Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“kebab street,” with a handful of excellent
souvlaki places. The top choice is
Thana-
sis
(69 Mitropoleos St.;
&
30/210/324-
4705
), which sells great minced-meat
souvlaki in a pita to go. Or you can always
follow the locals off the beaten path to the
nameless souvlaki joint at 7A Petraki St. (a
short lane btw. Ermou and Mitropoleos
sts.), under a Coke-ad awning just down
from the Subway chain sandwich shop.
Just off Omonia Square, near the
National Archaeological Museum,
Tay-
getos
(4 Satovriandou;
&
30/210/523-
5352
) serves quick and casual cheap
meals, including some excellent souvlaki.
If hunger strikes while you're browsing
around the Central Market or visiting the
beautiful Byzantine church of Agii The-
odori, stop off in Klafthmonos Square at
Alpeis
(7 Palaion Patron Germanou St.;
&
30/210/331-0384
), where you can pick
up a flavorful souvlaki in a pita or a full
meal.
(
Athens International Airport Elefthe-
rios Venizelos.
L
$$
Athens Art Hotel,
27 Marni
(
&
30/210/524-0501;
www.arthotelathens.
gr). $$
Hermes Hotel,
19 Appollonos St.
(
&
30/210/323-5514;
www.hermes-athens.
com).
Street Eats
38
Bagels to Go
The Holy Grail
New York, New York
Why don't bagels in other cities taste as
good as New York bagels do? There can't
be such a mystery, after all, to baking
what's essentially a chewy bread dough-
nut. Yet somehow the bagel—brought to
the U.S. by German and Polish Jewish
immigrants, for whom the quick-to-bake
circle of boiled dough was a handy way to
break the Sabbath—reached its quintes-
sential form in Manhattan. Other cities'
versions lack that same chewy softness
and slightly sweet, yeasty flavor.
For New Yorkers, bagels aren't just for
breakfast. They also make great sand-
wiches, and can be found in almost any
deli in town (though most delis run out of
bagels later in the day and order new ones
fresh every morning). New Yorkers prefer
them untoasted (the toasting habit got
started with Lender's frozen bagels) and
topped with a “schmear” of cream cheese
and/or smoked salmon, or else chopped
liver or egg salad. Traditionally they're
coated with either poppy seeds or sesame
seeds, though varieties flavored with
onion flakes, garlic, or cinnamon and rai-
sins are also popular. Variations such as
blueberry bagels and jalapeño pepper
bagels are considered bastardizations.
Upper West Siders get their bagel fix at
H&H Bagels
(2239 Broadway;
&
212/595-
8000
), a strictly bare-bones takeout joint
where bagels come fresh from the oven.
Many delis around town buy their bagels
from H&H; there's also an outlet at 639 W.
46th St. (
&
212/765-7200
), handily close
to the West Side Highway.
H&H Bagels
East
(1551 Second Ave.;
&
212/734-7441
)
is a former branch that sued the original
for the right to use the name; it has a full
deli along with the bagel counter. Then
there are the sit-down
Ess-A-Bagel
delis
in the Gramercy area (359 First Ave.;
&
212/260-2252
) and in east Midtown
(831 Third Ave.;
&
212/980-1010
). All of
these peddle superbly chewy, fresh-baked
boiled bagels, puffy with a moist outside.
But if you really want to get authentic,
journey down to the Lower East Side to try
the bagels at
Kossar's Bialys
(367 Grand
