Bagel snobs, rejoice!

Having spent enough time in 20th century New York to become an insufferable bagel know-it-all, I long ago became a bagel cynic, even if the bakery imports its dough from Brooklyn or trucks in water in Manhattan. For a while, I reluctantly joined the sad group of people who—if we must have a bagel—ask for it to be toasted. But really, hoping the toaster will make a bad bagel good is as futile as trying to revive yesterday’s biscuit in the microwave.

In the year 2025, I’m a little embarrassed about my bagel cynicism. Baking them is not the lost cause I once thought it was. There now are good ones to be found in the most unlikely places…like off the Walton Way Extension in Augusta, Georgia.