NYC Bagel Deli calls attention to NY's favorite foods

November 24, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- For more than a decade, Corey Kaplan has been attempting to recreate the one-of-a-kind flavors of New York in Chicago. He started with bagels, doing what any purist would do: first boil them in water, then bake them off in a hot oven, rendering the outside layer slightly crisp.

"A little bit of New York, in Chicago," said NYC Slices' Corey Kaplan. "NYC Bagel Deli - we created that in the year 2000.

"In the third location we actually decided to bring a little more of New York, by bringing real, New York-style, authentic pizza."

Now that idea of offering New York-style slices has expanded, landing him a narrow slot at the Ogilvie Train Station in The West Loop, where his NYC Slices focuses on pretty much one thing.

"I think it's the thin crust, I think it's really, really big, I think it's able to be folded," Kaplan said. "I think the cheese has really good substance by staying on there, it doesn't roll off and it's a good cheese pizza."

And if it calls for sausage, then it has to be fontanini, where they make a special sliced sausage for him. The construction is pretty simple: start with a circle of dough the size of a satellite dish, top it with slightly sweet, vibrantly red tomato sauce, plus a few handfuls of mozzarella.

After a few minutes in a deck oven, it's removed and sliced into wedges that can only be described as gargantuan. Paired with a drink, it's a less-than-five-dollar investment. The New York theme continues at the Ogilvie location, with wise brand potato chips; thick, yeasty crumb cakes, and of course, Dr. Brown's soda.

"We also have our black-and-white cookies," Kaplan said. Which, if you're from out East you'll get it. It's not really a cookie, it's a cake covered with white and black icing, and that's where you hear the 'black-and-white cookies.'"

Now by Chicago standards, these thin crust slices are comically large, but this is how they do it in New York City. You have to note the fold, and the chew.

There are two other NYC Bagel locations in the city, but neither of them sells pizza.

http://www.nycbd.com/

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