everybody's right - the bagels are definitely better.

i don't know if it's the water, the air or just better bagel love, but i have now converted. there's something drastically different about new york bagels than any others i've ever had before. jory and i flew into jfk airport to meet with a friend who was going to drive us down to boston for a wedding and jory insisted that, regardless of any time restrictions that may lay in our path, we must have new york bagels. the wedding could wait.

"ok... here's the plan," said ross, as he pulled the car over in a nondescript intersection. he pointed to the store catty corner across from us. "one of you runs into h&h bagels, get a dozen sesame seed bagels, two everything bagels, lightly done. the other one runs into zabar's across the street," he pointed at the busy little market a hundred yards away. "at zabar's you should get some lox, some cream cheese and be sure to get knives and napkins. i'll wait here in the car until you get back. don't forget the knives and napkins," he repeated.

"go!" we hopped out of the car with and sped off to our respective destinations, jory to h&h bagels and i to zabar's. we couldn't have been more concentrated about our tasks if it were a bank robbery.

zabar's was totally overwhelming. more whitefish, knishes, juices and wafer treats than i could possibly focus on. the crowd moved me in the direction of the fishman who was yelling out for customers.

"are you number 67? 'cause if you're not 67 then i'm not gonna help you," he said, sensing my west coast confusion as i stared at all the salmon in front of me.

so... much... salmon...

"lox," i blurted out.

"nova?" he grabbed at an orange, fleshy thing at his side and started cutting.

"yes," i had no idea what i was agreeing to, but it all seemed to go according to some master plan. he sliced off a section of the fish and handed it off to me. i tasted it.

it wasn't lox. it was sushi.

i ordered a quarter pound, grabbed some cream cheese, paid the fast talking cashier and raced out the building (after grabbing the required knives and napkins). the final bagel construction took place in a 70 mile per hour moving vehicle. cream cheese, lox, bagels exploded out of the bag and landed assembled in our mouths.

and i'll be damned, but they were right. why can't there be good bagels on the west coast? what are we missing? isn't this something that science can solve?? and what is it with the lox? the more i sit around contemplating this incredible east coast bagel/lox combination, the more i'm just totally stumped. i mean, we can map out the human genome for chrissake, and we can't get good bagels in california?

this is an injustice.

<10.16.00>

 

 

 

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