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How the humble beigel became the great leveller

November 12, 2015 12:37
Beigel Bake JG 02
2 min read

As a Jew living in north-west London, I love spending time in the city's creative epicentre, which, for years, has been located over in the East End.

The area is awash with the latest fashion trends worn by hipsters sporting the bushiest beards and skinniest of jeans. It's been that way since cheap rents enticed a large artist community to colonise large studio space.

These days, affordable living is being squeezed out, but the area hasn't lost its cool factor. Designer cocktail bars proliferate and pop-ups can be seen on every street corner preparing innovative food fusions. Yet, incredibly, two competing beigel bakeries in Brick Lane - "beigel" being the way it's still spelt in Brick Lane - have been in existence for a combined total of 148 years, selling the same product in a similar, stripped-back environment.