Tompkins Square Bagels

I’ve been meaning to go to Tompkins Square Bagels ever since they opened. My friend Shawn Chittle made a documentary on the shop and the owner, check it out here:

The owner, Christopher Pugliese hired local artist, Jim “Mosaic Man” Power to do the sign out front and the the bagel and sandwich restaurant was first reported on EV Grieve, who continued with follow ups right up to the opening. Well, in honor of these three gentlemen who support TSB, Christopher named sandwiches after each one of them. And so today, I’m meeting frequent guest star on TWM, The Duncester to try all three sandwiches and check out Tompkins Square Bagels. I feel a bit Hannibal Lectorish as I head out to eat, Shawn, EV Grieve and Mosaic Man. I’m hoping there’s fava beans and a nice chianti on the menu!

It's not far from where I live, so we'll hoof it over to the East Village.

And here we are. I like the way the front is open, it makes the place look inviting to the neighborhood.

The Mosaic Man's unique one-of-a-kind mosaic sign hangs over the store. Really nice to see local artist's employed to do signage to a store as opposed to something generic. It's touches like this that keep the flavor alive in the East Village.

It's a lot bigger in here than I thought it was going to be. The front has a large counter and cooking area.

And the back half is large as well, with a counter overlooking the bagel making area and tables and chairs. There's a garden area in the back that they're getting ready to fix up for the summertime.

There's a large wooden communal table in the back to enjoy your food and drink. Nice to see magazines on a table instead of iPads and iPhones!

Here's a shot from the back of the shop.

This glassed in case houses the fresh and local food for the sandwiches and salads available.

There's a familiar face at the cash register...

It's owner Christopher Pugliese, holding a piece of art from neighborhood artist, VH McKenzie. I love this piece of art, which says, "Just Say No" to Starbucks, 7-Eleven and Subway. Three businesses that have been bulldozing in on the East Village and hurting local businesses. You can read about the making of this art and the thoughts behind it here: "The Chains Are Coming..."

All the art on the walls is works from local artists. This month's featured artist is PJ Cobbs.

Christopher points to one the pieces on display, the artwork is colorful, 3-D scenes from different neighborhoods in New York.

It's a friendly atmosphere in here, here's Chris with a regular and a bagel maker himself, Kim.

And speaking of bagels, Chris was nice enough to allow me to see the entire process of how a bagel is born here. It starts down in the basement, after the dough has been hand-rolled and refrigerated.

As you can see, these aren't your everyday run of the mill bagels, these are works of art. Beautiful!

Chris opens up the specially made bagel vat...

And the bagels go in.

After about a minute or so, they float to the top and swim around in the vat for a bit.

Then they're taken out and place on wooden boards.

And here, Jonas puts the bagels into the oven. And not just any oven, this is a special bagel oven that Chris bought and brought from Florida. It's a one of a kind oven that rotates on the inside and cooks the bagels perfectly.

Here's Jonas with a tray of the finished product. They take their bagel-making seriously here and it shows!

After seeing the bagel-making process, I met Chris' partner in the restaurant, James Peterson. James owns his business, Green Army Interiors and literally built Tompkins Square Bagels from the ground up.

And at this point The Duncester shows up and it's time to sample the three specialty sandwiches of the house.

The Grieve, The Chittle and The Mosaic Man, three sandwiches named after three men that have definitely made a mark in the East Village and deserve to be on this board. Now, let's check them out.

The first up is The Grieve which is chicken cutlet, mozzarella cheese with peppers and onions. Very tasty and zingy as the blog and the man it's named after.

Here's the Chittle, smoked turkey, bacon, swiss cheesewith lettuce and onions. Chris told us that out of the three, this is the best seller.

And last but certainly not least, The Mosaic Man, Virginia ham, smoked turkey, provolone cheese with lettuce, tomatoes and spicy mustard. Delicious and the taste is as colorful as Mosaic Man's artwork. One thing Chris told me he really wants to do with Tompkins Square Bagels is create an atmosphere where everyone is welcome and feels at home in here. From the veterans of the neighborhood to those that have just got here. I have to say, that he's certainly done that. It's refreshing to sit in a local shop with artwork by artists from the neighborhood and eat sandwiches named after three men who have made a difference in the East Village. The Impov Comedy Troupe from Chicago, The Second City has always taught that when you're onstage, you should try your best to make everyone around you look great and not worry about yourself. Then when everyone else is shining, so are you. Christopher and Tompkins Square Bagels have embraced the neighborhood in the short three months they've been open and by featuting local talent and saluting others, they're shining like a pair of shoes done up by Don Ward! Stop in and have a bagel when you're in the neighborhood, you'll be happy you did. And you'll also be having the best bagel in town!

Tompkins Square Bagels
165 Ave. A ( @10th St.)
646-351-6520

Further Reading: EV Grieve, chomp chow chew and The Local East Village.

It's not the DMV cause it˛ˇ doesn't make you wait.
It couldn't be a taco cause it isn't very crunchy.
It couldn't be an Olson cause it isn't Marry Kate.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Wndows on the World Art From Danny The Freelancer!

Yesterday in the comments section, the restarurant, "Windows on the World," came up. Sadly, as we know, the restuarant went down with the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. TWM commenter, danny the freelancer, sent in this art from a pass from a series of Go-Go parties that were happening back in the day. Very cool, thanks, Danny!