Jen Rubin

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June 2025

"A bagel and lox Jew"
I came across the original "bagel and lox Jews" reference and think it has something to teach about this moment of Jewish institutions trying to define…
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Jen Rubin
How do you judge what makes for a truly great bagel?
I have my criteria. You have your criteria. But is there a consensus on how to describe the attributes of a great bagel?
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Jen Rubin
"Meet the sit down bagel"
From Poland to the Lower East Side to Bagel Baker Union 338 to New York Bagel & Bialy in Lincolnwood, IL to New York Bagels in Milwaukee - no wonder the…
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Jen Rubin
3
Twin City Bagels
I visited Minneapolis and St Paul to see about some bagels. I tasted bagels at four first-generation bagel shops, discovered the Twin Cities toaster…
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Jen Rubin

May 2025

The Midwest Bagel Quest book — coming soon
Turns out every time the far right takes over all three branches of government —Wisconsin in 2011 and the full federal government in 2025 — my job is…
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Jen Rubin
3
The Oppenheimer of bagels
I think of the Thompson Bagel Machine as sorta the Oppenheimer of bagels, unleashing a technology that cannot be controlled. Yesterday I ate a NY bagel…
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Jen Rubin
I am a “Horodoker" now
My grandmother grew up in David-Horodok, a Jewish shtetl in Russia where she learned Yiddish folksongs. Her family fled the pogroms and she brought her…
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Jen Rubin
3
Detroit is a bagel town
A 1960s ad in the Detroit Jewish News Digital Archives declared that "Detroit Bagels Are the Best." Those are fighting words for a New York Jew , so I…
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Jen Rubin
Am I The Asshole?
In Milwaukee, the inherent tension of this Midwest Bagel Quest became clear to me. Can the daughter/granddaughter of small business owners comfortably…
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Jen Rubin
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St Louis Bagels - the results are in
Several followers of the bagel quest suggested I add St. Louis to the list. So I did. And they were right — St Louis has a great bagel scene!
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Jen Rubin
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