COUNTER CULTURE
More than 10 years ago
When Leo’s Bagels first opened in 2007, Owner and Founder, Adam Pomerantz, realized that his was one of the few local businesses to remain open on weekends to serve the local residents. Adam had long hoped to bring his traditional NYC bagels to this Wall Street neighborhood, and local residents were thrilled to have him there.
When Adam was working as a vice president at Merrill Lynch, he knew firsthand that this newly growing neighborhood needed a local bagel shop that would serve both the business community as well as the residential one. Back then, there was nowhere Adam could get a real NYC bagel, smoked fish or appetizing. Adam left Wall Street back in 1995 to open his first bagel shop named for his late father, Murray Pomerantz, from whom he learned his love of bagels and appetizing. Murray would often bring home traditional NYC Jewish “appetizing”: bagels, lox, sable, whitefish, cream cheese and other salads, from the Lower East Side, where he owned a women’s clothing store on Rivington Street. At school, other kids had turkey sandwiches or peanut butter and jelly for lunch — Adam had a bagel and lox with a schmear of cream cheese. This was Adam’s soulfood, but he still needed the practical experience of learning how to make all these foods that he knew so well.
After leaving Wall Street, Adam first apprenticed for an Egyptian bagel maker in New Jersey in order to learn everything he could about the bagel making process. He then researched and sourced only the best ingredients and smoked fish used to make traditional appetizing. Adam opened his first shop and quickly became an integral part of the community who continues to love his mouth-watering, hand-rolled, kettle-boiled NYC bagels.
Adam brings his knowledge and love of this traditional Jewish soulfood to everything he does at Leo’s. He continues to make his bagels the old-fashioned way, hand-rolling every bagel, boiling and then baking them in small batches to maintain both quality and freshness.
Leo’s Bagels is named after Adam’s Great Uncle Leo, who was from Eastern Europe, the birthplace of the bagel. LEO is also an acronym for an old-time Lower-East Side favorite, Lox, Eggs and Onions, which is a specialty at Leo’s, served on a fresh bagel. But what Leo’s is best known for is its traditional, hand-rolled NYC bagels. Whether you need a quick bite for lunch or on your way to work, catering for a meeting or a family gathering, or a destination for weekend brunch makings, Leo’s is there for you!
