Latest news with #Bagizza
Forbes
19-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
A New Food Creation Hits NYC: The Flattened Pizza/Bagel At Bagizza
New York City's foodies are fascinated by the latest trend including a flattened pizza bagel ... More introduced at Bagizza on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Back in May 2013 chef Dominique Ansel in his eponymous SoHo bakery on Spring Street in NYC introduced the cronut, a croissant blended into a doughnut. He produced only about 250 a day, creating long lines around the block, which turned into a media sensation. Clearly Ansel majored in pastries and minored in marketing. And now restaurateur Michael Park, executive chef Steven Cho and master bagel maker Alex Baka at Bagizza, which debuted on May 15, on Madison Avenue and 49th Street, near the Waldorf Astoria, have introduced their own concoction: a flattened pizza bagel. Indeed they originally called it a 'flagel' but were contacted by a lawyer who informed them that this term was copyrighted and if they used it, they'd be sued. So the 'flagel' name vanished and quickly turned into the pizza bagel, which doesn't quite have the same zing. A Google search revealed that Bagel Boss, which owns over a dozen bagel shops on Long Island, Queens and Manhattan, created the flagel. Baka said the 3 of them were brainstorming and said to each other that bagels and pizza are both NYC staples so why don't we combine them together? Flat pizza bagels emerged. Knowing how foodies operate, owner Park created the name Bagizza combining the words bagel and pizza together, to create a new food trend. At least that's the goal. Baka says it blends the bagel with pizza because it's prepared with 'bagel dough then hand-rolled and cold-fermented, then run through a sheeter until flat, then quickly boiled in a kettle with honey and spiced rum.' So it comes out as a bagel and is turned into pizza. It can be topped with high-quality pizza ingredients like San Marzano tomatoes, house-made marinara and premium cheeses such as Grande and Calabro mozzarella. It also offers Hawaiian pizza and broccolini pesto. Though it sounds as if it would be laden with a thousand calories, Baka says the individual pizza bagel, without the toppings, registers at 360 calories. It avoids using sugar, which would increase the calorie count, and relies on malt syrup, which is sweet but lighter on calories. Baka admits that taking photographs of the bagel pizza is a natural for many Gen Xers and millennials on TikTok or Instagram. Admitting that he's more focused on the food than the photography, he adds, 'We're making everything with practical deliciousness in mind, and if it happens to look good on camera, that's also great.' And since Bagizza is open 24/7, it serves all meals 'from breakfast bagels and coffee to lunch, dinner and late-night bites,' Baka adds. He says the guests can order the pizza bagel whenever they want but most people veer toward traditional breakfast items such as its bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches. Baka says Bagizza operates like their 'new favorite diner or 24-hour café.' Hence, people can opt for acai bowls, regular bagels, salads, or dinner items like short ribs. He calls it a diner 'with an elevated edge.' Baka himself is originally from Thailand but was raised in Woodside, Queens and also operates Pattanian, a Thai restaurant in Ridgewood, Queens. How does he handle both? 'I don't sleep much,' he admits. Asked about Bagizza's target audience, Baka says it expects to attract many tourists, but also residents who live nearby and office workers. 'There's nothing quite like it in the vicinity. And prices, for this area, aren't too expensive,' he says. In the future, he expects that flat pizza bagels could be turned into a consumer-packaged goods item, sold in supermarkets, like bagel bites.. And then they'd consider opening another one or more Bagizza's in New York City and might explore other states. Flat pizza bagels could be here to stay.
Time Out
08-05-2025
- Business
- Time Out
A new midtown shop is putting pizza on a flattened bagel—and we're into it
Step aside, pizza bagels. There's a new carb hybrid in town, and it's taking things to the next schmear. Bagizza, opening May 15 on the corner of Madison Avenue and East 49th Strett, is billing itself as NYC's first-ever "pizza flagel" shop. That's right: pizza on a flattened, hand-rolled bagel, made from cold-fermented dough and finished in a wood-fired stone oven. Call it a culinary identity crisis, but with garlic béchamel and bacon kimchi jam involved, we're not mad about it. The brainchild of restaurateur Michael Park, bagel savant Alex Baka and Chef Steven Cho (of Kappo Masa and Chefs Club pedigree), Bagizza brings together Montreal-New York hybrid bagel dough with globally inspired pizza toppings. These aren't your dorm-room pizza bagels—they're sheeted dough flagels made from a triple-cooked, kettle-baked base and layered with premium ingredients like Calabro mozzarella, house-cured ham and broccolini pesto. The toppings list reads like a trip around the world: try shrimp toast with curry mayo and chives, caponata with eggplant and honeyed chili or an artichoke number with Yukon golds and anchovy. Fancy a custom creation? Spread on one of their chef-y schmears, from dill-and-smoked salmon to cinnamon-honey butter. Bagizza's dough whisperer, Alex Baka, is a second-generation bagel roller who has hand-rolled more than 25 million bagel rounds over his career (yes, million). His bagels aren't just food—they're works of fermentation art. And the shop's broader menu is a serious upgrade from your usual corner deli, with braised short ribs, house-smoked meats and a coffee-and-juice bar slinging Colombian drip and açai bowls. The 3,400-square-foot space is built for midtown's hustle—there's grab-and-go options, open-kitchen bagel watching and sleek seating if you're lingering. It's also open 24/7, because nothing says New York like craving a pizza flagel at 3am on a weekday.
