On the west coast, the closest thing we have to a New York bagel is Noah's Bagels, with its pseudo-subway station decor and sarcastic placement of Jewish words on its menu. I prefer Noah's over any other bagelry within my neighborhood, but I was eager to see what New York had to offer. As we exited the subway station, I was ecstatic to see what stood across the street:
H&H Bagel showcased what they knew how to do best: Bagels. Upon entering the shop, a warm humid gust of air rushed to my face and delivered a scent of bagel heaven. A giant, rotating oven was in view to all customers as they waited to purchase their goods. The list items was simple; bagels, bagels and more bagels. Varieties included just the basics such as plain, garlic, sourdough, blueberry and cinnamon raisin. Being a San Francisco native, I opted to try the sourdough bagel. Topped off with some smoked whitefish salad from Zabar's, the bagel was absolutely everything I could have hoped for in a bagel. The crunchy exterior was countered with a chewy and airy interior with a slight hint of tartness. The coarse crumb of the bagel complimented the salty, smoky whitefish perfectly. I responded to perfection by devouring the bagel within seconds (OK, maybe it took me a minute to chew)!
Following my stop at the bagelry, was a visit to the Museum of Natural History located just across from Central Park. Scaling four floors of artifacts and dioramas built up quite the afternoon appetite and since I wanted try an authentic NY deli-style sandwich, we headed back to Zabar's to fulfill my craving.
Zabar's is a specialty market that is a gastronomer's dream come true. As I walked in the doors, the smell of aging cheese and salted olive brine rushed to my nose and I knew that I had arrived at one of New York's favorite local markets. For me, the highlights of this market were definitely centered around the full service lox bar and of course the delicatessen. I had never seen a full service counter quite like this one before. About 25 varieties of smoked fish lined a refrigerated case that was manned by two clerks. Each clerk wielded a filet knife which he used to slice paper thin sheets of the desired fish for each customer. The counter definitely opened my eyes to all the possibilities of smoked seafood, but I guess it was only natural, seeing as how New Yorkers a good accompaniment to a good bagel.
Just ahead of the lox counter stood the delicatessen counter that included a full hot case of entrees, lunchmeats, cheeses, and of course a strudel and knish counter. There were 5 clerks running around frantically from case to slicer and all up and down the aisle serving customer after customer after customer. After a brief glance at the menu, it was clear that there was only one choice for me: the #1 Combination Sandwich, an inventive mix of corned beef, pastrami and sliced tongue served with sauerkraut, russian dressing and swiss cheese. I've always been a fan of reuben sandwiches, so this was an easy choice. The suspense built as the clerk carefully layered each meat on top of the other until the sandwich grew to two and a half inches thick! As he handed me the sandwich, I informed him that I came all the way from California for a good New York deli sandwich and assured me that I had come to the right guy. He was right! The chewy rye bread matched the tang from the dressing and saltiness from the meats in perfect harmony. The sauerkraut and onions on the sandwich topped it all off and made for one heck of a sandwich. I sat on a bench in the middle of the street and watched the world whizz by as I wolfed down the amazing work of art. On that day, I was reminded of two things: I heart New York and I heart sandwiches!
No comments:
Post a Comment