Bacon Egg and Cheese - Fresh Takes on a Bodega Classic
The Bacon, Egg and Cheese or BEC is such a ubiquitious New York City bodega item that it’s been used as an inflation index. This July Britain’s Daily Mail headlines shouted that the grab-n-go NYC breakfast staple had “DOUBLED with staple snack now costing $7.50 amid rampant inflation.”
So my take: if you’re going to pay $7.50 for the workaday bodega or food cart version steaming in foil and wax paper, why not go a little more upscale for this classic combo and swap out the blah roll for a tall biscuit, trade thin strips for thick maple cured bacon or even, horror of horrors, eat one with home fried potatoes inside? Here’s a roundup of BEC and BEC adjacent items in two NYC boroughs and in one Catskills town:
Everything’s Better on a Biscuit at Dutch Baby Bakery
While Lin Manuel Miranda gave props to Washington Heights with his musical “In the Heights,” this upper upper Manhattan neighborhood still flies under the radar, and that makes it a nice respite from hipster cafes with their tinned fish and often indifferent service. Chef Karah Rempe started the gemütlich Dutch Baby Bakery in 2014, and has kept her promise that all baked goods are baked on site. One step inside this light-filled space and you know why it’s a neighborhood favorite. For me the tall airy buttermilk biscuits are the top draw; the menu tempts you to “build a biscuit” with just two eggs, rolled up omelet style ($6.00). Add gooey melted cheddar $1.00 and the whole Biscuit Egg & Cheese is $9. When we’ve gone with our stalwart walkies partners, Lydie and Chris, Lydie and I moon over the baked goods and buy one to have later. The feta/scallion scone is a savory favorite, but I love the lavender/lemon scone! Note that Dutch Baby Bakery is on a lovely block just uphill from Fort Washington Ave where a notable pharmacy, Hilltop, mans the corner with its high quality bath products, cards, wrapping paper and quirky gifts.
A Welcoming Hub in the South Bronx
When confronted with the seventh wet Saturday in a row, the Chef was adamant that we not abandon plans we’d made to walk to the South Bronx with Lydie and Chris. Just across the third avenue bridge from Harlem, Motthaven was once known as “piano town,” because of all the piano factories housed there. Now many of these factory buildings are being converted along with ones that housed the J.C. Mott ironworks, home to the Piccirilli brothers, sculptors of the Lincoln memorial and our own public library lions. And speaking of which, the recently renovated Motthaven Public Library is one of the grand Carnegie libraries, dating from 1905. We walked up to the light, airy children’s floor, admiring the graceful iron banisters, and then we continued our literary explorations, dropping a load of cash at black-owned bookstore, The Lit Bar. The only “brick and mortar bookstore serving the boogie down Bronx,” The Lit Bar is stocked the store with an impressive array of local authors and books by people of color; the Chef bought a comprehensive history of the South Bronx that will no doubt seed future walks.
We oohed and ahhed at the classy 1870s row houses along Alexander Avenue from 138th to 141st streets. “Doctors Row” or “The Irish Fifth Avenue” has not been fully gentrified—yet. Still one of the poorest congressional districts, Motthaven is now seeing the construction of glassy apartment buildings along its waterfront. It’s hard to know whether the changes afoot in Motthaven will include full on gentrification that displaces its residents or whether a more gentle, hopeful evolution will occur. Certainly Mottley Kitchen, the bright sleek cafe on E. 140th Street, points to changes that embrace Motthaven’s community. We were happy to come in out of the incessant rain, claim a large wooden table and order from the cheerful Venezuelan barista. The place was hopping and an earnest fellow was singing and strumming guitar up front (tbh I could have done without that!).
