New Kids on the Block
By Arthur Schwartz
Apollo Bagels
Photo by Arthur Schwartz.
A couple of weeks after Zazzi’s Pizza shut down, I was walking up Greenwich Avenue, just west of 7th Avenue, when I saw a long line going to the door of the closed pizza place. There was no sign, no name on the window. A few days later I went back and saw a rather nondescript sign for Apollo Bagels. There was no line so I went in. The store manager called out “sorry, all sold out!” I told him that I was from Village View so he told me the story of Apollo Bagels.
Apollo started as a Brooklyn “pop up” at a sourdough pizza place. In March of this year they opened a store in the East Village (242 East 10th Street). As word spread about their sourdough bagels they started having lines, especially on weekends. So they opened in the West Village, corner of 11th Street and Greenwich Avenue.
Apollo keeps things simple. All they have is plain, everything, and sesame. Choices are also simple: butter, butter and jams, cream cheese, cream cheese with tomato, cream cheese with smoked salmon, red onion, capers and dill and cream cheese with whitefish salad. The kind with cream cheese is $5. The sandwiches are a pricey $15, but the lines keep forming.
I was told that the sourdough baking process happens once a day and is quite complex. The Infatuous Eater, a food blog, says: “Served hot out of the oven, the bagels are crusty and burnished, as if sun-kissed by Apollo himself. The insides are craggy and chewy, like a really good sourdough loaf, with a little tang. This is bagel that you may never be able to cut in half, because by the time you get to your kitchen, you’ll have eaten the entire thing, rip by savage rip.”
Sounds great. But get there early.
Lincoln Market
Photo courtesy of Lincoln Market.
Some might wonder, ‘Do we need yet another supermarket in the Village?’ After all, on 6th Avenue we already have Citarella, with its amazing meat, poultry and seafood. Those of us who want to save a little money may schlep to Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. And Westside Market and Garden of Eden are only a few blocks from the newest market. But for many, the additional selection, competitive prices, and shorter distance are an advantage to living in a walkable neighborhood with multiple grocery options.
Add to the mix Lincoln Market, where Rite Aide used to be on the southwest corner of 13th Street at 6th Avenue. Lincoln Market is a regional grocery chain that started in Brooklyn. Pledging to give customers “the widest range of choices possible,” the grocery includes both conventional and organic produce, plus dedicated sections selling fresh bread, cheese, coffee, meat and seafood, as well as prepared foods including sandwiches and sushi. On my visits I have found the aisles chock full of every brand imaginable for the products I was seeking. The aisles are tight, and its easy to get lost, but I have found the prices to be decent – lower than D’Agostino or Gristedes. Is it an oasis like Wegmans on Fourth Avenue? No. But its got 12,000 square feet of product to explore. Write to us with your experience.
