Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

Another meeting, another cup of coffee. This meeting gave me the chance to try TGM Bagel, an outpost of The General Muir, in the Tech Square food court. My everything bagel was great in all respects: the toppings had that everything zing and pop, a surprise in every bite; the bagel hit just the right balance of chewiness and softness; the bagel crust was great, too. The coffee was rich without being biting.

I visited Woodgrain Bagels located in the decommissioned Lowry Air Force Base in Golden. The base has been wonderfully updated to provide a very livable community in the middle of Aurora. Woodgrain specializes in Montreal-style bagels. My sesame bagel took awhile to come from the toaster but it was good. It had a nice, yeasty taste and just a bit of a chewy texture. My coffee was medium-roasted to provide good flavor without too much bitterness.

I'm not entirely sure of the name of this bagel establishment. I can say that they had an attractive assortment of bagels and other baked goods. They were open in the evening, which many bagel establishments are not. So I stopped in to pick up a bagel for my early morning ride to the airport. This is my egg bagel with everything. It was soft, pillowy, and rich. I enjoy the melange of the everything toppings.

Fairmount Bagel is a classic bagel bakery---you walk in, order, pay, and walk out with a bag of bagels. That is, you stand in line, patiently waiting for your chance to buy these bagels. The line afforded me the chance to watch the bagel-making process. The wood fired oven is carefully tended. Bagels sit on long, thin boards so they can be put in and taken out quickly. The bagel maker stood in front of a huge mound of dough almost as big as he was, cutting it into strips, then into pieces, and rolling them into shape. I watched as he took the long, thin piece of dough and twisted it into a circle with one hand, then effortlessly twisted the ends together. Practice does, indeed, make perfect. I was very impressed with this bagel. It has just enough of the taste of the wood-fired oven to delight the tongue. The crust is very crusty. The inside is soft and tender while maintaining the essential bagely chewiness. The onion on top was a wonderful savory complement to the bread...

St.-Viateur in the Mont Royal district is a busy, thriving bagel café. Their woodfired oven turns out a constant stream of bagels. I decided to eat in and have a light meal. This is the classic, with salmon, cream cheese, and a healthy dose of capers. The bagel itself was a pretty classic bagel, slightly chewy but still very soft. The salmon was of excellent quality and with a very subtle taste. It's amazing that the capers didn't stand out more, so I guess they got the dose right.

I've eaten at a couple of Goldberg's around town, so when I got off my plane, they seemed like the right place to hit for a little post-flight sustenance. This location seems to be pretty new to Terminal A. ATL is in the middle of overhauling quite a few of the restaurants. I love everything bagels with their mixture of salt, garlic, and seeds. This was a fine examplar of the species: all the right flavors on top, properly chewy inside.

As yet another sign of how Palo Alto has changed, this little pocket of a storefront that once housed a donut shop is now a bagel shop. Still bread with holes but a much healthier vibe. Izzy's is kosher and proudly proclaims its Brooklyn heritage. This is my whole wheat bagel. I also had a garlic bagel that didn't make it to see noon. I kept it in a bag and the smell drove me crazy all morning until I had to eat it. While both bagels were good, I found them to be less chewy than I expected. I do not claim to be a bagel expert, but I think that the chewy bagel is more typical of East Coast bagels. When I moved from California to New Jersey, one of the things I definitely noticed was a change in the bagels. Izzy's bagels seem to be of the softer, bready variety that Californians seem to be used to.