The bagel is a New York staple. You can find it at most corner stores, any food cart and pretty much every deli. But Pick-A-Bagel is the place to go if you want a decent bagel close to campus. By decent I mean one that isn’t so dry and cardboard like that it sucks the saliva right out of your mouth. But Pick-A-Bagel is kind of annoying. I went in search of the elusive Scallion-Lox cream cheese and was disappointed to find out that not only does Pick-A-Bagel not have scallion lox cream cheese, they do not mix the scallion and lox cream cheeses they proudly display.
So I settled for a the scallion cream cheese on a cinnamon raisin bagel, and it was still delicious. It may sound like an odd combination, but it is the perfect melange of dough, cream, salt and the oniony flavor of the scallions. Every bite is filled initially with a crunchy bite of the crust, then a soft release as your teeth sink into the doughy bagel. And just as you prepare swallow that bite there’s slight hint of the sour of the cream as it all slides down the back of your mouth. Taking the bite completely into your mouth it’s hard for your taste buds not explode as they revel in the complexity of this one bite. And then it happens again and again until you’ve vacuumed an entire bagel into your pie hole like a caveman. Grab a cup of large coffee and wash it all down. I could do this every morning till my gut bursts with the complicated flavors and textures of an early morning meal.