DONATE: HARLEM'S FIRST BAGEL BAKERY

We had heard about a couple trying to get funds together for Harlem's first handmade bagel shop but really had to check out the quality before making any further comment.   Ashley Dikos and Andrew Martinez have been in the Mount Morris Park neighborhood for almost a decade but lamented the fact that a great bagel shop was the one thing that did not seem to be arriving in Harlem.  They went out on their own to learn the craft of creating traditional, water boiled bagels and started selling BO's Bagels at uptown's popup farmers markets.  A cult following soon ordered the bagels even during off seasons and the duo expanded into a commercial kitchen in the Bronx.  So are they any good?

Our main test of any bagel company is the Everything offering and the artisan bagel did not disappoint. As can be seen by  the above photo, the outside was nicely baked with a generous amount of seasoning which provided the required burst of flavor.  Each bagel is also obviously handmade since the shape is different from one to another and the chew is perfection.  A shop location on Lenox below 125th Street has been selected which will have the industrial kitchen in the back but $50,000 has to be raised to get things started.

The goal on Kickstarter is at 25 percent but more needs to happen in the next couple of weeks for this to become a reality.  If we can add fuel to the fire, our final judgement is that we like BO's Bagels even more than the famous ones at Absolute Bagels located on the outskirts of Morningside Heights. Those small donations add up so help out the cause here:  LINK