Success usually comes from a single source. A store’s longevity can be accounted for because it has found a special niche which the town responds too.
Hildebrandt’s has been here for 86 years by providing great burgers and homemade ice cream offered in a charming old fashioned setting.
Luigi Suppa has been the men’s tailor at 118 Hillside for the past 36 years because he offers custom clothing of the finest quality. He brings some Italian flair to our town.
And our own Bagel Express at 61 Hillside Avenue has found its own very successful niche.
Owned by Claudio Facchini for the past 41 years the magic formula is to offer fresh bagels at reasonable prices with fast and pleasant service. After all who doesn’t love a fresh bagel smothered with cream cheese and washed down with a cup of coffee. This is the quintessential American breakfast made for folks on the go.
The history of the bagel is a long one. It was invented in 1610 in Krakow, Poland to serve as a gift to mothers with newborns. Its popularity spread since it baked well thanks to the hole in the center.
The hole made it easy to ship and display on dowels a meter high. Its use spread throughout Europe and by 1850 is arrived in London. By the beginning of the 20th Century it came to New York City.
I had a chance to catch up with Jose Fuentes who has been manager of the Bagel Express for the last 10 years.
Jose is a bright-eyed and affable man who gave me the grand tour.
In front they have nine wooden tables where on any given day you will see moms and kids and the newly retired reading newspapers or you will see a lineup of busy customers who stop in to pick up a dozen hot ones.
I was sorry that Mia, the pretty girl from Bangladesh, was not there on this day. She is my usual server and has been so for eight years.
The place is open from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. most days and Jose told me he works 6 days a week. This is not an easy life.
He gave me the grand tour through the back with the bagel maker, the boiling water and the big oven. Bagels are first boiled and then baked for 14 minutes. He said people come from as far away as Garden City and Roslyn to get their fresh bagels.
I saw the usual type of bagels including poppy seed, plain, sesame seed, cinnamon raison and everything bagels. The cream cheeses included plain, lox, veggie, scallion, and even bacon scallion cream cheese. My favorite is plain cream cheese with tomatoes and salt and pepper. I always instruct Mia to go light on the cream cheese.
Recently I have been asking for a bowl of Cheerios served with bananas and milk. Ah yes those childhood memories come flooding back. They also have coffee, cappuccino and hot chocolate.
This place reminds me a little of the most popular donut shop in New York City called the Donut Plant. It is very small like this and has the same lines of hungry customers that snake out the door and down the sidewalk.
As I said, all successful shops find a niche. The niche the Bagel Express has created is to offer fresh bagels at very affordable prices with prompt and pleasant service. What more could one ask for. The humble bagel started out as a gift to young Polish mothers and now it’s a gift for us all.
So thank you Jose and Mia and Carlos and Claudio and all the others on staff that get up at 4 a.m. every day to keep us all happy and content.
