“I’m schvitzing!” a girl cries.
“I don’t know why I’m standing here-I’m gluten free!” another says to her friends.
These are just two things that I hear while standing in line for Brooklyn Boy Bagels. It’s the first day of this four day pop up bagel store set to open for four Sundays during February and March at Darlie Laundromatic and the crowd snakes up the street and around into the laneway. A Ferrari growls down the laneway and owner slows to ask us what the whole commotion is-after all a queue outside an eatery is normal-ish but a queue outside a laundromat less so. We tell the driver that it’s a queue for bagels and he drives away looking about as perplexed as he was when he first asked.
Michael Shafran
We joined the queue at 10:30am and there are whispers that they’ve run out of plain cream cheese for the bagels an hour in. We notice that the queue is made up of an assortment of many American accents, the guys in front of us are from Boston and Brooklyn and it seems like a lot of them heard about this on the Meetup.com message boards. “The American community talks” one of them says. He was planning on buying a dozen bagels but seeing the queue, thinks that he may to revise his order.
A man exiting the store is biting into an “everything” bagel and I notice him because well, he looks ludicrously happy. ”Are they good?” we ask him and he smiles and swallows. “They’ve done it, it’s a real bagel” he says in what has to be the most compelling plug we have for our reason to queue.
A menu is passed down in the queue and we take a look. Bagels here are $4 each for an unadorned bagel. This is of course more expensive than the 80c versions hawked in New York. $7 buys you a bagel with a schmear which could be one of four types of cream cheese, Pepe Saya butter or Pepe Saya za’atar butter. The schmears also include jams by Hank’s Jams and there’s also Tasmanian smoked salmon or lox available for $4 extra.
Poppyseed bagel with fig, almond and ginger jam
I asked Michael about when he originally conceived the idea. “I moved from the NY metro area to Sydney in early 2001, and I’ve been talking about the inability of finding decent bagels in Sydney and Melbourne ever since. To this day, people still tell me that I need to try another bagel place to find the real thing, and so I’ll travel out to check it out, and every time I’m disappointed. The bagels here are too fluffy, too bready and never with enough flavour. It’s what I call “round bread”. And most bagel-makers here don’t boil their bagels. That’s a deal-breaker in New York.”
“Of course, if you ask New Yorkers, they’ll tell you it’s impossible to make great bagels outside of NYC, because it’s all about the water. I didn’t think that was completely true… I researched dozens of recipe until I settled on one called Real Honest Jewish Purist’s Bagels, which I loved both for its fine details and also its whole diatribe on how not to screw up a real New York bagel. There are great quotes, like the following: “The bagels will not be perfectly shaped. They will not be symmetrical. This is normal. This is okay. Enjoy the diversity. Just like snowflakes, no two genuine bagels are exactly alike.”
He learned about the art of bagel making while in the San Francisco Bay area and via email to bagel makers in New York. He spent time at Schmendrick’s in the Mission and with Dan Graf at Baron’s Bagels who was so generous that he gave him his bagel recipe outright. Family business connections with the esteemed Murray’s Bagels means that he contacts Murray’s son Adam by email to problem shoot bagel baking issues.
Several months of serious testing ensued and there were not so successful experiments with lye where he and his scientist friend risked burns, toxic fumes and potential blindness to try and master the bagel. This ended with cautious mouthfuls of bagels where his friend felt a “tingling” on his first bite. “ I pretty much had a panic attack right there, and though I might have to go to the hospital, all in the name of making bagels. And if I died from making bagels, how lame of an epitaph would that be?” he muses.
The queue is long and moves slowly. The launch and hype surrounding it ensures that and once you get in, there is still queuing to do. Inside Darlie Laundromatic, there’s an intriguing collection of skeletonised record covers looking down onto the eat in area. After one and a half hours, we reach the front of the queue and we pay at the coffee machine where they make American drip filter coffee and serve A&W root beer and other American sodas.
We watch as Michael and his staff make up the bagels to order. Because of the number of schmears and bagel types (plain, sesame, poppyseed, garlic, onion, caraway and ‘everything’), there’s no pre schmearing done and that is part of the reason for the slow moving queue. The plain and everything bagel with all the toppings is sold out although Michael unearths one right at the bottom of a basket when looking around for another bagel. Our bill for our bagels and drink comes to $39 which isn’t inexpensive but we take our bagels and sit in the outdoor area.
Ideally I would have loved plain cream cheese and lox on a sesame bagel but they were out of their plain whipped cream cheese. No matter, I have a bit of a combo of flavours. Sesame remained my favourite as always, the garlic bagel is strong and a warning: you will get garlic breath (you can probably see how much dried garlic is on top of a single bagel in the picture above!). The everything bagel is also good for the undecided although having this many crunchy seeds does make the texture of the bagel more crunchy than chewy and the caraway is also delicious with that distinct caraway flavour. Poppyseed is another classic flavour that we both like. I find myself taking these home, freezing them and eating one every day savouring the chewy texture.
