Bagels Brings Sichuan Flavor to Jewish Food
Like most New Yorkers, Peter Shelsky and Lewis Spada miss the good old days. “Bagels were small and dense with a profound crust,” co-owner Shelsky says, “not these massive, soft dough balls.” Nearly eight years after opening Shelsky’s of Brooklyn in Cobble Hill – which was, at the time, the borough’s first delicatessen to open up in 60 years – Peter and Lewis are opening Shelsky’s Brooklyn Bagels to give Kings County the bagels we may not even know we’re missing out on.
Come fall, and even possibly by the time you have this in your hands, Shelsky’s Brooklyn Bagels will be open for business in a space on the corner of 4th Avenue and 9th Street, a spot they jumped on because it met at least one of two criteria: in proximity to a subway station or next to a school. Slope locals commuting via 9th Street may have become antsy after passing the construction day by day, but it’s only given Peter more time to recipe test and play around with flavor ideas.
“When I’m not selling Jewish food I’m eating Chinese food,” Shelsky says, inspired by his recent trip to China that his wife gifted him for his 40th birthday. After spending five days in Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province, the wheels started turning.
“One day I thought: why not develop a chili crisp sauce, mix it with cream cheese and spread it on a sichuan peppercorn-studded bagel, paying homage to the Jews’ relationship with Chinese food?” And that’s just what you’ll find at the soon-to-open Shelsky’s: traditional New York-style bagels and bialys sprinkled with the flavors “new” New York wants to see. For those more rooted in tradition, you’ll still be able to waltz in, get your everything bagel with scallion cream cheese and schlep over to the train with time to spare; but we can’t promise the smell of a chopped cheese on the griddle or the rare sight of authentic German deli cold cuts won’t hold you up (think: jaegerwurst, headcheese, and various bologna).
Shelsky’s Brooklyn Bagels will be mostly grab and go, but will have a few tables and, weather-permitting, benches outside. If you can’t find it by its marquee-esque signage, then follow the smell of cracked black pepper and sea salt bagels.