Mottley’s owners are Moroccan, and I was charmed to see my tea arrive in a silver Moroccan teapot with festive colored glasses. My parsnip and apple soup was dusky and redolent of cumin, black pepper, ginger and turmeric ($7.00 soup of the day). Lydie and I both ordered Mottley’s version of the BEC, two eggs over easy with mild cheddar, thick slabs of turkey bacon ($9.00). Substantial and tasty, with a pimento/pepper/cheese spread, Mottley’s BEC has everything going for it EXCEPT the brioche bun (too squishy!). As is our custom, Lydie and I looked goggle-eyed at the display of baked goods. I earmarked Mottley’s Daily Bread Pudding for next time, a large square of custard-soaked brioche with a crunchy sugar top (it’s OK to be squishy brioche when you’re in a bread pudding!
BEC Exemplar at Daily Provisions
I profiled Daily Provisions here exactly four years ago, and what I observed then, that it was the perfect place for Upper West Siders to kibbitz, is just as true now. Again, as I approached, I notice two women deep in conversation on the bench outside and intense tête-a-têtes proliferated inside. I felt a pang of love for the post-pandemic Upper West Side, where social distancing is a true aberration! Attractive deep blue walls and white marble tables provide a sense of calm that complements the vibrant vibe.When I wrote about Daily Provisions in 2019, I was focused on their gougeres and crullers, which still put Daily Provisions on the culinary map and make them more than just an amiable cafe. But I hadn’t sampled their BEC: one fried egg, American cheese and Berkshire bacon on a poppyseed bun ($8.95). As you can see in the photo, this BEC is on the small side, a one-egg deal compared to others profiled here, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in utter BEC perfection. I meted out my bites and was left wanting more…more lacy fried egg, oozy and dripping with each bite, more toothsome bacon well marbled with fat, and at last, a roll with some crunch on the outside (tho’ I would lose the poppy seeds!). Note: Excellent coffee, too, and a potential work space with the background buzz I require.
BEC Off the Beaten Path
This August when the Chef and I were tootling around our beloved Catskill mountains, we met our friend Gaynor for breakfast at her friend’s newish venue, Rushbrook General Store and Cafe in Saugerties. Owner Jolene Adams has a flair for creating an inviting country cafe and store, with cheery green walls, a convivial counter, a black-and-white checkerboard floor and other welcoming touches. I was surprised and pleased to see that her general store was just that, stocked with last minute items for Catskill weekenders who forgot to bring up their S’mores fixings or prepare a simple meal without going to an airplane hangar sized supermarket—and thankfully no fancy tinned fish in sight!! Jolene’s partner, a droll Gary, took our orders. An actor who plays the burly barfly on Netflix’s “The Ranch,” he’d been sidelined by the writer’s strike. I ordered the BEC: two fried eggs well done, American cheese and three strips of bacon on a homemade kaiser roll ($7.00). Jolene “lives to bake,” according to Gaynor, and her rolls were puffy and fluffy, her biscuits buttery. The Chef bravely ordered the “Rushbrook Breakfast Sandwich,” a BEC + P with hand cut potatoes INSIDE ($9.00). I was doubtful, but one bite made me think it’s inspired. After all, didn’t Chef Syd on The Bear dazzle by sprinkling potato chips on her omelet?? These BECs will power you through lunch, and there’s a nice little nod to health, a mini bite of salad on the side! NOTE: Check days/times on their instagram and also be patient after you order. Jolene is chief short order cook, baker and bottlewasher.
Don’t hate me but…
Attentive readers will have noticed I included a photo of a McDonald’s Sausage Biscuit. I confess, I get cravings for these and recently indulged one—ooooh sooo savory— at the spic n’ span Mickie D’s on 6th Ave and 28th. I get one whenever I have a morning flight and am sorry to see airport concessions areas going more upscale and shuttering their McDonalds.
Dutch Baby Bakery
813 West 187th Street (and Fort Washington Ave.)
646-559-2441
Mottley Kitchen
402 E. 140th St., Bronx
929-308-2099
Daily Provisions
375 Amsterdam Avenue (near W. 78th St.)
646-747-8612
Rushbrook General Store & Cafe
376 W. Saugerties Road