Sections
  • News & Politics
  • Food
  • Things to Do
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Home & Style
  • Editors’ Picks
  • Events Calendar
  • Health
  • Longreads
  • Parenting
  • Real Estate
  • Shopping
  • Travel
  • Weddings
Reader Favorites
  • Subscribe
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
Washington’s Best
  • Apartment Rentals
  • DC Travel Guide
  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Financial Advisers
  • Health Experts
  • Home Improvement Experts
  • Industry Leaders
  • Lawyers
  • Mortgage Professionals
  • Pet Care
  • Private Schools
  • Real Estate Agents
  • Restaurants
  • Retirement Communities
  • Wedding Vendors
More
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
© 2022 Washingtonian Media Inc.
Privacy Policy
All Rights Reserved
 Rss
Skip to content
Washingtonian.com
  • Search
  • Subscribe
  • Menu
  • News & Politics
  • Things to Do
  • Food
  • Health
  • Shopping
  • Home & Style
  • Real Estate
  • Weddings
  • Travel

  • Subscribe
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Trending Now in Food
  • steak
  • RBG
  • NaRa-Ya
  • Food Festivals
  • Laos in Town
Food

From Royal Bagel to Minibar: Bagels and Lox Go Humble to Haute

Some Washington restaurants have taken a common breakfast pairing and tailored it to a white-tablecloth menu.

Written by Ann Limpert
| Published on May 20, 2011
Tweet Share
At Royal Bagel Bakery & Deli: bagels, cream cheese, and lox the old-fashioned way. Photograph by Scott Suchman

Few breakfasts are simpler and more satisfying than a bagel with cream cheese and slices of lox—the cured, cold-smoked salmon that’s the pride of many a Jewish deli. Now it’s become the pride of many kinds of restaurants. We’ll start at the humble end of the spectrum:

Royal Bagel Bakery & Deli. This family-run shop excels at the tried and true—cream-cheese-smeared rounds layered with Nova lox.

2 Amys. Sunday mornings, the pizza oven at this Cleveland Park Italian spot creates house-made bagels using whey left over from the buffalo mozzarella and slathered with house-made cream cheese. They’re topped with—what else?—lox cured in-house.

Michel. In Michel Richard’s whirring mind, a breakfast staple becomes a dinner appetizer in the form of a many-layered terrine of salmon and crème fraîche.

Volt. Thin slices of braised, cold-smoked, and sous-vide-cooked Arctic char are paired with “flavors of everything bagel”—crumbs of brioche pulverized with bacon, garlic chips, and coriander.

Minibar. Dinner at José Andrés’s modernist mecca—and at his Los Angeles restaurant, the Bazaar—might start with a dill-cream-cheese-filled cone topped with salmon roe.

This article appears in the April 2011 issue of The Washingtonian.  

Subscribe to Washingtonian

Follow Washingtonian on Twitter

Follow the Best Bites Bloggers on Twitter

More>> Best Bites Blog | Food & Dining | Restaurant Finder

More: Best BitesFood TrendsFrom the Magazine
Join the conversation!
Share Tweet
Ann Limpert
Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Logan Circle.

Most Popular in Food

1

Donald Trump and Ketchup: A History

2

DC Distillery Releases Dissent Gin in Support of Abortion Rights

3

These Are the Top 25 New Restaurants Around DC

4

14 Fun Food Festivals Around DC This Summer

5

12 Great Restaurant Patios for Weekday Lunch Around DC

Washingtonian Magazine

July 2022: Summer Music Guide

July 2022: Summer Music Guide

View Issue
Subscribe

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Related

July 2022: Summer Music Guide

June 2022: 101 Reasons to Love Summer in DC

May 2022: Fantastic Foodie Getaways

April 2022: The Hottest Neighborhoods of Washington’s Real Estate Boom

More from Food

This Friday: Chat With Food Critic Ann Limpert

Donald Trump and Ketchup: A History

DC Distillery Releases Dissent Gin in Support of Abortion Rights

14 Fun Food Festivals Around DC This Summer

Today at 11: Chat With Food Critic Ann Limpert

12 Great Restaurant Patios for Weekday Lunch Around DC

10 Fun Food Events Around DC This Week

Burmese Mainstay Mandalay Will Make a Comeback in Silver Spring

© 2022 Washingtonian Media Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Washingtonian is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Privacy Policy and Opt-Out
 Rss
Get the best news, delivered weekly.
By signing up, you agree to our terms.
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs