a new york native, i am not. actually, that is debatable. technically speaking ( and according to my ny-bred father) i was conceived and born in nyc. but, i was raised in new england--yes, that's right, this city's one nemesis--and i just recently relocated back to the east coast from the bay area. though nyc is something to love from afar, and relish in for a weekend jaunt, living and working in manhattan is a completely different experience. when i first starting working in manhattan, i was amazed by several things ( well, of course EVERYTHING), but there were a few small things that seemed characteristically new york. beyond the masses of fast walkers, unending scaffolding, and a constant symphony of car horns, there was a seemingly disproportionate amount of bagel shops to everything else, which says a lot considering that this city has an overabundance of pretty much everything. literally, in midtown, there is a bagel place on every corner, and if you don't wander into an actual bagel place, you can just buy a bagel at essentially any store that sells anything edible.
the other detail that seemed amiss in other cities i lived in, was the coffee-in-a-bag. i mean, what's that? i walked down madison ave. every morning and grabbed my Starbucks, amongst the rest of the over-tired, over-worked huddled masses that stood in long-lasting line. but, each day i noticed everyone else in the city, who was not donning a starbucks cup, was racing down the street with a small, brown paper bag in their hand (no ladies, not the bloomingdale's bag). what was this bag? i wondered. how do i get one? then i found out; i got in on the nyc secret. my coworker walked in with her little brown bag, and pulled out a coffee. i asked why she bagged her coffee? and she said, quite enthusiastically, "its coffee-in-a-bag...it's fabulous." but, why? i thought. as i looked down at my coffee-stained hand, and my now, coffee-spotted scarf, i realized the beauty of bagging coffee. how clever. no more mess. no more spills. and it helped these fast walkers increase their speed by even more. so, i became a bagged-coffee drinker, and i loved it.
now that i had the bagged coffee in hand, an increased pace to my stride, and a sort of disdain for life ( kidding), i felt a little more at home. but, i was missing the other half of breakfast. i had no bagel. and even in a city of millions, where you can buy anything from baby food to hard-care porn in one city block, i could not find a gluten-free bagel for work. i mean, the bakeries are out there, mostly in the boutique bakeries in the village, but not a 7am in midtown. and this never really bothered me so much. but, now that i was in a city where bagels were a staple, i had a fierce craving for one.
but, alas, i have found my haven. and i as write i am looking toward a bag that contains some gluten-free bagels, cinnamon raisin today. yum! enjoy life (www.enjoylifefoods.com) makes frozen gf bagels, that are eggless too, which is good for me because i am also allergic to eggs! i also found a new brand to me today, which is against the grain gourmet (www.againstthegraingourmet.com). they make a good selection of gf bagels, with interesting flavors, like sun-dried tomato, and sesame. these do contain eggs however, but have a fluffy and more bread-like appearance. so, now i can walk around with a bagel in hand, and a bagged-cofee in the other, and life is pretty good! on a side note: i moved, and now i live and work in hoboken, where they don't bag coffee, and there is a bit of a slower pace, which lends to a no-spill coffee walk. :)
bagel photo from ny times
coffee photo (http://pileofphotos.com/view/25/Have-a-little-fun-with-your-coffee)
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