Everything bagel with Pepe Saya butter and lox
After two hours, they sold out of their 350 or so bagels. Michael says later “It exceeded my wildest imagination. That said, the Jewish guilt really kicks in when you have to turn people away. I’ve always been raised to make sure everyone has more food than they can handle. My Polish grandmother Anna would be turning in her grave.”
How likely it is that he will continue this pop up idea beyond the initial four Sundays? He says “Right now I know A) I love making bagels for people and B ) that the huge lines around the block at Darlie Laundromatic are a clear sign that Australians love real, properly made New York bagels. I’ll take a few weeks to see what the numbers say, but my gut feeling is that this is going to become a regular business. In fact, I just hired my first baking assistant yesterday.”
And Michael’s tip for the bagel of choice? “I’m a purist, so I love the everything bagel with a simple schmear of plain cream cheese, which I whip at home to give it a nicer, softer texture. All you need is that, some orange juice and a read of the New York Times on your iPad, and you could practically be in Brooklyn right now.”
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like bagels and if so, how do you like your bagel and with what toppings?
Brooklyn Boy Bagels
Located at Darlie Laundromatic, 304 Palmer St Darlinghurst, NSW
Open on the following Sundays: 17th February 2013, 24th February 2013, 3rd March 2013.
Check facebook page for more details. http://www.facebook.com/BrooklynBoyBagels?fref=ts
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61 Comments | Add your own
We had the opportunity to try a real NYC bagel a couple of years ago and I have to be honest, Montreal Bagels are better. Their secret is boiling the bagels in water and honey. They are perfectly chewy and slightly sweet. Just wonderful. And they are not nearly as thick as NYC bagels. Every time we go to Montreal we buy bagels and I freeze them. Certainly not as good as fresh, but better than nothing. My favourite topping is sesame seeds with plain cream cheese and lox, same as yours! Happy Valentines Day Lorraine, I hope Mr. NQN spoils you rotten!
Lox and cream cheese for me;D
I worked for Panera Bread for seven years, and my favorite is an Everything with Veggie Cream Cheese. While not a ‘New York, they are very good.
WOW! $39 for some bagels and a drink? Thats just plain crazy. Is that an Aussie thing? Are your prices really that high over there? You guys must make a boatload of money to be able to afford that kind of stuff.
We have the same great bagels with a schmear and lox for about $3 or less. My favorite is Pumpernickel with Green Olive cream cheese, $2.19
Thanks Lorraine, I know where I’m bringing hubby this weekend!
That is such a long queue – I’m glad it was a sunny day. And an hour and a half later you had your bagels? Well that’s half the day gone. I’m so glad they were worth the wait. I think he’s definitely on to something and should look at being open a lot often xx
I love bagels! I desperately want to learn how to make boiled bagels. I can’t find any decent ones around here! What a fantastic idea.
A line for Bagels??!!!! (Shakes her head). Americans!! hehehehehe!! I like them well enough, but can’t think of lining up for some ever, unless there is an acute food shortage and there is nothing else to go around with.
I LOVE bagels…though I haven’t had a bagel in New York so perhaps I’m yet to have the greatest bagel experience of my life, but the tastiest one I ever had was at New Farm markets in Brissy – it was a fruit & cinnamon bagel (like sultana bread…yum!) with cream cheese. It was amazing.
LOL – I can see that guy in the Ferrari now. These look like beaut bagels, though I doubt I’d line up that long for them – I don’t love bagels enough.
I once worked with a Jewish woman who topped her bagels with trout mouse and smoked salmon. I still serve them this way.
Thanks for sharing the love, Lorraine! I’ve been on my own bagel hunts in Sydney in the past and have to admit I’d given up on finding a “proper” bagel. My Aussie husband is perplexed when his “delicious” bagel merits a “meh” from me.
With a Polish grandmother, an apprenticeship that nets a recipe and dedication to boiling, what’s not to love?
They all look so good!! Definitely needs cream cheese and I love the old classic with smoked salmon
They look fabulous, too expensive though!
I don’t spend much time in the Eastern Suburbs, but I’d heard that “Glicks” in Bondi is the place to go for bagels. I had hyped it up in my mind. I imagined the bagels would be much like the ones in your pictures. When I got there I was so disappointed. They were pretty much bagel shaped bread rolls.
Last week I went to St Ives in search of good bagels and again, all I found were bread rolls.
How hard would it be for someone to set up something authentic like this on a permanent basis?
