After attending New York BagelFest on Sept. 28, I now understand that cream cheese, smoked salmon and bread are direct threats to my self-control. BagelFest, I don’t blame you for making me eat enough bagels for a lifetime. I don’t blame myself, either — every bite I had was truly addicting.
BagelFest is a glimpse into a niche world — one in which hundreds of people unite over their shared love for bagels. More than 30 vendors were present, offering bite-sized bagels along with stalls for coffee and energy drinks at the fifth annual BagelFest at Citi Field in Queens. Three vendors from Australia, Canada and Portugal even flew in to showcase their bagels.
My favorite bagel of the day was the first one I tried — a stuffed Reuben bagel from Moonrise Bagels. Maybe it was the fact that I was eating on an empty stomach, or the way the meat seeped into the dough, making it incredibly moist, but it stood out as the most unique of the day.
The vendor that took the title of “Best of the Fest” during the festival’s award ceremony was Bagelsaurus, a bakeshop based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I tried their pretzel bagel with honey-rosemary cream cheese, which offered a delightful sweetness and a refreshing change from the more common savory flavors. The bagel itself was fluffy and light, which is now something I’ll be more mindful of — finding a bagel that doesn’t require too much chewing to enjoy.
“I think we have a completely different style than in New York, so ours kind of stood out since there were so many New York-based places here. Ours is a lighter interior with a crispy crust,” Mary Ting Hyatt, owner of Bagelsaurus, told WSN. “We brought some unique flavor combinations and served them warm, which I think won some people over too.”
I came into BagelFest thinking that my go-to — an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese, toasted — was unbeatable. But never again will I eat one type of bagel as if it’s the only one. The festival introduced me to some of the most unique flavors out there — an apple pie bagel, a cacio-e-pepe bagel with tomato butter and a bagel with a Butterfinger-infused schmear. I felt that Olmo Bagels had the most creative concepts with its street-food-inspired creations. The garlic-bread bagel and the bagel paired with espresso and chocolate both made for unexpected combinations. While they weren’t my favorite in terms of flavor, I appreciated the commitment to unique concepts.
The festival also offered several other activities for participants to watch or engage in, including a photobooth and a competition to see who could roll the most bagels in a set amount of time. This year’s bagel-rolling winner was Affan Baka.
“My dad brought me to work when I was three because my mom was saying that I was naughty at home,” Baka told WSN. “It is a lot of practice — I roll a lot of bagels and my dad taught me a lot of good techniques.”
I ended the day at the BagelFest award ceremony, where standout vendors won titles like “Schmear of the Year” and “Best of the Boroughs.” BagelFest founder Sam Silverman told WSN that he is excited to continue expanding the scope of the festival.
“This year was an 11 out of 10. This was by far the best festival that we’ve had — it had the best vibes, the best food and the best exhibitors from the furthest distances,” Silverman said. “The vision I had seven years ago felt like it was realized today, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it.”
Contact Adrianna Nehme at [email protected].
