No Good Bagels In California

[+ poolboy48220]

What about Cronuts? They were all the rage this past year. There's one place in Detroit that makes them, I found them kind of heavy and didn't care for them very much. I'm not sure if they're horrible knock-offs, or if it's just inherently not very good.

[+ deej]

But a lot of this stuff about regional food items, I am convinced, is mostly sentimentality.

 

Indeed. People rave about New York pizza, but I never saw anything special about it. I grew up on pizza from a local joint (now a regional chain) in the midwest. Mom loved it, so of course it's what she ordered. I liked it OK, but when I had my first Chicago-style deep dish pizza I never went back.

 

What I miss most from the NYC area is the neighborhood deli. There's one on every corner. In LA, it's a 7-11. In Chicago it's a White Hen Pantry. The chains just aren't the same as a deli, each deli having its own specialty.

[+ honcho]

I'll put in a good word for Noah's Bagels in the in the SF Bay Area. Last time I checked it was still part of California . . .

[+ FreshFluff]

I'll put in a good word for Noah's Bagels in the in the SF Bay Area. Last time I checked it was still part of California . . .

 

I just opened this thread to post about Noah's, which has opened stores in NY and NJ but was based in CA. People have called it bread with a hole in the middle, but I always loved their bagels.

[Rudynate]

Brioche ... Croissant ...

 

The important thing is that they are buttery and just baked and you are gazing at them through the window of your favorite patisserie on a beautiful morning in Paris. You have gone there to buy one for you and one for your handsome lover. He was still asleep when you tiptoed out of the apartment. You exhausted him last night. After a strong café and a pastry in bed, the two of you will brush the crumbs from the sheets and you will have him again.

 

It's all good.

Brioche and croissants are two entirely different things.

[rguer]

Brioche and croissants are two entirely different things.

And croissants produce many many more crumbs, at least the good ones do.

[Zman]

I've lived in NY and CA and I can't say I noticed a difference in the bagels. Maybe I need to educate my palate which sounds like a great reason to eat more bagels .

FWIW, I always liked Panera's bagels in whatever region I find myself.

 

Anyone else here like peanut butter on your bagels? On a warm toasty bagel where the PB melts into the cracks. Ah, yum.

[+ Gar1eth]

The article mentions Lender's Bagels. I've always thought they were pretty tasteless. And I can't remember being overly thrilled by the bagels at Einsteins either.

 

But that doesn't mean NYC is the perfect world for all things Jewish. Last time I was there I went to a Kosher Restaurant for the 1st time. I can't remember the name. It wasn't one of the fancy 4 or 5 star places. It was a place with several branches. It had sit down service. It wasn't just a deli. So I excitedly ordered some chicken and matzah ball soup. Well I wasn't expecting it to taste like my mother's. But in this case it was so weak it tasted as if the closest an actual chicken had gotten to it was to fly over the pot and spit into it. The matzah balls were lousy too. I was quite disappointed.

 

Gman

[+ SundayZip]

No good bagels? ... "LET THEM EAT BRIOCHE" !

 

 

http://directory.bittawfiq.com/wp-content/uploads/la-brioche1.jpg

 

Huh! I'd put my Czech Bohemian grandmother's Kolaches up against some Frenchman's brioche any day!

 

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/poppy-seed-kolache-640.jpg

[+ deej]

A friend learned to bake from her Bohemian grandmother and her German grandmother. Her annual Christmas tin of goodies is TO DIE FOR.

 

I've asked her for her recipes a few times and got a list of ingredients like this:

 

Some flour

Enough sugar

A little baking powder

Eggs

and so on.

 

It's tribal knowledge. The result is always AWESOME.

[+ Charlie]

I lived in Manhattan for 10+ years and quickly learned that NY artisans made the best of those (and dumplings, etc). But, I was amazed by the bagels at Manhattan's in the Desert, a delicatessen in Palm Springs and Palm Desert, CA. I have no idea where the source them, but they are unbelievable! They brought tears to my eyes.

The owners are from New York. However, most Jewish diners in Palm Springs seem to think Sherman's is more authentic--but many of them are probably West Coast natives. As a longtime Philadelphian, I tend to compare delis to the Famous 4th Street Deli, which is more like Sherman's than like Manhattan in the Desert.

[body2body]

Langer's is the best Pastrami in L.A. Brooklyn Bagel Bakery on Beverly Blvd. has always been considered the best place to get Bagels in L.A. They are in a very unfashionable neighborhood near downtown. I knew people who who drove all the way from the Valley and Santa Monica to buy Bagels there. Alas, the ancient building that housed their retail sales had a structural collapse over Memorial Day weekend, so until they find a location they are only supplying their Wholesale clients.

But if you are in L.A. why worry about Bagels when we have a dizzying array of Mexican Panaderias where you find sublime Pan Dulce to enjoy with your morning coffee.

[Rudynate]

And croissants produce many many more crumbs, at least the good ones do.

 

I made croissants a couple of times years ago. They didn't come out badly. My friends liked them, but they were certainly nothing like what you get in Paris for breakfast. They require a lot of patience. Being considerably more patient than I was back then, I could turn out a pretty good croissant.

