We were excited about being invited to the 6th Annual NY BagelFest, but even knowing there would be 50 exhibitors there, we had no idea of the scope of the bagelhood. And the bagel adjacent, so called because they are frequently served on or along with bagels, ranged from coffee (no tea, sadly) and lox (of course) to honey and seltzer. It really was an amazing event!
With a People’s Choice Award on the line and 25 different bagel makers to choose from, I knew I had to get there early and be smart. It was no surprise that BagelFest was way ahead of the game, providing a scoring booklet and bringing in UberEats to provide trays. What a great idea! I collected as many samples as my tray could hold (it was about the size of a cafeteria tray with deep sides so nothing could slide off), then tasted my way through the tray, making careful notes in my booklet.
Aside from all of the food booths, there was an installation by the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum; a children’s play area, a photo opp, water jugs for filling your water bottles, and several bagel art pieces (with a booth by the artist). There was also a VIP lounge in which Moonrise Bagels of Woodstock, NY (and soon NYC’s West Village), boiled and baked their buffalo chicken-stuffed bagels, served with their homemade ranch dressing.
Once I’d finished tasting at least one sample from each bagel maker (most had two or three samples, including special recipes just for the show), I went to the voting booth, received my tokens and cast my votes. And here they are:
My third place vote went to Utopia, of NYC, for their “Sin City” bagel, which was a French onion soup bagel with garlic butter. The bagel had a really nice texture and great umami flavor, and the garlic butter had the perfect amount of garlic.
My second place vote went to Curley’s, of Sunnyside, Queens, for their rosemary and salt bagel. Rosemary is a tricky ingredient and can overwhelm the palate, but of the 5 rosemary bagels I tasted at BagelFest, Curley’s was the best. It was served with a black truffle cream cheese spread.
My first place vote went to Bagel Belly, of Copenhagen, Denmark, for their sesame bagel with peanut and chili crisp cream cheese. It was divine! The spread was perfectly balanced, the sesame bagel had just the right amount of chew, and the white and black sesames were so tasty!
I had several runners-up: the Bagizza pepperoni pizza, baked onsite (!) was crispy and delicious (could have used more pepperoni, but I always get double pepperoni), Baltik’s lemon pepper bagel with pepper picante spread (the bagel was the star) and their tomato bagel, which was a big hit around the show, Potchke’s celery seed bagel with pimento cheese spread, and Tali’s (from Hawai’i!)’s Aww Zhuga Zhuga, which was a very interestingly-spiced chicken salad on a sesame seed bagel. I would happily eat any of these again.
BagelFest was an international event with bagels from Spain, Denmark, and Canada, as well as all across the U.S.A. Prizes were given for a variety of categories, including International; Beyond the Borough; and Best of the Boroughs. There were prizes for creativity, best stand presentation, and best bagel, along with the People’s Vote I mentioned earlier. The Best Bagel, meaning the best plain bagel (as judged by a panel of Breadhead Expert Judges) was from Starship Bagel of Dallas, Texas. The People’s Choice Award went to Baltik’s Bagel of Richmond, Virginia, probably for the tomato, but, in my heart, it’s for the lemon pepper. Follow this link to learn who won the rest of the prizes: BagelFest 2025 Prizes. What a great way to spend the day! P.S. Zoom in on the following picture and check out the flavor on the right!
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