Kaufman’s Coffee & Bagels – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Seinfeld: “What is that smell?” Kramer “That’s East River.” Seinfeld: You’re swimming in the East River? The most heavily trafficked, overly contaminated waterway on the eastern seaboard?” Kramer: Technically Norfolk has more gross tonnage.” When I lived in the Boston area for two years immediately following high school, those of us in the Bay State (even temporary residents) refused to acknowledge New York City was better than Boston at anything. We were devastated when the hated Yankees bested our beloved Red Sox in the 1978 American League East tie-breaker. For that we’ll never forgive Bucky Dent. Before my first visit to the dreaded Big Big Apple (Bucky Dent is the worm in that apple), friends told me in private and in hushed tones not to miss either a slice of pizza or a bagel. Both, they acquiesced, were better than what we had in Boston. Publicly–unlike this guy–they would have denounced anything from New York having even a modicum of merit. Naturally upon my return to Boston, I badmouthed the New York City pizza and bagels in public while privately thanking the brave dissenting voices who encouraged me to try them. Several lifetimes later, I still remember the aromas, textures…
