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Daniel Cohen is in dispute over the management of the remaining Beigel store on Brick Lane, east London. For 50 years, his family’s Beigel Bake, which describes itself as “London’s most famous 24/7 bakery” – and is nicknamed the “White One” because of the color of its sign – has maintained a friendly rivalry with its neighbor, described itself as “Britain’s first and best beige shop” – or to everyone else as “yellow shop”. Together they were a symbol of London.
In February, Cohen’s neighboring store, the Beigel Shop, closed with a notice of ownership taped to the windows, only covered up by another that blamed electrical problems. The ravens left the tower.
Beigels came to Brick Lane in the 19th century when Jews came to the area to escape the hardship and pogroms of Eastern Europe. Another wave of immigrants – Bengali Muslims – arrived after World War II, opening restaurants and making the area a curry destination.
Maria Balinska, author of The Bagel: The Surprising Story of a Humble Bread, says that as the bagel has grown in popularity over the years, it has become synonymous with New York. “However, given the centuries of rhymes, stories, songs and sermons about bagels, they retain their cultural connotation for the Jewish community.” Brick Lane Bagels are closer [smaller] size that they had in Eastern Europe,” she notes. As are the Rinkoffs bakeries in Whitechapel, founded in 1911 by an immigrant from Kiev. Balinska uses the Western spelling bagel, while Cohen insists on beigel.
Since 1870, Paul Gardner’s family has supplied paper bags to businesses in the area, including the two Beige stores on Brick Lane. He says: “It was pretty tough for a lot of people there. It’s still difficult for the people there. There’s the gentrified area and then there’s the old days when people were so poor. I guess the city is moving along slowly. I preferred the old days because they were just a little crazier.” Rising rents are a pressure. Gardner describes it as “the East End with West End prices.” His old bag shop on nearby Commercial Street now sells Chablis and Burgundy. “There weren’t many wine shops when I was there.”
For Cohen, his rival’s closure means he has a bigger piece of the baker’s pie. “People think we’re superior.” Is that boastful? “That’s what people say,” he says. But he is also sad. “We don’t want any stranger coming onto the street.” He also suspects their presence has helped draw the crowds – a cluster effect like Hatton Garden, London’s jewelry district.
In any case, Cohen assumes that the yellow man will return. A local hotel is talking about hosting it as a pop-up. The Beigel Shop did not respond to requests for comment, although its Instagram account says it is reopening.
There are already long queues in Beigel stores. Whenever I visited, the white man outdid his neighbor’s. Although people argue about the merits of competitors, I usually end up in the shorter queue. Earlier this year, a couple visiting London asked me if the yellow was really okay because they had seen an Instagram post claiming the white was the best beigel in the city. “We have a lot of influencers,” says Cohen. “You are a great help.”
Foodie virality is unpredictable. Some venues can’t handle the sudden popularity and have banned influencers as a result. I’m amazed at the two-hour queues outside a caravan serving baked potatoes in Tamworth, served by Spudman, who sports a pink mohawk and has more than 3 million TikTok followers.
Sales at Beigel Bake are almost back to pre-pandemic levels, Cohen says. However, night trading in the 24-hour bakery is slow. “People were put off socializing.” Food inflation has also hurt. “Beef has gone up tremendously, eggs have gone up. Cream cheese has tripled and many dairy products have increased massively.”
I wonder if anti-Semitism had an impact after the Israel-Hamas conflict. Cohen says that’s not the case. About 50 percent of its workforce (40 mostly part-time employees) are Muslim. “They are like my brothers.”
This is a family business. Cohen works with his brother and uncle. “I worked with my father for years, [he] became my best friend. If my kids want to take over, I want them to, but I want them to be happy.”