Visiting New York City - real Jewish Rye?

There are 2 in Penn Station that are really good.  Can't remember the name at the moment.

Born and bred in the Bronx during the 1940s, rye bread, bagels, pletzels, onion rolls are like mother's milk to me.  Alas, the only way to get those things today is to find a traditional recipe and make it yourself.  On this site are  recipes found in "Inside the Jewish Bakery," http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/inside-the-jewish-bakery.  These are the real thing.  I've made the onion rolls several times; they are as authentic as they come. 

There are kosher enclaves in Brooklyn and in Teaneck, New Jersey, but the quality is not great because the union bakers are all gone.  Jewish bakeries went the way of the dinosaur, as did kosher delicatessens.  There are "kosher-style" places throughout the New York metro area, but their rye bread is factory-made with cheap ingredients pumped with air.  It's awful.  

Don't get me started on bagels.  I haven't had a good bagel in probably 30 years.  They all have glandular conditions nowadays, huge and fluffy, and baked with all manner of strange concoctions. Yuck. The chewy, yeasty bagels of my childhood, generally topped with either salt or onions,  are not sold anywhere.  

there should be a better way to edit/delete

Give Jeffrey Hamelman's bagel formula a try (following it precisely).  You'll be pleasantly surprised.   I use only KAF Sir Lancelot for this formula.  My bagels are as good as (or maybe even better than)  the ones I ate when living in NYC years ago, before the ersatz bagel shops took over.

I've been reading your blog posts for almost a year now - so I'm happy to finally have the chance to introduce myself...Cher504, (Cherie). I live in NYC and am old enough to remember the halcyon days of new york jewish bakeries. Sadly, most of them are gone but a few new places have sprung up. Ian mentioned one in Penn Station -  he probably means Zaro's - which is pretty good. And at Grand Central (the other train station) Eli's has some good stuff. But the old style places are mostly downtown. 

You should check out Russ and Daughters on the lower east side. It's basically a fish and appetizing store, been around 100 years! The great grand-children are running it now and they recently hired an old-school (3rd generation) jewish baker who supplies the shop with great rye breads -  corn rye, shissel rye, pumpernickel, etc. You can read about it here -  http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/06/rebuilding-the-jewish-bakery.html

 Check out their website - russanddaughters.com.  There was a really interesting documentary made last year about them called "The Sturgeon Queens" you can see the trailer on youtube - Hilarious! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz6rr6Tg4S4. In the full film (it's only 40 minutes) there's a segment devoted to the bread baking and the types of breads they wanted to bring back to popularity, interesting. Katz's Deli is around the corner from Russ and Daughters - while the corned beef and pastrami are the real deal, the rye bread is not. It's probably Levy's (from a supermarket) - still it's fun to pop in for the scenery and maybe a hot dog?

Other good bakeries - Orwasher"s (Upper east side), Black seed - a new bagel place near Little Italy (also downtown), Moishe's Bakery (East Village), of course Zabar's has very good breads and old-style (chewy) bagels. There was a taste test of bagels that you can see here - http://www.buzzfeed.com/joshrobin/new-york-citys-best-bagel#.sqJBPMawP how did they leave off Tal bagels? And Tomkins Sq bagels should have been in the top ten...oh well.  

If my work schedule permits and your trip is not already too packed with plans, maybe we could meet at one of these places? My 20-something son lives around the corner from Russ and Daughters, so I know that neighborhood pretty well. 

Anyway, I hope you have a fun trip and find what you're looking for!

Cheers,

Cherie

For my money, the best handmade bagels -- real traditional ones -- come out of The Bagel Hole 400 Seventh Ave. In the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. They're the real deal. 

Rye is a bit trickier. You might try Sullivan St. Bakery or Balthazar. Also, Chiffon Cake Center on Avenue P in Brooklyn (short walk from a subway stop) for what I consider the best of the surviving neighborhood Jewish bakeries. Levi and Esther Kramer are phenomenal people and run a great, great bakery.

Stan
www.nybakers.com

I'm a native Brooklynite and the borough is an urbanist's dream, without even getting to the beach, Prospect Park and great neighborhoods, pizza - I could go on and on.

BUT -

For rye bread, onion rolls, lox, baked salmon and other delights, go to Zabar's. It's on Broadway, maybe 82nd or 83rd Street.

For good deli and the best kasha knishes (after Mrs. Stahl's in Brighton Beach, may that piece of heaven rest in peace), go to Fine and Shapiro on West 72nd Street between Broadway and Columbus. Get a hot dog here instead of at Gray's Papaya.

For bagels, go to 72nd Street Bagel. It's on the same block as Fine and Shapiro. Plus, the bagel place can have a line out the door and you will still be waited on within three minutes. But that's the beauty of New York, impatience and a fast pace wherever you go.

I saw your post about Rye bread in NYC for your visit. I know it was a long time ago but, did you find anything worth mentioning.