A Big Apple Bagels Picnic

Tastemaker

By Lynda Wheatley | June 6, 2020

When you’re working from home, the edges of the workday are no longer hard stops — tasks start before the coffee’s brewed, it’s easy to log on and get “one more thing” done after dinner. So why not let lunch be a little freeform, too? Our advice: Pick up a packed lunch large enough to linger over and bring it to a quiet spot in your backyard or a nearby park.

We set out for one of Big Apple Bagels’ Boxed Lunches, but when we popped into the Traverse City shop, we realized it has lots more than bagel boxes going on. Our party of one sprang for three stand-alone items: the Turkey Club (roast turkey, bacon, American cheese, mayo, lettuce, and tomato on a cheese bagel that managed to stay soft and chewy inside, even when toasted); the Mediterranean Bread Salad (pillowy bagel chunks atop crisp greens, with tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers, loads of salami and Provolone cheese slices, plus sun-dried tomatoes, green olives, and a side of Greek Vinaigrette dressing chock full of feta cheese bits); and a huge, fresh-baked, cake-y — not gritty — delight of a peanut butter cookie made according to manager Nancy Flees’ own recipe.

Even with lots of long pauses spent staring into the trees, it took a full hour to work through exactly half that picnic — a good, because we got to do it all over again the next day. Salad $8, Turkey Club $7.50, cookie $1.50. Find Big Apple Bagels at 1133 W. South Airport Rd. (231) 929-9866; www.bigapplebagels.com.