Lines for Belle's Bagels have formed along York Boulevard for about a decade, with fans of the pop-up lining up at the drive-thru window of a music venue, then on the patio of a closed bistro on York Boulevard, eager to devour thick bagel sandwiches stuffed with eggs, salsa and tomato jam.
But this month, the lines are getting longer for the all-new Belle's Bagels, Delicatessen and Bar. This fully-equipped, all-day deli and cocktail establishment, serving pickle martinis and schnitzels, combines Jewish deli tradition with the modern, sometimes quirky culinary creations of longtime friends and business partners Nick Schreiber and JD Rocchio.
Combining tradition with new and innovative elements was crucial for the Belle team when designing the new deli.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
“We both grew up in the Valley and in Jewish families that ate this food, and this was all important to us,” Rocchio said. “We thought it would be cool, but it was never really a plan… There was a lot of spontaneous fermentation.”
“We started out a little sour and ended up completely sour,” Schreiber joked.
Belle's was born a dozen years ago, when Rocchio and Schreiber, who have known each other since high school, mourned the loss of some of their favorite childhood bagel shops. It was mind-blowing that, years before The rise of modern bagels in Los AngelesA bagel shortage had developed in the city. Schreiber, who had worked at a Jewish deli during college in Boston, wondered how difficult it could be. It turned out it was very, very difficult.
They constantly tweaked their bagel recipes. They experimented with the minerality of water. They worked at Beauty's Bagel Shop in Oakland. Over the years, they tweaked the size, hydration, toppings, air-drying and more. Boiled in malt syrup, the current product (always in the making) balances a fluffy density on the inside with an almost crispy exterior. To them, their bagels can't be pigeonholed into just one style.
“I think for both of us it’s a nostalgic food that plays a very important role in people’s lives,” Schreiber said. “It’s something that is a love language in itself.”
While roommates, they started making bagels in the kitchen of their Echo Park home. As their business grew, they began baking at La Perla Bakery in Highland Park and eventually in the drive-thru of a now-closed music venue, the Hi-Hat. When they sold the building, they were forced to reexamine their business plans and considered closing it altogether.
Across the street, a house-made Korean pancake concept called Slappy Cakes was set to take over the former home of French restaurant Côté Est, but when that establishment proved unsuitable, given the need for tabletop grills, Schreiber and Rocchio moved there.
Find your usual favorites at Belle's Bagels Delicatessen and Bar, like whitefish salad on poppy seed bagels.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Their joy was short-lived. The future bagel shop, which could seat about 60 people inside, was too big to remain just a bagel shop. They would have to expand their model and their menu.
“We thought, ‘Maybe, maybe we can turn this into some sort of Jewish grocery store,’” Schreiber said. “Jewish grocery stores have been closing all over the place for years and years… There’s a reason why a lot of them end up closing, either because people are falling behind in the profession or because it’s just hard to sustain them financially. After talking about it for a while, we thought we would regret not trying it.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, such as Jewish restaurants and delis, like Greenblatt'sbegan to close, Rocchio said, “the preservationist trend kicked in.” The walls of his own deli are covered with images of and from some of the country’s most famous Jewish delis, some closed and some still standing: the bright yellow Ess-a-Bagel sign, the Greenblatt’s sign, the pastrami at Langer’s. Andy Kaufman, dressed in a Jerry’s Famous Deli apron, stands in the kitchen during one of his shifts there. (The iconography also extends into broader pop culture: Lenny Kravitz, in a framed image from “Entourage,” stands with his cellphone in a synagogue. Photos show Belle’s Bagels appearing in the film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”)
To support another local Jewish institution and mitigate Belle's excessive costs, the duo sources their rye bread and challah from Bea's Bakery in Tarzana, which has supplied Los Angeles (and some of its delis) with classic baked goods since 1968.
“If we can dig into tradition, be transparent about where all of this comes from and hopefully stick together, there will be added meaning,” Rocchio said. “It’s about respecting the people who have been doing this forever. They figured out a great recipe, and if it helps us, our staff and them, then there will be pastrami at Bea’s.”
The interior of the new Belle's features retro-inspired booths and lighting fixtures reminiscent of some of the country's old-fashioned delis.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
To define their own deli, they had to go beyond bagels. Much of their takeout menu remains the same on the breakfast menu, with a few additions. But lunch, dinner and cocktails were new to Rocchio and Schreiber. They wanted a wide variety of dishes, allowing customers to eat there all three meals a day (and, as it turns out, one fan already has).
Chef Matthew Cheeks, formerly of Adae and Pok Pok, consulted on the menu and worked primarily with Schreiber on the restaurant’s new recipes, resulting in a suite of classic dishes as well as deli items like a steak and broccoli rabe sandwich — a nod to both the classic Philadelphia roast pork and broccoli rabe sandwich and the Jewish diaspora’s love of Chinese-American cuisine.
The collaboration continued with vegan pastry chef Shelby Blavis, who also weighed in on plant-based dishes.
Blavis kicked off Belle's Deli's dessert menu with apricot rugelach, black and white cookies and cheesecake, which are not vegan, though she plans to expand soon with new items, some of them plant-based.
Bar manager Ron Marinelli, a former employee of Bar Stella and Schwartz & Sandy's, created a cocktail menu featuring concoctions like the pickle martini and fun drinks like the Mezcal Tov, where mezcal is paired with sherry, celery and lime. His Mishegoss Punch, a milk punch with sherry, aquavit, apple, dates and lemon, is made with an onion bagel.
“We just like to have fun with our food,” Schreiber said.
When the weather cools, a back patio with seating for 40 will open. The current menu will be expanded with more daily dishes. There may be special dishes, such as stuffed cabbage.
The more they control the hours and routine, the more they can play, Rocchio said. Like her bagel recipe, it's always a work in progress.
“It will probably become more normal and more strange.”
Belle's Bagels, Deli and Bar It is located at 5022 York Blvd., Los Angeles, and is open Mondays from 7 am to 3 pm, Wednesdays through Fridays from 7 am to 3 pm and 5 to 10 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 8 am to 3 pm and 5 to 10 pm.
