Hip and delicious new place rocks bagels and sandwiches
When The Lox Bagel Shop opened in December, you might have guessed its impressive team leaders — which include Silas Caeton, the former executive chef at Cosecha Cocina, and Kevin Crowley, a former partner at Northstar Cafe — would be a guarantee that Lox was destined for excellence. If that was your guess, you have been proven correct.
Occupying the modestsized space that once housed sedate eateries Homefare and L’antibes, Lox has rapidly become a buzzy Short North sensation. Call it a hot spot with a cool veneer.
Launched with creditcard-only counter service — a policy that has been reversed after an outcry on social media — Lox is a trendy, tasteful and modern operation awash in pale and soothing neutral tones. Light-colored wooden tables — most are two-tops, a couple are communal — provide seating above a concrete floor. Light-colored wood decorates the walls, too, along with graphic depictions of wave and crystalline forms against a muted-blue background. Windows filter natural light into the stylish room. A pleasant indie-pop soundtrack cements Lox’s ambience, which I would sum up as “this could be a hip cafe in Brooklyn.”
So if you find yourself facing a deep line in Lox — expect this on weekends — at least it’s a relaxing place to hang out. Besides, in my experience, the lines have moved quickly and the food arrives in a timely fashion.
The scratch-made bagels ($2.25 each), which are boiled and baked the old-fashioned way, would be worth a wait anyway. All four varieties — plain, sesame, everything and sea-salt-and-herb — taste great and offer crinkly exteriors that lead to delightfully chewy interiors.
Bagels can be topped with several thick cream cheeses. Lox Bagel Shop
My favorite is generously speckled with house-cured lox ($4), but even the plain ($1) is rich and tangy. Add a flavorful coffee ($2.50), made with Cat & Cloud beans, or a zippy bloody mary made with Watershed vodka ($7.50), and your day will be heading in a good direction.
About a half-dozen pick-your-bagel sandwiches dot the small menu. If breakfast flavors are calling, the egg and cheese ($8) is a high-quality crowdpleaser that flatters
an omelet disk with melted cheddar and “egg sauce” — a perky mustard-mayo-chipotle-honey aioli. Add a sage-scented sausage patty from the Butcher and Grocer ($2.50), and it’s even better.
The outstanding pastrami sandwich ($10.50) stars hefty slabs of warm, outrageously juicy and tender house-cooked meat that can stand up to garnishes of aggressive pickled onions, mustard and melted Swiss. It’s the best sandwich here — in fact, it’s one of the best new sandwiches I’ve sampled this year. A chive-flecked potato croquettes side-dish special ($2.25) was so
beautifully prepared, I hardly cared it was oversalted.
Although good, the signature lox sandwich ($12.50) could use some retooling. The skillfully cured, subtle fish — it’s not too smoky or salty — isn’t generously applied, is too thickly sliced to be silky and tender, and is overwhelmed by Lox’s intense pickled onions.
Roasted, pickled, raw and marinated plant matter is vibrantly showcased in a veggie sandwich ($8.50) loaded with broccolini, mushrooms, beets and shaved carrots, plus beet-and-thyme cream cheese with a shockingpink hue that belies a mild taste. It’s an unwieldy assembly that falls apart, but I still applaud this colorful, creative, healthful and flavor-packed option.
Neatly sliced avocado slivers plus a kicky, if not saucy, salsa verde with cumin and chile notes make harmonious partners for slowroasted, spork-tender, juicy meat in the highly recommended pork sandwich ($10). If a Mexican gordita bound in a bagel sounds odd — it initially did to me — it’s a testament to Lox’s talented kitchen crew that, after a few bites of this, it seems like a perfectly sensible combination.