[Epigonos]

Hey body2body I'm with you 100% I used to drive from Orange County to L.A. Brooklyn Bagel Bakery to buy bagels at least once a month -- wonderful. It just happened to be quite near another L.A. dinning institution --Tommy's Original Hamburger stand on the corner of Beverly and Rampart. I also agree that Langer's has the best pastrami in Southern California; it is very lean and their rye bread is to die for. The neighborhood is a a bit dicey these days but it can be fun, now and then, to drive to Union Station in downtown L.A. and take the subway out to the McArthur Park stop and walk across the street to Langer's. Some people love The Hat (three locations) for pastrami sandwiches but I'm definitely NOT one of them. I hate wafer thin fatty sliced pastrami that is held in water and that is how they do it at The Hat.

 

I was born and grew up in South Central L.A. In those days, and even to a certain extent today, L.A. didn't have the outstanding hole in the wall Italian restaurants that were a dime a dozen in places like Chicago and New York. All we had was red sauce places servicing spaghetti with marinara sauce, ravioli with marinara sauce, half and half, and lasagna. HOWEVER, what we have always had is some of the very best hole in the wall Mexican and Japanese restaurants in the entire country. When I was a kid one of our next door neighbors was the Garcia’s and Mrs. Garcia was like a grandmother to me she fed me damn dear every day on home cooked Mexican food. Our other neighbors were the Nakashima’s and when I wasn’t eating at Mrs. Garcia’s I was eating at Mrs. Nakashima’s. I like to say that as a kid I grew up eating tacos and enchiladas with chop sticks. To this day I am happiest eating Mexican and Japanese food.

 

If anybody of board members find themselves in the L.A. area and would like some suggestions on either Mexican or Japanese restaurants give a yell.

[Steven_Draker]

"LET THEM EAT BRIOCHE" !

 

I think those are croissants

 

Right. And for variety I baked some CAKE for you this morning.

 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com//files/u14723/Brioches091206-Medium%26Small2.jpg

Brioche

[Steven_Draker]

I'd put my Czech Bohemian grandmother's Kolaches up against some Frenchman's brioche any day!

 

Speaking of regional food, viennoiserie and pâtisserie, try the world-famous portuguese Pastel de Nata !

 

http://monipag.com/jeremy-henriques/wp-content/uploads/sites/598/Pasteis-de-nata.jpg

Pastéis de Nata

[+ Gar1eth]

Right. And for variety I baked some CAKE for you this morning.

 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com//files/u14723/Brioches091206-Medium%26Small2.jpg

Brioche

 

The muffin things may be brioche. But the loaf on the left looks a lot like challah. Anyone else besides me like the challah with cinnamon and raisins? We used to get that every once in a while. I think usually around Rosh Hashanah.

 

Gman

[+ SundayZip]

And then there's the Cumbagel.

 

Definition:

The act of ejaculating on one's bagel, using the semen instead of cream cheese. A good prank.

 

Ted: "How the hell did you pull a cumbagel??!! I was only in the bathroom for two minutes!"

Mark: "Your mom helped."

 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cumbagel

[ericwinters]

I lived in LA nearly 10 years and was in corporate catering. I enjoyed Canters, not exactly like NYC deli's but a good fill in when missing my back east roots. Now the best bagel in LA at that time was Brooklyn Bagel, I think they were on 3rd street closer to downtown than the west side. Are they still around?

[Rudynate]

Speaking of regional food, viennoiserie and pâtisserie, try the world-famous portuguese Pastel de Nata !

 

http://monipag.com/jeremy-henriques/wp-content/uploads/sites/598/Pasteis-de-nata.jpg

Pastéis de Nata

 

One also mustn't forget Denmark's excellent pastries.

[+ Gar1eth]

And then there's the Cumbagel.

 

Definition:

The act of ejaculating on one's bagel, using the semen instead of cream cheese. A good prank.

 

Ted: "How the hell did you pull a cumbagel??!! I was only in the bathroom for two minutes!"

Mark: "Your mom helped."

 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cumbagel

It's a good thing I really like bagels-otherwise I'd never eat one again.

 

But talking about bagels reminds me of something from my childhood. I was in 3rd grade in a 'town' of about 150,000 in Texas. This was 1969/1970. Now bagels were not a well-known dish where I grew up probably unless you were Jewish-much like I had never heard of fajitas until the summer of 1982 (yes they were common in South Texas but hadn't really made it up to North Texas yet and weren't in every Tex-Mex restaurant). So again we had no delis where I grew up, and I'm sure the kosher food aisle at the local stores was pretty much minuscule or non-existent.

 

So for some reason my 3rd grade social studies book mentioned bagels. Maybe there was a chapter on Eastern Europe. Well it was obvious my teacher who grew up in the area had never heard of bagels before. She pronounced it with a short 'a' like in the word 'bag'. There were only about 6 Jews in my elementary school. Only one of them was in my grade, but she was in the other 3rd grade class. So I was the only one in the entire class to know the correct pronunciation. I remember being very happy to raise my hand to tell the class how to actually say it.

 

Gman

[sincitymix]

Right. And for variety I baked some CAKE for you this morning.

 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com//files/u14723/Brioches091206-Medium%26Small2.jpg

Brioche

 

I see no cake. You said there would be cake. The cake is a lie. (If you know were this quote is from, yay! )

[sincitymix]

Huh! I'd put my Czech Bohemian grandmother's Kolaches up against some Frenchman's brioche any day!

 

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/poppy-seed-kolache-640.jpg

Ooooooo.. That looks nummy

[+ Funguy]

Let THEM eat cake - I'll go for the croissant or brioche!

[+ Funguy]

The Kolaches look awfully good - very similar to hamantashen but hamantashen are always triangular.