A jubilant crew from Starship Bagels holds its trophy aloft. (Image: BagelFest)

The fourth annual BagelFest was held in Brooklyn this past weekend. Bagel lovers near and far assembled for the event, which included, as in years previous, a judging of the bagels entered to determine which bageleria in New York turned out the most delectable product. The answer this year, which may come as a bit of a shock, is that none did. Instead the top honors went to Starship Bagel of Lewisville, TX!

This isn’t the first time the renegade bagel shop garnered space in the food press. In June, Starship made Bon Appetit’s list of “The Very Best Bagels in the US” — but even then there was a caveat. The headline included the parenthetical “outside of New York.”

But this time around there was no qualification. In fact, in addition to being named Best Bagel, Starship also took first place in the “Rising Star” competition and second place in the “Best Newcomer,” category, along with three other plaudits.

Bagels have been a New York institution since the 1800s which witnessed a mass exodus of Jewish immigrants from Europe, bringing their bagel recipes with them.

How can a thing like this happen?

See also…