Great idea, I hope he does make it a full time business! We used to sell ‘bagels’ at a cafe I once worked for, and they were just donut style fluffy bread rolls. Nothing I could say would make the owner change the name though- it was so embarrassing!
Perfect bagel topping is cream cheese and lox/smoked salmon with a touch of lemon-yummo:)
I love a bagel with cream cheese. I buy a reasonable version at the Prahran market, and funnily enough, am heading there tomorrow so will be stocking up!
These bagels look amazing. Having first been introduced to bagels in Brick Lane London and then New Jersey USA my favourite has to be the everything bagel toasted with a smear of cream cheese. GG
My friends and I ate way too many bagels when we were working in Canada and one day someone told us eating one is the equivalent of 4 pieces of bread (not sure if that’s carb or calorie wise) but that put me off a little. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy them!
Looking forward to trying one of these
These bagel certainly look fab, but they seem just a tad pricey. I guess, for the US expats, it’s worth it for a taste of home.
I love bagels, but would never queue for 1.5 hours plus making time for one. You’d be almost quicker to go to America for one!!
I really miss the bagels from the USA. The ones I’ve eaten here are just no good. Hoping this one gives me hope…
Hoping he does set up a business. I love NY bagels. Next he can get onto proper New York pastrami…
I ove cream cheese although, when in Chicago, I did quite fancy my discovery of the strawberry cream cheese with a plain or blueberry bagel for brekkie.
New York born and bred,
Have bagels dancing excitedly in my head!
When next am in Darlinghurst, will have to stop in,
As the Brooklyn Bagel Boys bagels are a WIN – WIN!
As one who enjoys a schmear,my fave is cinnamon raisin bagel wih a schmear, salmon, tomato, red onion, with pickled herring sauce only, capers…the works!
Wow! This place looks amazing and I agree that it’s super hard to find NY style bagels here in Australia! I never use to like bagels, but then I went to New York and my whole life changed hahaha
real good bagels are so damn delicious but very hard to find!
I just like mine toasted with cream cheese simple is best
or sometimes ham and cheese hehe I love the texture of a toasted bagel!
I wonder if Michael’s tried the bagels from Glicks in Melbourne cuz they’re probably the best I’ve had here so far
Throughout much of high school, my afternoon snack was half a toasted (proper! from That Bagel Place in Canberra) poppyseed bagel slathered in Nuttelex. I still dream of someone one day bringing pumpernickel bagels to Aus.
Whoa, 1.5 hours!!! I suppose I could handle that if I was reading a book while waiting
The bagels look amazing though. I love mine with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and capers.
My first job in the late eighties, I had an older friend who had travelled that would take me to a nearby busy deli where we would get bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers. I thought it was heaven. I haven’t thought about it for years and I wouldn’t know where to buy a bagel in Brisbane now. Thanks for bringing back the memories Lorraine
@Kristy, Glicks bagels in my opinion are pretty average! I’m yet to try a decent bagel in Sydney.
Being from London we had a great selection of deli’s that made yummy ones.
The best i’ve tried so far is strangely enough in Canberra, at the Old Bus Depot Markets, Kingston, called ‘That Bagel Place.’
Hoping to try these bagels, but not sure I could be bothered to line up for hours for one!
I am now consumed with a burning need to find and eat a proper, boiled, seeded, chewy-crisp bagel with cream cheese shmear. Lord help me.
I love bagels but not at $7.00, unless it lox, capers, lemon and cream cheese, my all time favorite breakfast.
Wow, Aussies are going nuts for bagels. LOL I have to say I had my fave bagel experience to date last year in NY at Russ & Daughters — a bagel with green onion cream cheese, smoked salmon AND salmon eggs. Talk about heaven.
I agree with an earlier post: Montreal bagels are the best. They have a unique chewy texture that’s hard to duplicate. Something to do with the very hot, wood-burning oven, plus the boiling…
NY bagels are second best
I like the classic cream cheese and lox, on a poppy seed bagel.
Oh they look good and I bet they taste great. Wish he would pop up on the Central Coast.
I squealed when I saw the Jarritos! Small world! I love bagels, but usually with savory toppings. Just cream cheese and butter–and maybe lox.
I’ve never had a real bagel so definitely keen to check this place out and see what it’s like! Too bad I have work on Sundays
Look like I’ll have to see if I have enough time to squeeze in to grab a bagel!
Oh yum, now I really feel like bagels!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Yep, have enjoyed my ‘bagel experiences’ in the Big Apple with cream cheese/lox being the usual favourite. Wait for 1 1/2 hours even on a lovely day with half my week’s food purse spent: absolutely no way
! Good luck to the entrepreneurs for realizing how many homesick Yanks there were in town!!
I’ve never had one but always wanted to try one- I hope they make it a proper business, they’d be crazy not to!
