Andy HoffmanNo breakfast can compare with the pleasure of seeing your kids grow up well. I have two, a son and a daughter, both working jobs that make them happy and partnered with people who improve them. Alicia married Kelly in September 2023 and loves her work as an Occupational Therapist, working with kids who need her. Marcus is an engineer at Google, and he has made a beautiful life with Rob. I could not be prouder of them both.
Deb’s kids are younger than mine by eight years. She has three daughters, all of whom have found themselves work they love. We hear stories of young people struggling, living at home, trying to find themselves, or love, or their passion, and it makes me feel so blessed to see our five marvels making lives for themselves. They all seem to accept the life Deb and I have chosen, even if it means they can’t go home anymore, since we currently don’t keep one. We make up for that be visiting them whenever we can.
We recently went to New York City to visit one of Deb’s twins, the first to have left the Boston nest. She moved to Manhattan with her long-standing boyfriend, who’s earning his doctorate in biochemistry. We wanted a look at the studio where Allie and Ben live, made affordable by Ben’s graduate program. Allie works from home most days while Ben goes to his lab. The compact studio accommodates them well enough, and its Upper East Side location – between Central Park and the East River Park – holds treasures on almost every block. (Deb’s recollections of the day include several other New York landmarks.)
Like Kossar’s, for example. Their 75th and York location – one of five up and down Manhattan – sits a 15-minute walk from the apartment, in the direction of Ben’s lab. New York used to have bagel shops on nearly every block. Most have closed now, victims of healthier eating and Jewish success. But that means that the one’s remaining, like Kossar’s, generally offer the best product. I can’t speak for their bagels which looked scrumptious and smelled even better, but their bialy exactly hit the mark. Crispy, on the edge of burnt in some spots, with a chewy interior and loads of caverns to hold the melted butter. The sauteed onions in the central cavity brought a juicy zest to the bread. Kossar’s does a complete breakfast menu too, and a variety of fresh salads and flavored cream cheese to schmear across your bagel, but they have no table service, so we just focused on their specialty. Hunt them down for the perfect snack. Especially when wandering New York streets with your full-grown children. And especially when those full-grown children bring you naches, Yiddish for joyful pride. They taste even better then.