109 Comments

“Technical issue!”

I love this newsletter so, so much. Thanks, Anne.

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Thanks Monica! That was one of my favorite bits too. :)

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That part killed me!

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NO BANANA RACK

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NO BANANA RACK

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But Anne! How were the bananas? Were they just barely ripe, or were they almost brown to black? I prefer just barely ripe myself, especially sliced and put on a rice cake with organic no-stir peanut butter.

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Whoa! That is exactly my "treat lunch" every Saturday! Is there anything better? I always sprinkle extra salt on top of the bananas.

You are correct that bananas are best when just barely ripe. And THAT is how the bananas were offered at Guyon. I can't believe I photographed almost everything in the shop but the banana rack. LAME!!!!

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“Please note that this means nothing. I am often told that my taste in food is just plain wrong. “😆

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The upside is that I am able to enjoy almost all food, including bad food!

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You did eat dog food for an entire week...

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Haha! And enjoyed it!

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Spidey's story is an amazingly fitting companion piece to Agnès Varda's "Les glaneurs et la glaneuse" ("The Gleaners and I"), which I happened to have watched yesterday. Your writing actually reminds me of her documentaries in many ways, Anne. You both are so attentive to the mundane and approach strangers with such empathy and curiosity - which in turn makes me as a reader/movie watcher more appreciative of the little things :)

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Oh, wow, thank you Tine! I have not heard of Agnès Varda but I will have to check her out! I bet I'd enjoy.

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You're definitely in for a treat, then. Varda has a wonderful subtle sense of humour. I especially enjoyed "Visages Villages" ("Faces Places" - such a perfect translation! -).

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This was great, Anne! I'm so glad I found that TikTok and sent it to you. To be honest, I'm SHOCKED that you were able to scoop the WSJ, NY Times, Village Voice, NY 1, and a dozen other New York outlets. Seriously, what are they even doing with their time?

OK, on to the bagels. I don't think you should sell your tastebuds short. Sure, your tastes in coffee and chocolate are suspect, but you're a New Yorker. It is your right, duty actually, to have a strong opinion about bagels and pizza. And you don't need to explain that opinion. In fact, it's better if you don't explain it, or apologize for it. A big part of being a New Yorker is that you get to shit on other people's pizza and bagels WITH authority and WITHOUT explanation. Personally, I would've used an everything bagel for the taste test, but that's just me, a former New Yorker who moved back to Los Angeles, where I eat subpar bagels and pizza.

One follow up question. Actually, two follow up questions. Can we get a profile of a bagel roller? I never knew that was a job. Also, did either bagel place sell black & white cookies?

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Mr. Estrin!

Maybe those clowns at the NYT missed the scoop because they were all out on strike last Thursday. Pinkos!

So you are absolutely correct about glorious NYC sport of loudly voiced and hilariously unsubstantiated opinion when it comes to pizza and bagels. The BEST bagel is H&H and the BEST pizza is DiFara and the reason this correct is because when I state these truths I am waving my arms and bugging my eyes in a violent and scary manner.

I did not notice any black & white cookies but I did take some shots of their respective snack displays so let me take a look now...

Hmm I'm seeing Ring Dings and Ding Dongs and "Italian" cookies in clear cellophane containers, but no B&Ws.

As far as the roller interview, yes, but I'll have to find one who is not in the underground NYC bagel witness protection program.

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Lovely piece, Anne! This is the bagel journalism we need. I'll be sharing with my bagel-loving audience

Gastro Obscura did a great piece on bagel rollers last year. If you actually want to talk to one, I know a roller who'd be happy to chat with you

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Oh wow! Sam! You're the founder of BagelFest!!! Thanks for sharing with your peeps.

And yes of course I'd love to speak with a NYC roller. What a fun story that would be. People whose occupation is doing one thing over and over and over and over is always fascinating.

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It really is. They're the unsung heroes of the bagel industry. What's the best way to privately get you his contact info?

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The twist here has gotta be that they use the same roller, right?

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LOL!!! OMG that never occurred to me, but wouldn't that be so fantastic???

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Skepticism is my superpower. That's literally the FIRST thing I thought of. :-)

I so hope that's the case as well. Something to keep in mind during your follow-up investigation.

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Same roller is just the tip of the iceberg. There's something really big here, I can smell it all the way in Los Angeles.

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New shit has come to light, man!

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The same roller? My guess would be anyone selling Ring Dings and cellophane wrapped "Italian Cookies" might be actually getting machine rolled bagels and advertising otherwise. While hand-rolled bagels are still a thing and probably a dying art without a healthy immigrant community, my guess would be it's becoming like buying a sweater from a traditional loom. They cost $600 and the WalMart version is $25.

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A joyous dialog. Many years ago I had a colleague who had come from South Asia. He was an awesome guy and had the tendency to share great expressions. He had one in particular that he attributed to his Dad. When I read "So you are absolutely correct about glorious NYC sport of loudly voiced and hilariously unsubstantiated opinion when it comes to pizza and bagels." I immediately thought of my old friend. His expression I grant you both permission to use as you see fit. "The loudest horn knows the fewest notes." I have gotten a lot of mileage out of that over the years :) and I'm sure you both will make good use of it.

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LOL oh I love this!

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Oooh! I love that expression, Mark! Thanks for sharing!

