A bag of bagels — some say the very best within the metropolis — from Absolute.
Photo: Melissa Hom
The Upper West Side’s Absolute Bagels isn’t any extra: On Thursday, the neighborhood weblog West Side Rag reported that the store was seemingly closed, citing conversations with workers. This instantly set off alarm bells amongst neighbors. “Do you recognize something about this?” one texted me. “I’m crying.” When I requested one other if he’d heard the information, he wrote again, “oh my god, oh my god.”
The suddenness of the closing — why wasn’t there an announcement? — has individuals questioning what’s occurring. Some initially theorized it has to do with the Department of Health, and certainly a December 11 report reveals the store acquired 67 factors for violations that included “proof of rats or reside rats,” “reside roaches,” and “pesticide not correctly labeled or utilized by unlicensed particular person.” (At least they have been attempting to do one thing concerning the roaches and the rats?) The Rag confirmed the closing yesterday with the constructing’s real-estate dealer, Rafe Evans, who advised them that the shuttering got here “out of the blue.”
Around 3 p.m., once I stopped by, the steel gate was virtually absolutely down and a “we’re closed” signal was taped to the entrance. A small crowd had gathered, seemingly on the verge of rioting. Some have been kneeling down, asking the employees inside what was occurring. At one level, an worker began handing out small baggage of bagels. “It’s an absolute shonda!” an older lady with a petite canine yelled. “This is Trump’s America.” One worker, who solely gave his first identify, Jose, mentioned that the proprietor had repeatedly mentioned the shop was going to shut however individuals advised him to not.
Absolute Bagels was opened in 1992 by Sam Thongkrieng, who got here to New York in 1980 and realized the commerce on the well-known Ess-a-Bagel. He was one among a lot of Thai immigrants who ended up within the bagel enterprise throughout the Nineteen Nineties, a lot of them after the Thai authorities despatched members of Local 338, the bagel union, over to Thailand to coach locals. Absolute Bagels is possibly probably the most seen and well-known piece of this explicit second in New York meals historical past — nevertheless it’s additionally an amazing place to eat. Depending on whom you ask, Absolute Bagels is both the very best bagel store in New York or among the best bagel outlets in New York. There was nothing fancy about it: Its allure got here from its full lack of frills, and in addition the truth that you could possibly get a Thai iced tea.
As the standard of bagels across the metropolis declined, it was held up as a spot that preserved what nonetheless seems like a disappearing custom. In 2003, Ed Levine referred to as Absolute’s bagels “one thing close to perfection” and the minibagel “an ideal simulacrum of the Nineteen Fifties New York bagel.”
Ethan Levenson grew up just a few blocks away and can’t recall a time earlier than Absolute Bagels. He knew that to get the total expertise, one wanted to “undergo the rhythms of the store,” even when that meant ordering a sesame whenever you actually wished an all the things. “There was a sure stage of spontaneity and roulette-ness to the store that I’d let dictate my expertise,” he says. “I’d ask the individual, ‘What’s the most popular?’ Because to toast an Absolute bagel could be a travesty, a shonda.”
What Levenson preferred finest about Absolute, he says, is the speed at which they turned out the bagels: “There’s no bagel prefer it, it’s form of undersized, it has a sure elasticity and bounce. I believe it simply traps warmth very well.” He provides, “People speak about scrumptious meals, like whenever you’re in Mexico City, you simply inhale the tacos. There’s some high quality to an Absolute bagel the place it simply warrants inhalation.”
Yesterday afternoon exterior the shop, regardless of the sharpness of the whipping wind, individuals saved stopping to linger and ask what was up. One buyer, who recognized himself as Mark and has lived within the neighborhood since 1977, mentioned he couldn’t keep in mind when he began going to Absolute. “I come right here and get two plain bagels — as a result of I don’t like them to take a seat and I reside 5 blocks away — each different day,” he says. “If it’s the Health Department, I can’t purchase it.”
Another native, Jane, came visiting to affix the dialog. She mentioned she’s lived within the neighborhood for 20 years. “I come right here as soon as per week for a bag of bagels. It’s a loss.” But she is aware of that — regardless of the cause for the closing — that feeling of loss is, to some extent, the worth of residing within the metropolis. “What are you going to do?” she sighed. “You reside in New York, you’re used to it.”
