A Little Piece Of Heaven With A Hole In The Middle

I love bagels. I loooooove bagels. They serve as the lifeblood to millions up and down the eastern seaboard. But why, oh why, can't I find a good bagel in the Northwest?

Top reasons that Northwesterners who don't love bagels, should love bagels:

1. Made well, they're delicious. Elitist Foodies be damned. (Apologies to readers that might be restaurant critics.)

2. Bagels fit nicely in one hand, and possibly more importantly, travel well. One can be consumed easily on a crowded morning bus ride with hot cup of Starbucks riding shotgun in your other hand. The ultimate grab-and-go food.

3a. You can slice it and put on it pretty much anything you can put on a sandwich made from an overpriced boulangerie. Save some money in these hard economic times. And don't forget to lightly toast the two sides first.

3b. A favorite of east coasters (including myself, and especially those of Jewish descent (me) -- I'm not sure how this came to be, and will require some history/culture research if I want to know) is cream cheese and smoked salmon, usually known as nova or lox. Alaskan salmon (best in the world, I'm convinced) isn't exactly hard to come by in the Northwest, so this should be a no-brainer.

3c. Variety is endless. Sesame, Poppy, Cinnamon Raisin, French Toast, Pomegranate, Blueberry Muffin (what?!), and whatever else you can think of to put in the dough, someone's probably done it, somewhere. And of course, the Everything bagel. (Well, not really everything.)

4. There's a neat little hole in the middle. How many other things you eat can you say that about? So you like those fresh donuts from Pike Place, hmm? (Bagels and donuts are closely related: the dough recipe is slightly different, and bagels are boiled while donuts are fried - see next point.)

5. Bagels - good for you. Not the leanest food around, but covers enough bases (if you put the right stuff on it) to provide a good meal any time of day, and certainly not unhealthy.

So, all this said, where can a east coaster in bagel withdrawl find himself a decent bite to eat? The only place I know so far is near Pike Place market in Seattle, on 1st Ave., I think. This lack of satisfaction feeds an occasional desire to take my eventually-minted business degree and open a bagel shop of my own. I will do this with the simple mission to spread the word of perhaps the greatest food ever invented.

(Okay, so ice cream is pretty close, cut me a break?)