the eating portion. A small piece of every batch is set aside to be blessed by Rabbi Fishelis, and so the bakery can continue to receive its Parve rating.
And no, you do not have to be Jewish or Polish to enjoy a bialy. “All humans can enjoy bialys,” David says.
According to Marc, the best way to eat a bialy is to toast first, then slice. If you must. David admits to putting a pat of butter in the center of a hot bialy and just chowing down. Since Kossar’s is a bakery, not a restaurant, they cannot add a schmear but you can buy a tub of cream cheese at the shop’s fridge and do it yourself at the counter.
One hundred years ago there were bialys everywhere on the Lower East Side. It’s nice to see tradition being carried into the modern day. David told me that old-world food is his heritage and passion and that the bialy hasn’t changed much since Kossar’s started selling it in 1936. In fact, it hasn’t changed much from its Bialystok, Poland, origins.
Anyone who wants to can head down to the bakery early (really early) in the morning to watch the bialys, pletzels, and bagels being baked. The goods will last about three days if kept wrapped in plastic, or will keep if frozen.
