Kossar's Bialys (Kossar's Bialystoker Kuchen Bakery) located at 367 Grand Street (and Essex Street), on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York City, is the oldest bialy

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Background

The bialy gets its name from the "Bialystoker Kuchen" of

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

, in present-day

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Polish Jew The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

ish bakers who arrived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in the late 19th century and early 20th century made an industry out of their recipe for the mainstay bread rolls baked in every household.

History

Kossar's Bialys, originally known as Mirsky and Kossar's when Isadore Mirsky and Morris Kossar founded it in 1936, is one of the few remnants of what was once its own industry in New York City with its own union association and an owners' alliance known the Bialy Bakers Association, Inc. Originally located at 145 Clinton Street in Manhattan's

, Kossar's Bialys moved to its current location at Grand and Essex Streets in the early 1960s after a union dispute and subsequent fire destroyed the building. Juda Engelmayer, Debra Engelmayer, Daniel Cohen, and Malki Cohen purchased the bakery from Morris Kossar's son-in-law and daughter, Daniel and Gloria Kossar Scheinin in 1998. Bagel Bialy

In 2013, Evan Giniger and David Zablocki purchased the bakery from the Engelmayers and Cohens. After the sale, the new owners made a number of upgrades and changes to the store, including expanding the menu and making the decision to no longer operate as a

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

establishment. Kossar's has a history of employing many female cashiers from the Philippines and employees from other countries as well. Many of these employees worked at the bakery for decades and still work at the bakery.

In popular culture

Kossar's Bialys was the starting point for former ''New York Times''

food critic A food critic, food writer, or restaurant critic is a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings to the public. Terminology "Food writer" is often used as a broad term that encompasses someone who w ...

Mimi Sheraton's research for her 2002 book, ''The Bialy Eaters: The Story of a Bread and a Lost World.'' Kossar's Bialys is on the Lower East Side and Lower Manhattan tour circuit.

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 40, 42, 58.91, N, 73, 59, 19.68, W, region:US-NY, display=title Lower East Side Jews and Judaism in Manhattan Restaurants in Manhattan Grand Street (Manhattan) Bakeries of New York City Restaurants established in 1936 Polish-Jewish culture in New York City Russian-Jewish culture in New York City Ukrainian-Jewish culture in New York City Ashkenazi Jewish restaurants Ashkenazi Jewish culture in New York City Kosher bakeries

Background

History

In popular culture

See also

References

External links