EN
The bagel is to NY what the baguette is to Paris: a local specialty but also a city symbol. New York is home to the best bagels in the world but the competition in the Big Apple is fierce. The standard-setter is Russ & Daughters. It has been an institution for salmon bagels since 1914. But there’s a new kid on the block – just a few steps away from the Lower East Side.
Sadelle’s is a Jewish deli and restaurant that opened with great ceremony six months ago. The unstoppable restaurant opening machine known as Major Food Group is behind this new sign on West Broadway. A group opening a restaurant in the heart of Soho is equivalent to a guarantee of a pricey menu and a never-ending wait: we were fully prepared to hate it. But you’ll be disappointed as, against all odds, we were quite seduced. First by the atmosphere. You feel like you’re in a Wes Anderson movie. White jackets, pink bow ties and green suspenders – the waiters are strutting around dressed up to the nines. They seem to come straight out of Grand Budapest Hotel’s cast. They are shouting “hot bagels” in unison each time a batch comes out of the industrial oven that masterfully officiates in a glass cage in the middle of the restaurant.
We were above all won over by the brunch menu and have to admit the bagels from chef Melissa Weller (a Roberta’s and Per Se vet) are among the best we have had the opportunity to taste in NY. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside – it’s baking mastered to perfection. At the takeout counter, the bagels are $2 apiece. In the dining room, you can order as many as you like for no extra charge. You will have the opportunity to test all kinds, but we urge you to try the “Everything 2.0” with all classical seeds plus the unusual addition of fennel and caraway. The salmon, cut paper thin, is excellent. If you are not a bagel purist, don’t worry, the rest of the menu is also quite delicious – the eggs, the salads and especially the pastries. And please do not leave without trying the chocolate babka.
In the ferocious best bagel contest and the race to bagel perfection, Sadelle’s indisputably sets high standards!
Sadelle’s
463 W Broadway
212-776-4926