Bagel Corner Visits My Farm
When it comes to bagels, what's your fancy? Do you prefer the seedy, garlicky everything classic? Or the flavorful and lightly sweetened cinnamon raisin? No matter what variety you like best, I think most will agree - there's nothing quite like a good, fresh, and warm out-of-the-oven bagel.
Alex Tzelios is the proud co-owner of Bagel Corner in New York City. He has one shop in Wantagh and another in the Bronx. He also has Rolen Bagels in Riverdale. Alex says he is constantly trying to improve the businesses. His bagels, mini bagels, bread twists, bialys, and flagels are all made on the premises from scratch. And he offers a wide variety of traditional and unique spreads which he personally taste tests - "if I can't eat it, I won't sell it." Recently, he came up to my farm with platters of bagels and everything that goes with them. It was a big treat for me and my entire crew.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Here I am with Alex and his beautiful family – his wife Yesenia and their daughter Alexia. They brought bagels and “schmear” for everyone. And at just the right time – my crew was hungry!
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- This is one of three establishments Alex co-owns. He was a self-employed general contractor for 20-years before buying two declining bagel shops in 2016. After several years of hard work to turn them around, he opened a third location in Wantagh, New York.
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- The bagels include all the traditional kinds plus French toast, rainbow, whole wheat everything, and egg everything.
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- All the bagels and other baked goods are made from scratch.
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- Here are all the kneaded, shaped doughs.
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- Early every morning, Alex and his team of 14 make hundreds of bagels for the breakfast rush.
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- After boiling, they are baked in this rotating oven.
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- Here’s the everything bagel. An everything is baked with a mix of toppings including garlic flakes, onion flakes, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and kosher salt.
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- These are poppy seed bagels – still warm from the oven.
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- And here is a batch of sesame.
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- A bialy is a round, flat, cross between a bagel and an English muffin. It’s made from flour, yeast, water, and salt, and has a crunchy crust on top and a chewier bottom. These are similar in shape and size to bagels, but they’re not boiled before baking and have a depression in the center instead of a hole that’s filled with seeds.
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- Some of the cream cheese spreads include cinnamon raisin, mango, walnut raisin, nutella, lox with capers and bacon, strawberry, mango and bacon, and vegetable.
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- And here’s Alex’s bacon, egg, and cheese bagel. He fills it with a three-egg omelet, five slices of cheese and a thick pork bacon.
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- This one is strawberry cream cheese – with fresh fruit – on a whole wheat bagel.
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- And this is a whole wheat flagel with sunflower seeds.
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- Bagel Corner also has fresh pastries including rich orange pie.
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- Alex brought one or two of everything.
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- And a tray filled with fillings – butter in center, capers, lox, onions, tomatoes, and several cream cheese flavors – plain, blueberry, strawberry, olive, lox spread, scallion, and vegetable. There was something for everyone.
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- I served everyone a bagel with their choice of filling. Chhiring selected pumpernickel with lox, tomato, capers, and plain cream cheese.
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- Here’s Phurba biting into a cinnamon raising with the same lox and tomatoes…
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- No talking at all here – just chewing. Bagel Corner was a big hit with the crew. Thanks Alex. If you’re in the New York City area, check out Bagel Corner!
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