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You might be right about the pinkos at The NY Times. But what about the capitalist pigs at the WSJ? How did they miss Bagel-Gate? Maybe the bagel roller you met knows the answer, but he was silent in front of his employer, but maybe he’ll meet you in a shadowy parking lot and tell you to follow the cream cheese, and you do that, but it takes about 18 months, then BAM, you blow the lid off Bagel-Gate, win the Pulitzer, and they make a movie about it. If they do, there better be some black & white cookies in the picture.

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If this was my actual 2023, I'd be pretty pleased, I have to say.

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Just think how pleased all of your subscribers would be! We'd be right there on the ground floor of this blockbuster.

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Okay, so what is your philosophy when you approach strangers on the street to ask them questions, like Spidey Bike Man? Are you like "Everyone is my friend and I can't wait to meet this new friend." Or are you like "Let me cautiously introduce myself and prepare for rejection."

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Nick, 90 percent of it is before I approach someone. I just get a vibe as to whether they're open to chatting—maybe because I've been doing this for decades. Once my gut gives me the green light, yes, I approach with pretty much zero caution. I'll usually smile and wave and say something super clever like, "Hey, can I interview you for my blog?"

With Spidey, first I asked if it was okay to take a photo of him and his bike. And when he seemed happy about that, I just asked if I could ask him a few questions for my blog, and whether it was okay to record the audio so I could transcribe later.

Asking to record is the one sticking point—maybe 10 percent of the folks I approach will have second thoughts when I request that. But it's really essential. I can't accurately capture their responses—and especially their speech patterns—if I can't record. And the WAY people talk, I think, is often as important as what they say.

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Capturing the diction is what really brings the people to life. The little intricacies of their accents and infections. Great stuff, Anne.

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Thank you Amran!

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Anne truly has a gift for this!

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So curious about this too... I want a Cafe Anne social skills masterclass.

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It's surprisingly easy. I was incredibly obnoxious as a high school student and got very many strangers to participate in whatever antics I came up with. You get a knack for who will say yes to what pretty quickly. I got a stranger to agree to let me lick his face on the first try. I, too, have a lot of questions about why I did that.

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Cori, by the time you were in high school, you had already won!

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Wonderful, human stories. Everything is subjective, so giving people a voice allows us to experience New York as if we were residents. Thank you!

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Oh I love hearing this. Thank you so much Renato!

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“We don’t care.” 😂😂😂

That caused a late-breaking guffaw

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I think we always get the biggest kick out of the exact same thing, BA!

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😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE

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Of course, I loved your discussion of bagels (and omg--$14-15 for a dozen!! that's the price of a sad bagel sandwich in BK). But, I especially loved your description of Spidey. I've taught many homeless students and I think one of the things that gets left out of the conversation is people's individuality. Spidey seems like an awesome person. And I love how he's staying positive despite difficult circumstances. I'm so glad you featured him.

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Thanks Jillian! I agree that Spidey is AWESOME and felt so lucky to have the chat with him and learn what was up with the bicycle.

Don't ask me about the price of a bagel with cream cheese in Brooklyn Heights. Jesus! And I just paid $5 for a DONUT at the new donut shop! 👹

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Thank you for another entertaining visit to NYC. You're such a great mix of journalist and Sherlock Holmes -- so careful about details, but writing with a fun sense of humor. And you really care about your subjects. Lovely.

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Awww thank you Jessica. You made my day! And yeah, I almost always do. I am happy that comes through a little.

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Such a delightful and fun newsletter!!

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Oh boy! Thank you very much!

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The bagel story brings to mind the situation in Washington DC in the 1970s, when the first two Vietnamese restaurants in the area opened right next door to each other on M Street. No one knew their names. It was just the one on the right and the one on the left. “Let’s get Vietnamese.” “OK, but only if we go to the one on the left.”

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Yes it's funny but I think these crazy next door situations encourage people to have stronger opinions about the options than they might ordinarily bother to cultivate!

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I L-O-V-E that your taste in food is just plain wrong! That is so liberating! What I love most about you Anne, is that on the one hand, you are easily delighted, and on the otheer hand, you are fresh out of fucks to give. My kinda woman! MWAH!

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LOL Thank you Therry!

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Never before heard anyone suggest that any day going to Staten Island would be a GOOD day ( unless headed to Joe & Pat's for pizza), but your taste in chocolate and coffe indicates, at the very least, a position in the quite "reliable" pantheon!

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Lol I wonder if there is some giant Venn diagram in the sky where the Cadbury, Bustelo and Staten Island fans overlap and everyone there is reading Edith Wharton and writing Substack newsletters. Taste is such a peculiar thing. Glad you approve, Mr. Shenzo.

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fascinating!! as a non new yorker i do lament little access to good bagels where i live, truly one of the major food groups to me!

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They say it's actually the NYC water so they can't be duplicated elsewhere!

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Try Montreal bagels. I may be jaded but I think they rival NYC bagels.

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Oh no! We had a bunch of Montreal bagel shops open here, it was sort of a trend, and they are the worst! Super dry and way under salted. Maybe bad examples?

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Maybe! 😄

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Great stories. I really do hope that Spidey finds a place to stay though. I know that it gets cold up there.

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I know! I've been thinking about him!

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