Schmear and There

Some like to compare Melbourne’s CBD to Manhattan. Others say that’s drawing a very long bow. Zev Forman’s traditional New York-style bagels make the comparison just a little less tenuous, and he’s about to open the first 5 & Dime cafe in the CBD.

“I really don’t want it to be a Bagel Hard Rock Café, but I don’t want it to look like every other cafe in Melbourne,” Foreman says of the new venue’s American bent.

The cafe will serve Promised Land Coffee, salads and a few Yankee favourites such as egg creams (look them up), but the hero at 5 & Dime will undoubtedly be the bagels.

Baked daily on site, and as true to traditional as possible, Forman has recently acquired a “monstrous” heat-retaining oven from Canada.

As for the toppings, you’ll find different flavours of cream cheese schmears and smoked or pickled seasonal meats and fish, all prepared in a glass-walled kitchen.

At this stage, 5 & Dime will open mid September, but with Forman’s first baby also on the way, this may extend to early October.

5 & Dime

Shop 8, Katherine Place, Melbourne

0433 339 367

5dimebagel.com.au