Black and whites? A good bialy, perhaps?

[kelly5612]

Now that Morty's is closed, I need a new black-and-white fix. Not the spongy, packaged, convenience store crap sold under the name "Joey's" (or whoever), but the real, cake-y B&Ws in either mini or mongo size. Anyone spot them somewhere?

And while I'm at it, how about a good bialy? (What is the plural of "bialy" anyway??)

Thanks!

[Elyssa]

Too bad you have to go out to the suburbs to get anything decent like this.

In all honesty for my bialies I go to Chicago (where my Grandma sends me home with 2 dozen for the freezer) and for my "black and white cookies" I wait until I'm home in Boston to get the real thing. Of course in Boston we calls these half moons and they are much more cake-like than their New York cousins. (I prefer the Boston version because that's what I grew up with).

[Just Visiting]

I can't vouch for them myself, as I'm not a fan but there is a small bakery on Arlington Road in Bethesda - the same little strip shopping center as Strosnider's. I always thought it was called New Yorker Bakery, but apparently they changed the name to Breads Unlimited: http://www.breadsunlimited.com/STORES...

I've just never noticed!

Anyway, they do a fair approximation of what I think of as New York baked goods, including black-and-whites, prune danish, and really good bread.

I am guessing that the Woodmor Bakery on Colesville Road - which also has what I think of as NY baked goods - is also pretty good.

And finally - the Parkway Deli - but I think they get them from Breads Unlimited.

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Breads Unlimited
6914 Arlington Rd, Bethesda, MD

Parkway Deli
7250 Parkway Dr Ste 110, Hanover, MD 21076

[DanielK]

Haven't had anything but Challah from Breads Unlimited, but they make a really good challah. They'll make it in ginormous sizes for special occasions, and it's not too expensive.

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Breads Unlimited
6914 Arlington Rd, Bethesda, MD

[Just Visiting]

I need to amend my earlier statement. Woodmor is not a Jewish-style bakery by any stretch of the imagination. Most of it is overly sweet 1950s style stuff. However, they have had a number of items that I think of as "New York" including filled blackout cake. I haven't been there in many years, so I can't really say if the stuff is good or not. Same owners, so it probably is.

[skipper]

"Overly sweet" is an opinion and I would not say that was true as to the Woodmore Bakery. I lived in Woodmoor for 20 years and return to the Woodmore Bakery periodically since moving to northern Silver Spring. In all of the time I have been a customer of the Bakery (35 years) have never had any baked product, bread, tart, pie or cake which was not excellent.

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Woodmoor
silver spring, MD, silver spring, MD

[Just Visiting]

Fair enough. I suppose it would have been more helpful to say "overly sweet by today's standards" in that people seem to be more interested in more complex baked goods with more interesting flavor profiles (e.g., sweet/savory, the use of spices, less sweetness generally). Maybe it would have been more helpful to say that this place is quite old-fashioned. I agree that the quality is there. I was just alluding to style, as I didn't want to mislead anyone.

[Bob W]

Thanks for the info. I have gone by the Woodmoor Bakery for years but never stopped in. It just "looks right" -- like what we used to call a "bakeshop." We will give it a try!

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Woodmoor
silver spring, MD, silver spring, MD

[potomacreader]

Fluffy Thoughts bakery in McLean makes their own fresh black and white cookies - and in 2 sizes. Best ones I have ever had. As for the baily, try Bagel City on Rockville Pike.

[skipper]

You can get black/whites at Shalom Kosher Market in Wheaton. Its been too long since I lived in Bklyn, so I can't compare them to the City's. But they are decent. I will note that the Kosher bakeries in Baltimore (on Reistertown Road) have better baked good than any in the DC suburbs.

[mrsphud]

While in the hospital my hubby brought be black and whites and chickent soup from most of the Montgomery County area delis. The best ones were from Brooklyn Deli. I'm pretty sure they were made elsewhere, but the cake was just right and the icing was creamy. Koshermart has them also, but are not ashamed to sell them after they get stale. On the subject of bialys, you can get them at Snyders in Silver Spring. You used to be able to get them at Wagshall's. They might also have black and white's but it has been a long time since I shopped there regularly.

[chicken kabob]

I do not know if Crumbs has opened yet in G'Town. It is coming soon if not already there. I have been to the one in CT, and the black & whites there are amazing.

[hamster]

There is a Crumbs open in Metro Center, but nothing in Georgetown so far as far as I know. The reviews of the cupcakes are not very good, apparently they don't make them in-store.

[chicken kabob]

I love Crumb's cupcakes (esp. the vanilla/vanilla.) But you are right, they do not make them there. I personally do not think their quality suffers from it.

elyssa- the black & whites are more cake-like, too.

[MDicecreamguy]

Wegmans has great bialys

[anova]

I'm very fussy about Black and Whites and have suffered many wannabes ever since leaving New York State over 30 years ago. I finally found B&W's that *I* love - at a "sorta" deli called Bernie's on Rt 123/Chain Bridge Rd, Fairfax (just south of the historic/courthouse area). I think they told me someone makes the B&W's for them. Anyhow, they're that perfect blend of cake/cookie - not spongey at all and lots of good flavor with the icing (the chocolate isn't bitter but not way overly sweet) and the icing is creamy, not grainy. They reminded me of the B&W's we'd buy at all those wonderful bakeries in the midHudson Valley and metro NYC.

[ivysmom]

What do you all think of the Black and Whites they have at Starbucks sometimes?

[kelly5612]

They're barely passable, not unlike everything else Starbucks offers: not the best option, but often the only option. A little too spongey for my tastes.

[kelly5612]

Thanks, anova. I will check them out. Or I'll just go to NY. :)

[Bob W]

Bagel Buddies in Fair Lakes has decent bialys. They also have black and white cookies, but I don't eat them so I can't vouch for them.

[Doh]

I think Bethesda Bagels has pretty good bialys, although they only sell them on Sat. (and maybe Sun?) and they usually run out by the afternoon (theirs have passed the "visiting New York native relative" test at least) (and I've seen the plural both ways).

[Dennis S]

Chutzpah spells the plural as Bialys, and of course they have them.