I don’t know why it’s taken me years to go to the Detroit Institute of Bagels (DIB). I’ve passed by it a hundred times and ignored it. Maybe it’s because I practically grew up on bagels in Brooklyn made the old-fashioned way, boiled and baked. I went to a small, Black Congregational church in Canarsie which, in the 1970s, was a predominantly white “ethnic” neighborhood. Every week, between Sunday school and the morning service, my cousins, friends, and I would go around the corner to the bagel shop and buy salt bagels (and 25 cent packs of Now and Later candy, which I can’t believe I ever ate). Most places that serve bagels don’t make them that way. DIB does, though, with satisfying results. My favorite is the rosemary and olive oil bagel with veggie cream cheese. It’s also a great place to sit, think, and get some work done.
