Russ & Daughters Appetizers
Daughter’s Delight – Everything Bagel, Cream Cheese, Gaspe Nova, Wild Alaskan Salmon Roe
Bagel Bread Pudding
7-Layer Halva
Chocolate Babka
Now open for 103 years, the Café down the street joining the original Russ & Daughters Appetizers just a few years ago, it was on Memorial Day Weekend 2017 that the line on Sunday was found to be shorter than usual, a brief detour through the doors finding ticket 54 ready to be pulled, though an indecisive couple later asked to ‘trade-down’ from 46, the total time between entry and exit just under ten minutes.
Known for their multitude of Smoked Fishes, Cream Cheeses and housemade Sweets, additional available items including Bagels and Packaged Goods brought in from elsewhere, it was with nearly every person ordering a Bagel with some sort of Fish that patrons patiently waited, the narrow space at times a bit difficult to navigate without a pardon and squeezing between families and glass cases.
Offering by-weight sales, pre-packaged portions and service that is pleasant but brief it was as forty-six called that the counter was approached with three items already gathered, the addition of a “Daughter’s Delight” bringing the total to just under $30 with everything individually wrapped and placed in a brown paper bag to be taken elsewhere for consumption.
Sitting down in a small nearby park, each item sold in a portion large enough to share, it was with the aforementioned Bagel Sandwich unwrapped that first bites were taken, the Salmon silky and smooth beneath a thick smear of Cream Cheese and popping bubbles of Fish Eggs, the Bagel itself a bit dense – both here and in the Raisin and Prune-strewn Bread Pudding that likely would have been better warm, though even then it would have been a bit too dense and eggy.
Well-known for their Babka, both Cinnamon and Chocolate versions offered in whole or quarter-Loaves, it was with a small piece of the latter torn off that disappointment quickly followed, the crumb exceedingly dry, almost as though it was still left over from the prior day while the “Seven Layer” Halva offered a good balance of sweet and savory with a crisp break that slowly melts across the palate.
http://www.russanddaughters.com/
