Legendary Caputo’s Bakery Resurrected as a Bagel Shop in Park Slope

By Scott Lynch

Caputo Bagels is located at 81 Fifth Avenue, just south of Prospect Place, and is currently open on weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and on weekends from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

A collective wail of grief went up last spring when James Caputo, the fifth generation owner of Brooklyn’s beloved Caputo’s bakery, announced that he was shutting down the family shop after an almost inconceivable 124-year run on Court Street.

The main culprit for the seemingly sudden closure turned out to be the bakery’s massive Logiudice oven, which sprung a leak in its steam-powered generator. Fixing or replacing the beast would have been exorbitantly expensive and, because it’s literally anchored to the building’s foundation, would have forced the whole place to shut down for weeks.

But honestly, as Caputo told Brooklyn Magazine, he was ready to say goodbye to the place anyway, and the oven failure was maybe just the nudge he needed. “For five generations it was father and son, father and son. I used to live above the bakery! When my dad retired, I took over and really grew the business, both wholesale and retail, and it became overwhelming. It was too much for one person to do. I missed out on a lot of family stuff because of it, missed a lot of my kids growing up.”

Photo by Scott Lynch

Totally fair! But if that’s the case, what the heck is Caputo doing a scant six months later, back in this part of town, running a brand new operation?

For one, the new place is Caputo Bagels, and focuses on one thing—bagels—rather than the 300 things he used to do at the bakery. Even more important, though, Caputo now has a business partner in Rafael “Rafi” Hasid, a longtime friend who owns five other restaurants, four of which are called Miriam (including one right next door).”Rafi and I always talked about doing something together,” said Caputo. “He had this space, and we had all these different ideas. We talked about doing tapas, we talked about pizza… but in the end we realized that what this part of Park Slope really needed was bagels.”

Photo by Scott Lynch

Judging by the lines of locals that have greeted the duo each morning since they opened earlier this month, they were exactly right. And for the most part, Caputo Bagels keeps it simple, with a menu anchored by three varieties: plain, sesame, and everything. These are hand-rolled sourdough beauties, tangy, soft, and chewy on the inside with a nice, crackly crust, that take about three days to make and use a starter that’s been around for some 45 years.

(Photo by Scott Lynch)

You can get them in a sack to bring home—a half dozen is $14—along with tubs of various cream cheeses (scallion, olive, harissa), and fishes (smoked salmon, whitefish, tuna salad). For maximum excitement, though, especially if you’re going to grab a seat and eat your breakfast here, the move is to order one of Caputo’s lovely open-faced sandwiches.

Tomato ($9.95) and lox ($15.95) sandwiches (Photo by Scott Lynch)

The lox sandwich co-stars capers, dill, and scallion cream cheese, and is delicious, a luxe treat to start your day. Maybe even better, though, is the deceptively basic-sounding tomato and cream cheese sandwich, drizzled with a balsamic reduction and packing a bright, sweet, acidic punch. This is an absolute banger. Other options include a bacon, egg and cheddar sandwich, and one topped with pickled eggplant.

Lard bread bagel, $4 (Photo by Scott Lynch)

But I may be guilty of burying the lede here, because in addition to all of the above, as well as a couple of loaded-up latkes and a few pastries, Caputo Bagels resurrects the bakery’s iconic lard bread—chunks of salami, provolone, and all—and turns it into a bagel. And it’s amazing! Not quite bagel-textured (the crumb is looser), not quite bread-textured (the crust is crispier), but a unique hybrid that should be added to every order, whether as is, or with butter, or topped with scrambled egg.

Caputo offers a whole bunch of coffee drinks, as well as matcha, hot chocolate, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. On a rainy Sunday morning when I was there, the place was packed with strollers and dogs, but tables turned quickly, and everyone I saw who wanted a seat got one right away.