Bagel Catering Guide — Gotham Bagels (2024)

FAQs

Bagel Catering Guide — Gotham Bagels? ›

Generally we feel the bagel ratio for adults should be about 10 bagels for 12 adults, provided you slice them and arrange. We would hate to give you too much unless you don't mind, and we would hate to short you. We recommend 1 pound of cream cheese per dozen.

How many bagels should you buy? On average, the bagel ratio is usually 10 whole bagels to 12 people, provided that you serve them sliced in half. This amounts to 0.833 bagels per guest–so just multiply the number of attendees by this number to get a rough estimate of your bagel count.

How much lox or smoked fish should I allot per person? 1 pound of smoked fish will typically feed about 4 people (4 ounces per person, at minimum – about 2 slices per bagel half).

Spread Cream Cheese:

Once the bagels are toasted, spread 2 tablespoons of cream cheese on each bagel half. Ensure an even layer of cream cheese.

If you're feeding a crowd, Russ & Daughters recommends accounting for two to three slices of lox per person (1 lb. should be sufficient to feed 6–8 people).

Rules to Plan By

Each adult will consume 1 pound of food total; children, about 1/2 pound. The more options you have, the less you need of each; decrease the main course portion sizes by 1 to 2 ounces if served on a buffet. Guests will always eat — and drink — more at night than during the day.

Keep the following amounts in mind when you're out shopping: For the lox, plan to serve 2 to 3 ounces per bagel. For the cream cheese, serve 2 to 4 tablespoons per bagel. For the bagels, serve at least 1 bagel per person.

Begin by placing bagels down center of board, in bowls or baskets, or on trays or plates on table. Transfer spreads of choice to individual bowls, cups, and ramekins, and arrange around bagels.

What cream cheese is best on everything bagel? ›

Finally, I like to top my everything bagel with scallion cream cheese, but plain cream cheese is delicious by itself, too. Cream cheese is very easy to flavor, so play around with adding different spices, veggies, or even fruit to make it your own!

It is a complement to the taste—NOT THE TASTE!” Fintz recommends a modest half-ounce of cream cheese for a bagel with lox, and perhaps up to three-quarters of an ounce without lox. That many places put six times that amount on one bagel is more than a culinary faux pas; it's an economic mystery.

Cream cheese is healthier than butter; at 2 Tablespoons, the calorie count is just 98, there are only 10 grams of fat, and you do get a tiny bit of protein (less than 2 grams). The real trick here is not guesstimating – it's easy to smear 2 Tablespoons on each half and then you've made it just as bad for you as butter.

Perhaps a crisp green bean salad in the summer, kale salad in the fall, brussels sprouts salad in the winter, watercress salad in the spring. Something about smoked salmon makes me want cucumbers, so I always have a plate of those, too, either plain or lightly pickled.

Put very simply, nova is almost a combination of lox and smoked salmon. Named for the salmon of Nova Scotia, nova is made via a process of both curing and smoking. The salmon is cured in salt, similarly to lox, but with less salt, for a milder flavor.

The word "lox" comes from the Yiddish word for salmon, "laks." Brining salmon is a Scandanavian tradition, but it was also popular among Eastern European Jews. Some of these people immigrated to the U.S. and brought their affinity for brined, cured, and smoked fish with them.

Display the bagels on either bagel stands, in a basket, on a tiered cupcake stand or on a cutting board. Use a sharpie to write the types of bagels on the butcher paper. Place the cooked bacon, smoked salmon and roast beef on a cutting board, place tongs on the side for serving the meat.

The number of full trays of food needed for 100 guests can vary depending on the type of food and serving style, but a rough estimate would be around 10-12 trays.

Many of the bagels and muffins available at stores average 3-4 ounces or 3-4 servings of grains per item. This means one bagel contains all of the recommended servings of grains for one day!

Beltway research revealed that almost 80% of Americans enjoy bagels at least once a month, with many − like us here in New Jersey − eating them much more often.