What Makes Ess-a-Bagel So Good?

 

 

What Makes Ess-a-Bagel So Good?

 

No food item is more New York than the bagel. And since the 1970s, people have been lining up for the hand-rolled, chewy, and oversized bagels at Ess-a-Bagel.

So, what’s their secret?

For one, their time-honored recipe hasn’t changed since 1976.

 

“The process is old-fashioned from beginning to end,” Chief Operating Officer (and StuyTown resident) Beverly Wilpon told beam Living's content manager, Amber James.

According to Wilpon, the "magic" happens by:

  • Rolling the bagels by hand
  • Proofing them in the walk-in box for 12 to 24 hours
  • Boiling in water and removing them immediately as they rise to the top
  • Baking the bagels on burlap boards (literal 2x4s with burlap) in a rotating oven

 

What really sets Ess-a-Bagel apart though is that they "put a LOT of love into every bagel,” Wilpon said.

Ess-a-Bagel was established in 1976 by Florence and Gene Wilpon and Florence's brother Aaron Wenzelberg. In 2015, the beloved bagel business moved from its longtime home at 21st Street and 1st Avenue to 324 First Avenue, on the StuyTown-side of the street.

At the time, many of the store’s beloved customers were worried that the recipe would change. But it didn’t.

“When we moved in here, the most important thing to us was keeping the recipe exactly the same. When you shift locations, you have to be really careful about tweaking the recipe, so it still tastes the same. We weren’t going to open until we got it right,” Beverly revealed.

Liria Gjidija, who was born and raised in StuyTown, says Ess-a-Bagel is “more than a bagel.”

"There’s always this nostalgia I feel when I walk into Ess-a-Bagel. The smell, the ambiance, the taste – it reminds me of sweet childhood memories," said Gjidija, who now lives between New York City and Dubai. “Ess-a-Bagel is always my first stop when I’m back in New York. And I make my parents bring me a few dozen in their suitcase when they visit me. My whole family loves these bagels."

The popularity of Ess-a-Bagel expands beyond NYC. In fact, to date, the store has shipped their beloved bagels to 46 states. (There are only four more states left to check off -- we’re looking at you Idaho, Wyoming, Mississippi and Alaska.)

Locally, the owners are committed to supporting the community with donations of bagels to local hunger relief and charitable organizations, as well as hosting in-store fundraisers. This month, Ess-a-Bagel is selling purple bagels and donating 20% of every sale to the Lustgarten Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to funding pancreatic cancer research -- proving you can eat well and do good at the same time.

 

 

Written by Amber James