As a transplanted New Yorker, I’ve done my share of groaning about the state of the bagel in Denver. So with visions of plump, chewy bagels from days gone by, I sought out national chains, local haunts, and even in a moment of despair, a grocery store, but each time I was disappointed by the same soft, dull crusts and airy insides.
And for good reason: All too often what’s masquerading as a bagel is really just a roll. Yes, it might have a hole in the middle but unless that dough has done the backstroke in a pot of boiling water, it’s no closer to a bagel than a breadstick.
Then I found New York Bagel Café. Head baker Mike Faltermeier has been giving bagels a good swim for nearly nine years, and the end result is a bagel worthy of the name. Order a plain bagel with cream cheese ($2.29), the bestseller, and you’ll find a bagel with a slightly shiny crust, courtesy of the water; a pleasantly yeasty flavor; and a decidedly chewy texture. As with any good bagel, your teeth have to bite through the crust to get to the insides.
And what goes inside is equally delicious. The café sells six flavors of cream cheese, from plain to honey almond to jalapeno ($1.99 for 4 ounces). All are made in- house with a Neufchatel base that has about one-third less fat than the standard schmear. More substantial options include the breakfast bagel ($3.49), with scrambled eggs, cheese, and either bacon, ham or sausage, and lunch sandwiches such as the Fifth Avenue ($5.69), with ham, smoked turkey, bacon and Swiss cheese.
The everything bagel, loaded with poppy and sesame seeds, garlic, salt and onion, makes a nice foundation for a savory sandwich, while sweeter varieties like cranberry orange are better with butter or cream cheese. In all, the café makes about 13 types of bagels a day, from a rotation of 20, including some that debut once a year as a flavor of the month.
Special flavors include pumpernickel, pumpkin spice, and chocolate. That’s right, chocolate.
“We get a few people who love them,” says owner, baker, and man-of-all-hats Ernie Gregory, who purchased the business two years ago. “And there are others who go, ‘Chocolate bagels? Ugh.”‘
As for me, I’ll stick with poppy.
New York Bagel Café
AMERICAN|2764 S Wadsworth Blvd, 303-763-8860|85 cents-$11.69|6 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday; 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. There’s a parking lot.
Front burner: Bagels are only as good as the dough that shapes them, and this dough is treated well, with the right amount of moisture and plenty of time to proof and rest before baking.
Back burner: Skip the soup, which isn’t homemade.
