When Aaron Steingold opened his modern Jewish deli Steingold’s of Chicago in 2017, he already had baseball on the brain. A lifelong fan and self-described baseball historian who attended games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx as a child, he harbored a dream of opening a location near Wrigley Field, the famed home of the Chicago Cubs.
Seven years later, Steingold is swinging for the fences with Steingold’s Bagels & Nosh, a new location across the Friendly Confines inside the Hotel Zachary. Steingold’s features classic deli hits and playful new additions and officially opened its doors Thursday, July 11 in the 1,200-square-foot former home of West Town Bakery at 3630 N. Clark Street.
“It’s always been a part of my long-term goals to open something closer to the ballpark,” says Steingold, nodding toward the longstanding romance between American Jews and the iconic game. “Nostalgia is a big part of our cuisine… and baseball is as Americana as it gets, so it’s a match made in heaven for us.”
All but five of the deli’s 28 seats have a view of Wrigley Field.
Steingold’s Bagels & Nosh aims to pull off a tricky balancing act of maintaining tradition — the subject of animated discussion among Jews for millennia — while surviving and thriving in the modern era. That means fans can count on staples like hot pastrami on rye, classic bagel and lox sandwiches (the deli’s number-one seller, says Steingold), latkes, and bagels in bulk. The dynamics of ballpark crowds and hotel guests have also prompted some fresh additions like the Traditional, a build-your-own sandwich with numerous meat, cheeses, and condiments to choose from, and customizable breakfast sandwiches with new vegetarian ingredients like culinary director Cara Peterson’s (whose experience includes working at New Orleans’ award-winning Shaya) red lentil patties. Steingold has offered Vienna Beef bagel dogs on and off for a few years, but at Bagels & Nosh, they’re a permanent menu item with brown mustard for dipping.
In a sign of the times, Steingold has for the first time added gluten-free bagels to the lineup, sourced from California-based brand Original Sunshine, as well as a few additional vegetarian open-faced bagel sandwiches. “We’re hoping to not just be [associated] with the high-calorie, heavy-duty sandwiches that people probably know us for,” he says.
Design elements like subway tile lend the feel of a classic Ashkenazi-style deli.
The Steingold’s team designed the tiny space for maximum speed and efficiency.
That isn’t to say that Bagels & Nosh is a health food spot — Steingold tapped operations director Sean Courtney to design a drink menu, which includes a dozen mostly local draft beers, “easy-drinking” wines, and rotating boozy slushies like a frozen watermelon limonada that riffs on Middle Eastern mint lemonade. The team has plans for “deli-inspired” concoctions like a twist on a classic egg cream for the winter. In the coming weeks, the deli will kick off knock-and-drop service for hotel guests, delivering smoked fish platters and more to their doors.
Explore Steingold’s Bagels & Nosh in the photographs below.
Steingold’s Bagels & Nosh, 3630 N. Clark Street, open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Longtime collaborator Heart & Bone Signs applied all the gold leaf lettering.
Happy Friday, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable releases to streaming and video rental, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
This week’s biggest debut is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which is now streaming on Netflix. That’s not all, as Insidious: The Red Door — the fifth installment in the Insidious horror franchise — also arrives on the platform this week alongside Jawan, one of the biggest Indian action movies of the year. There’s plenty more exciting releases this week too, with A Haunting in Venice now streaming on Hulu, the Italian superhero movie Freaks vs. the Reich on Prime Video, plus the premiere of The Kill Room and Outlaw Johnny Black from director-star Michael Jai White on VOD.
Genre: Superhero action Run time: 2h 20m Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac
The highly anticipated follow-up to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sees Miles Morales facing off not only against a dimension-hopping nemesis in the form of the Spot, but a whole multiverse of Spider-Mans, Spider-People, and even a Spider-Dinosaur as he attempts to save the day once again.
Not every theme and plot and moment in Across the Spider-Verse lands, particularly with the other part of this story still most of a year away. But in the end, the theme of the Spider-Verse movies is shaping up to be a story about people trying to be bigger and bolder themselves, trying to reach beyond what they’re told they’re capable of, and do more. It’s no wonder that every part of Across the Spider-Verse is an attempt to outdo the first movie. The idea of growing, of surpassing and ignoring everyone else’s limits, is the heart of this series’ heroes and their individual journeys. It looks like the movies themselves are designed to follow suit.
Genre: Action thriller Run time: 2h 50m Director: Atlee Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi
The biggest Indian movie of the year has landed on Netflix. Directed by Atlee (Mersal), Jawan features megastar Shah Rukh Khan (between this and Pathaan, he is truly back) and is basically “Robin Hood meets Charlie’s Angels.”
