http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/What-goes-around-6261527.phpWhat goes around
Addition of several new bagel shops in area testifies to an enduring appeal
By Deanna Fox
Updated 7:13 am, Thursday, May 14, 2015
One could not possibly think of breakfast without thinking about a bagel. When cereal fails to sate, but pancakes are too complicated to cram into the morning rush, there is the trusty bagel.
Toasted or not, adorned with fruity swirls or seeds, or simply left plain, it is hard to deny the appeal. But we're not talking about the Lender's variety.
Mass-produced bagels found pre-packaged in grocery stores lack the character traits common to great bagels: a blistered, crunchy exterior; a chewy interior; a hint of malty sweetness. Big box bagels, in a taxonomy-style carbohydrate breakdown, would fall under the genus of bread roll.
Albany falls between two places, with bagel styles most other bakeries attempt to replicate. Three hours to the north, we find Montreal, with bagels that err toward the smaller side and are a bit sweeter and more dense. Three hours to the south is New York City, with beloved bagels that are soft, chewy and doughy.
Like Constantinople on the Silk Road, the Capital Region is primed to be a crossroads of superior bagel baking.
While classics like plain and "everything" bagels are top-sellers, "our jalapeno cheddar has its own group of customers," says Toniann Avery, who owns Bagels and Bakes with her husband, Keith. Avery says she sells between 100 dozen and 250 dozen bagels a day, depending on wholesale demand."Our bagel is a New York bagel, and if you close your eyes and bite into it, you will feel the snap of the crust and a delicious homemade dense bread flavor," says Avery.My families go to place for bagels, but I miss South China