Chapter nine: Food is like time travel

But it’s a small world after all.

Driving around Los Angeles’ westside, amongst a flurry of food trucks slinging birria tacos, halal gyros or grilled cheeses where the cheese is replaced by mac ‘n’ cheese (a culinary decision so genius, I still remember scarfing it down as a 4-year-old back when my life didn’t exist beyond my Knollwood cul-de-sac), one of these is not like the other because it doesn’t serve street food staples, it slices bagels. So, in doing my research on Yeastie Boys for this project, imagine my and Joey’s delight to discover that founder, Evan Fox, who grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, fondly recollects Chompie’s as his supplier from which his mom would pick up egg, sesame and plain bagels, along with a tub of cream cheese. In learning about his passion for these holed rolls, it perfectly references R.E.M’s immortal lyric, “losing my religion.” But, unfortunately, that’s not me in the corner, as I was unable to sit down with Fox to tell him my best friend also loves Chompie’s. These are all findings from Debra L. Eckerling’s feature on him in Jewish Journal, a brilliant piece I highly recommend. Joan Didion would refer to this as “alienation from self,” where, especially in its post-iPhone, social distancing, Pandemic lockdown, advanced stage, “we no longer answer the telephone, because someone might want something;” and as her immortal words from the prologue to “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” echo into the present, “writers are always selling somebody out.”

My bad luck even follows me to Fox’s fleet of food trucks — the Brentwood location. Unbeknownst to myself and Joey, this particular truck subscribes to the California Post. While I completely disagree with their East Coast sister publication, the New York Post’s, claim about Langer’s having better pastrami than Katz’s — an utter lie that made my pal Emily, who is a published columnist with BruinLife herself, and I lose faith in respectable journalism — my beef in this particular instance is that this collab for some reason replaced Yeastie Boys’ traditional menu of lox bagels and B.E.C.’s with three options I did not want and, thankfully, didn’t have to pay for as they were giving them away for free. 

But I digress. 

I was eventually able to interview Fox over email and did get some truly fantastic answers.  

Me: How do you like your bagel prepared? Including bagel type/schmears/toppings?

Fox: Man. Different bagels for different vibes. After school snack: Toasted Sesame with melted butter and melted Muenster. Hangover: Bacon Egg and Cheese on Egg Everything. Light morning: Toasted Sesame with butter and light spread of strawberry cream cheese. Sunday brunch: Lox and bagel (assorted).

I love the versatility he applies to a bagel. The sesame bagel, specifically toasted, is not one I have much experience with, but has been brought up amongst almost every baker I’ve spoken with – guess I’ll have to check it out. I’m in absolute agreement with the bagel as a hangover cure. While Fox opts for the B.E.C., mine is a basically burnt everything bagel with peanut butter and jelly. Something about the carbs, healthy fats, touch of sweetness and burnt carcinogens, me feel alive again after a night of crappy beer and worse conversation. 

Me: In an interview with Jewish Journal, you mention how you didn’t know how important Jewish cuisine was to you until you moved away. To quote REM, can you recount the impact this feeling of “losing your religion” had on you? 

Fox: I don’t fully recall that interview in reference, but I think I understand the question. As my friend and fellow restaurateur Burt Bakman once so eloquently stated, “food is like time travel”…like..my grandmother's Mandel bread. If I see Mandel bread on the move; at a deli…I think of my Nonny. When I used to visit, she’d send me back home on a plane with her Mandel bread for the rest of the family. But of course, the Mandel bread never made it. Ate it all on the plane. Whoops.

Even opening his email to read, “food is like time travel,” hit so hard I put my phone down to really absorb the impact of that statement. This ties back into the idea of a bagel as a sense memory. Food is so linked to some of our most formative experiences that taking that bite of ratatouille will shoot you back to your family’s cottage in the French countryside. 

Me: Why did you decide to open a bagel food truck as opposed to tackling another staple of Jewish cuisine?

Fox: I loved food truck culture. Bagel felt like “the Jewish taco,” so to speak. I wanted to reimagine how you’d grab your local neighborhood bagel. It isn’t street food, but felt like it could be. I don’t know. Felt right.

Bagels are fun. Everyone loves a food truck. So yeah, pop them bagels in a truck. 

Me: Bagel culture in LA is typically dominated by open-faced sandwiches and sit down cafes. What are some of the benefits you’ve seen from using a truck as the base of your operation as opposed to a brick and mortar storefront?

Fox: Being mobile is great for testing new markets, keeping costs and overhead down in a city that's completely inflated in rent and pricing. I also like the “loud” nature of a food truck. Feels right to me. Also like owning them as assets. Versus I probably couldn’t afford to own a building we operate out of in a city like Los Angeles. I dunno… it certainly has its pros and cons. Definitely has its downsides as well.

While bagels in New York are a grab-and-go item, in LA they are more of a brunch delicacy. You pay $22 for a lox bagel that you eat open faced as you sit and sip your almond milk latte. So taking the bagel out of this context was a question of mine, but, hey, it works for him. Even speaking with the owner of Pop’s Bagels, Zachary Liporace, he commented on how expensive it would be to sustain the size of bakery he needs. So having a food truck is a pretty smart way to avoid these expenses. 

Me: Do you think bagels have a significance either culturally or to you personally?

Fox: Bagels are a blessing. It nourishes every aspect of my life. I'm grateful for “the bagel” every day. 

True words, Fox. Very true words.