Proper Bagel
 Nashville, Tennessee        Date of Visit  05/16/17         http://properbagel.com

So, I gotta be honest. This was not my idea. Actually, when Steph suggested we go to Proper Bagel in Nashville, I thought…”who in their right mind goes to Nashville for a bagel?" That’s New York or Montreal. And I’m dumb. I can’t really do a direct comparison to the two cities of bagel lore but I will say Proper Bagel got their proper on, full tilt on. Did not expect this. We entered the trendy little spot to find a long deli case filled with smoked fish and a myriad of flavored cream cheeses brimming with colorful additions. We stood staring for much longer than we should have, ordered entirely too much and I regretted exactly none of it.
 

We went traditional a New York LEO sandwich with scrambled farm eggs, sauteed lox & onions with scallion dill cream cheese. A toast creation on house challah fig and prosciutto prosciuto di parma, arugula, brie cheese, and fig spread. Potato latkes with apple butter and sour cream. A sour dough bagel with strawberry shortcake cream cheese and while we were ordering I noticed they had salt bagels and roasted veggie cream cheese…hey…how bout another one. Good Lord!

Mother dear said she does not like lox, I don’t either, unless it’s done well. And you can take it from both of us, Proper Bagel does it well. Rich smoky fish, tangy herby cheese, sharp bitey onions, a dark brown sesame bagel…more please. It came with a scoop of creamy sweet potato mash, not my thing, but others really seemed to enjoy it.
 

...Your Move.
 

I love sweet fig and salty ham from Parma…but something about the fig spread here wasn’t as perfect a fit as some others I have tried. Good combo, had better. Then there were the taters and bagels. The latkes were beautifully dark brown, dusted with crystals of salt, served with sour cream, applesauce, and a strawberry sculpture. Excellent.
 

The bagels (outside of the one I already described), these two bagels I saved for last, as Steph and I both found our apex predator pastry and schmear combination (our spirit bagels). Hers, sourdough crispy and toasty, stuffed with strawberry shortcake cream cheese. Sour and perfectly sweet, sweet, sweet. Mine crispy salty bagel, filled with roasted veggie cream cheese, onion, and slices of one of the best tomatoes I’ve had in some time. Savory stupendousness. I don’t have the cred or experience to argue best, but if you’re in Nashville, and you ain’t dumb like me, there is something to love at Proper Bagel. Simple, complex, sweet, savory, they are hitting on many cylinders.