Black Seed Bagels

Mile End's Noah Bernamoff teamed up with the Smile's Matt Kliegman to open this bakery-café specializing in old-school, hand-rolled bagels baked in a brick-lined wood-burning oven. The bagels are fairly small and dense, the seeding heavy. And though Bernamoff is from Montreal, they're not sweet, as is the style there. Consider Black Seed the revival of the great New York City bagel that is not factory made. A chalkboard menu details the sandwich variations, the most classic being smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onion, tomato and capers. Everything is homemade, from the cream cheese to the jam to the smoked whitefish salad. Ordering is done at the counter, and there are a few small tables in the wood-paneled space if you'd rather not take your nosh and Stumptown coffee on the road.