Insidious: The Red Door
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix Saturday
Image: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Genre: Supernatural horror Run time: 1h 47m Director: Patrick Wilson Cast: Ty Simpkins, Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne
The fifth movie in the Insidious franchise is the directorial debut for star Patrick Wilson. It’s also a sequel to Insidious: Chapter 2, as the last two movies in the franchise were prequels.
As a director, Wilson isn’t as effortless a horror ringmaster as Wan or Whannell: He favors more actor-centric scares than wild imagery. But he makes great use of expressive close-ups (often of himself) and shallow focus, with a few creepy It Follows-like shots of blurry figures approaching from the distance, and a terrifically claustrophobic scene inside an MRI machine. Dalton’s college story, meanwhile, occasionally borders on campus-prank zaniness: It includes what can only be described as a puke ghost, and there’s one amusing use of the horror movie cliche about the haunted little kid who makes terrifying drawings of the ghouls only he can see. (Naturally, that kid grows up to become a star pupil in an insufferable freshman art class.)
Sly
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Netflix
Genre: Documentary Run time: 1h 35m Director: Thom Zimny Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Quentin Tarantino
This documentary takes a close look at the life of one of the great American movie stars and film writers: Sylvester Stallone.
Genre: Biographical sports drama Run time: 2h 1m Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi Cast: Jodie Foster, Annette Bening, Rhys Ifans
Nyad tells the (questionably) true story of swimmer Diana Nyad, who swam from Cuba to Florida at 64 years old, among many other swimming accomplishments.
Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) is both behind and in front of the camera in this action comedy about women thieves on the run looking to pull off one last job.
Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot adaptations have generally been a fun time, even when they have problems (looking at you, Death on the Nile). A Haunting in Venice is his best yet, as Branagh’s confidence as director and performer in this mode only continues to grow. It’s perfect fall viewing.
Genre: Comedy Run time: 1h 39m Director: Jessica Yu Cast: Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Will Ferrell
Sandra Oh and Awkwafina play a pair of estranged sisters who try to win big on a game show to pay off their mom’s debts. The supporting cast includes Will Ferrell, Jason Schwartzman, Tony Hale, and the late Paul Reubens.
New on Prime Video
Freaks vs. the Reich
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: VMI Releasing
Genre: Superhero/circus war movie Run time: 2h 21m Director: Gabriele Mainetti Cast: Claudio Santamaria, Aurora Giovinazzo, Pietro Castellitto
This offbeat Italian superhero movie follows a group of circus performers in World War II who are sought after by the Nazis and team up to stop them. I have heard it’s funny, sweet, and has strong action — definitely on my weekend watchlist.
Genre: Romantic comedy Run time: 1h 32m Director: Nia Vardalos Cast: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Louis Mandylor
One of cinema’s most endearingly goofy families is back, in the most family-centric franchise this side of the Fast and Furious movies. It’s the first Greek Wedding movie since 2016, which came nearly 15 years after the original smash hit. This time, star-writer Nia Vardalos takes over directorial duties, following up her 2009 directorial debut I Hate Valentine’s Day.
New on AMC Plus
Sympathy for the Devil
Where to watch: Available to stream on AMC Plus
Image: RLJE Films
Genre: Psychological thriller Run time: 1h 30m Director: Yuval Adler Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joel Kinnaman
A largely two-person movie that sounds a bit like Collateral, Sympathy for the Devil stars Nicolas Cage as a passenger who holds a driver (Joel Kinnaman) hostage on a long car trip.
New to rent
Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Action adventure Run time: 1h 35m Director: Cal Brunker Cast: Mckenna Grace, Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin
The Paw Patrol is back — this sequel to the first movie sees the pup get superpowers in their quest to stop Mayor Humdinger from destroying Adventure City.
The Kill Room
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Shout! Studios
Genre: Dark comedy thriller Run time: 1h 38m Director: Nicol Paone Cast: Joe Manganiello, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman
Joe Manganiello stars as a hitman turned artist in this funny comedy about how the worlds of fine art and high crime aren’t so separated after all. When he turns to art as a method of laundering money, the hitman becomes an unexpected overnight sensation in the high-art scene.
Genre: Satirical Western Run time: 2h 10m Director: Michael Jai White Cast: Michael Jai White, Anika Noni Rose, Erica Ash
Michael Jai White’s long-awaited follow-up to Black Dynamite is finally here: a “West-ploitation” movie about an outlaw who pretends to be a preacher and settles in a new troubled town. The star and director spoke to us at length about the movie and the long road it took to get here.
Sound of Freedom
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Angel Studios/VidAngel Studios
Genre: Crime thriller Run time: 2h 11m Director: Alejandro Gómez Monteverde Cast: Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp
One of the most surprising (and controversial) box-office hits of the year, Sound of Freedom purports to be a true story about stopping child trafficking. The truth is much more complicated than that.
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