Tompkins Square Bagels

Returning to the bagel-making days of his high-school years, Christopher Pugliese, an eight-year vet of Sushi Samba, opens this 25-seat East Village café. Sip Stumptown coffee and watch bakers boil rings of dough in an open kitchen. The menu includes homemade lox and regular bagels, plus "old school" versions—smaller, chewier rounds made without the dough conditioners that lend latter-day bagels their fluffiness.