And so, our trip to NY ended on June 1, 2009, with a visit to Bagel Boss Cafe located at 1941 Jericho Tpk. East Northport NY 11731. We had intended to grab a quick bite (and something to go) and get on the road. We ended up spending over an hour playing with the amazingly fresh and delicious kosher foods of the Bagel Boss. My Nutty Uncle Jerry Heller rightfully refers to this kind of food as "Jewish Soul Food."
The Jericho Tpk. location is the only one in the 13 store chain that has a "Deli Boss" section of fleischicks or meat items. The other 12 Bagel Bosses are strictly dairy restaurants. Since they are Kosher, meat and dairy must be strictly separated. This Bagel Boss Cafe pulls it off with great aplomb.
First - a few items from the "meat" section:
Though Jack's Deli makes an acceptable knish, and Mister Brisket carries frozen Oceanside Knishes - there is nothing like a fresh Kasha Knish.
Speaking of kasha - another family favorite - Kasha Varnishkes.
Into the milchiks side of the place - a dairy lockshen kugel, or noodle pudding. I had a taste of this at mom's house and it was yummy.
Bagel Boss features a fabulous display of made-from-scratch savory salads. My mother is partial to the Honey Mustard Tuna.
Bagel Boss turns the traditional salad bar on its head by keeping it under sanitary wrap - you tell the server what you want, and they portion it into your "chopped" salad container.
I didn't ask what kind of blintzes these were - but they looked delicious!
It wouldn't be Jewish Soul Food without dessert. A little something you should dunk in your coffee maybe?
We brought this ubiquitously New York Black & White Cookie back to our friend Linda, who just had knee replacement surgery. She is another transplanted East Coaster living in Cleveland.
And now - the moment you should have all been waiting for - the FISH case!
Smoked Whitefish
Herring
Baked Salmon
Sable Fish
Smaller Whitefish "Chubs"
Lox!
Yes - the stars of our show - Nova and Belly lox - and who really cares about the Nova, anyway? It's all about the belly - which is fast disappearing as Americans worry about their salt intake and ignore flavor considerations.
Bob and I ordered almost the same breakfast - belly lox. Mine on Bialy, his on Poppy Bagel with Onion, both with house-made cream cheese, side salad and a pickle. We even picked the same side - a beautiful looking tomato-onion salad.
We sat. Interesting table signs:
Milchiks is milchiks and fleishiks is fleishiks.
This was a meal of great beauty and flavor.
Mine
Bob's
We took home a full pound of belly lox, a package of the house made, no-gums-or-stabilizers cream cheese, three knishes and two sandwiches for the road - off the bone turkey for me, and Kosher salami with mustard for the shaygetz (Bob). The folks serving us were so tickled with our enthusiasm that they offered us a complimentary dessert - we selected an absolutely decadent full-sized pastry/cake with fresh apple, caramel, chocolate and nuts. Unfortunately, though it tasted delicious, it got tossed around and a little smooshed during the 8+ hour drive home. Did I mention we were hauling the guts of a full sized freezer in my Edge?
After we got home, and enjoyed our wings and things at The Annex on Monday night, we jumped into our goody bag for breakfast on Tuesday:
Yum. Here is a look at a complete sandwich, a couple of days later, on a D&R Bagels Everything Bagel:
During the week, I enjoyed my kasha knish for lunch with a touch of mustard:
I enjoyed my Spinach Knish, which was interestingly all spinach and no potato, on Sunday, under poached Hensbury Farm eggs:
And I still have a potato knish for lunch tomorrow! And Belly Lox in my freezer! Life is good, playing with such wonderful food!
The Jericho Tpk. location is the only one in the 13 store chain that has a "Deli Boss" section of fleischicks or meat items. The other 12 Bagel Bosses are strictly dairy restaurants. Since they are Kosher, meat and dairy must be strictly separated. This Bagel Boss Cafe pulls it off with great aplomb.
First - a few items from the "meat" section:
Though Jack's Deli makes an acceptable knish, and Mister Brisket carries frozen Oceanside Knishes - there is nothing like a fresh Kasha Knish.
Speaking of kasha - another family favorite - Kasha Varnishkes.
Into the milchiks side of the place - a dairy lockshen kugel, or noodle pudding. I had a taste of this at mom's house and it was yummy.
Bagel Boss features a fabulous display of made-from-scratch savory salads. My mother is partial to the Honey Mustard Tuna.
Bagel Boss turns the traditional salad bar on its head by keeping it under sanitary wrap - you tell the server what you want, and they portion it into your "chopped" salad container.
I didn't ask what kind of blintzes these were - but they looked delicious!
It wouldn't be Jewish Soul Food without dessert. A little something you should dunk in your coffee maybe?
We brought this ubiquitously New York Black & White Cookie back to our friend Linda, who just had knee replacement surgery. She is another transplanted East Coaster living in Cleveland.
And now - the moment you should have all been waiting for - the FISH case!
Smoked Whitefish
Herring
Baked Salmon
Sable Fish
Smaller Whitefish "Chubs"
Lox!
Yes - the stars of our show - Nova and Belly lox - and who really cares about the Nova, anyway? It's all about the belly - which is fast disappearing as Americans worry about their salt intake and ignore flavor considerations.
Bob and I ordered almost the same breakfast - belly lox. Mine on Bialy, his on Poppy Bagel with Onion, both with house-made cream cheese, side salad and a pickle. We even picked the same side - a beautiful looking tomato-onion salad.
We sat. Interesting table signs:
Milchiks is milchiks and fleishiks is fleishiks.
This was a meal of great beauty and flavor.
Mine
Bob's
We took home a full pound of belly lox, a package of the house made, no-gums-or-stabilizers cream cheese, three knishes and two sandwiches for the road - off the bone turkey for me, and Kosher salami with mustard for the shaygetz (Bob). The folks serving us were so tickled with our enthusiasm that they offered us a complimentary dessert - we selected an absolutely decadent full-sized pastry/cake with fresh apple, caramel, chocolate and nuts. Unfortunately, though it tasted delicious, it got tossed around and a little smooshed during the 8+ hour drive home. Did I mention we were hauling the guts of a full sized freezer in my Edge?
After we got home, and enjoyed our wings and things at The Annex on Monday night, we jumped into our goody bag for breakfast on Tuesday:
Yum. Here is a look at a complete sandwich, a couple of days later, on a D&R Bagels Everything Bagel:
During the week, I enjoyed my kasha knish for lunch with a touch of mustard:
I enjoyed my Spinach Knish, which was interestingly all spinach and no potato, on Sunday, under poached Hensbury Farm eggs:
And I still have a potato knish for lunch tomorrow! And Belly Lox in my freezer! Life is good, playing with such wonderful food!