When I lived in the East End of London we were surrounded by lots of Jewish enclaves wiht great bagels. Every Saturday morning, before we started the shopping at Walthamstow markets, we visit a Jewish deli at the “top” of the markets for bagels. My choice was always lox and cream cheese while my non-seafood eating husband used to have his stuffed with salt beef. Both were delicious.
I can agree with Bumblecandles – here in Canberra we have some great bagel makers – That Bagel Place (either at their store or the Bus Depot Markets) or Bean and Grain (at Fyshwick Markets nad in Thredbo Village) both make fantastic bagels that bring back great memories.
I’ve never had a ‘good’ Bagel, Lorraine! But either I’ll try my cookery skills by making them or I’ll just move to Montreal!!
Oh, Lorraine, you’re killing me! Killing me! I would kill for a real NY bagel (or even a Boston bagel) and these look fabulous and authentic! Lucky you! And I’d order the sesame bagel with whipped cream cheese and lox, too. Oy, what I wouldn’t give for a pop up like this to pop up in Nantes! And I love when you write Yiddish!
Looks delish Lorraine! How do these bagels compare to the ones you made yourself?
Hi Gin! Hmm good question! I think these are better to be honest
They had a different texture to them, lighter and airier although the home made ones were also really good 
To borrow from Flannery O’Connor, a good bagel is hard to find. And once you find some good ones,people are willing to pay handsomely. Michael seems to have really developed a good concept and is doing really well. I LOVE a good bagel. In Vancouver I used to have some amazing ones from a Jewish bakery called Solly’s, which I recommend if you’re ever over there.
The honey and the sesame scent drew people in from up and down the street… Bagel aroma is the best in the morning. I could wake up to it every day!
Wah! I miss bagels so bad. I make my own jalapeño ones but they’re not the same
I bought a filled plain bagel for lunch some years ago at our Central Market in Adelaide. The filling consisted of cream cheese, grated carrot, alfalfa sprouts and walnuts. It was delicious.
I love bagels, ate the best ones in California. I would not line up for 1 hour to pay this amount for any bagels though. I hope people out there see the business potential in making and selling good bagels so that there’ll be more outlets like this place and hopefully prices will decrease. Competition will be a good thing in this case
When I go to South Florida to visit my family, the first thing I do the morning after I arrive is go to a Jewish deli (I have one that I especially love) and have an onion bagel with plain cream cheese….
Utah just doesn’t have any jewish deli’s!
I suppose she meant she was gluten intolerant…a very fashionable thing to be now.
I like a plain bagel with cream cheese and salmon! Like the first commenter I enjoy my bagel when it has a subtle sweet flavour to the outside. Great story, thanks for queuing so long for the story
Kristy, just read your comment. Agree about Glicks, we kept getting told that they do authentic bagels and to say we were disappointed is a understatement! We love the Montreal style bagels and every time a bakery or bagel place opens we go in hope but are always let down. Going to join the queue tomorrow, thanks Lorraine.
I love love love bagels but I live in Toowoomba and no where in this town sells bagels!! Its sad and frustrating and annoying!! I just love a plain ol bagel with cream cheese!! I hope one day I will be able to try a real ‘new york’ bagel with all the trimmings and flavours and everything but for now that is just a dream lol
These look truly delicious but I have to agree with other commenters, Montreal bagels are the best. For years I lived within walking distance of Fairmont Bagels in the Plateau and definitely took advantage of the 24 hour shopfront to assuage late night bagel cravings. Hmmm.
Hi Lorraine, I remember commenting recently on your blog that I don’t like queuing for food but there I was this morning with everyone else!:) They were good although I found them really chewy, I still prefer the Montreal style ones which are dense but less chewy if that makes sense. It’s interesting we got chatting to a New Yorker while we were waiting and after eating we asked him for the verdict and he said they were just o.k. where as some other Americans said they were just like home. Thanks for posting and queuing Lorraine, wouldn’t have known about this otherwise and they are still the best bagels we’ve had here
Hi Stefanie! hehe now we just need someone to make Montreal Bagels! I agree, Montreal bagels are amazing (and it’s so interesting how many more people prefer these)
You’re very welcome! How long did you queue for btw? Just curious to see whether they managed the process better the second time around 
Hi Lorraine, we arrived at 10.30am and it took 1 hour. When we left there were people queuing inside but no one outside. Yes would love for someone to sell the Montreal ones here, I think I might google some recipes and give it a try one day
I have no idea…yet! Heading to NYC in June and I’m pumped to try a whole load of bagels.
I hope these are as good as American ones! Great pics.
So happy for Michael and his new venture. I am obsessed with bagels and cant wait to try them from here and compare of the US next month
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