Store: The ideal bagel store possesses a combination of second nature intangibles and intimate familiarity with services offered. Established bagel stores are at an advantage, as bagels inherently represent both comfort and tradition. To their credit, contemporary stores can pull even with thoughtful intention, customer engagement and their flexibility to experiment with services. A "5" bagel store represents the ultimate in presentation, product freshness, order management and bagel staff skill. 5

Bagel: In the "Everything is Everything" review system, a "5" bagel is not an objective achievement. It is a subjective combination of time, place and experience. It is revelatory and transient, not likely to be repeated yet still a resounding endorsement of quality. In the world of bagels, no one type can be claimed superior. A doughy bagel can be just as top tier as a crusty bagel, while topping density and variety serve to modulate the conversation. All this said, the qualities of an elite bagel are peak freshness; a strong chew identity; compelling flavor and texture dialogue between topping and dough; and its ability to enhance the applied spread via radiant heating, texture complement or otherwise. 5

Cream Cheese: A perfect spread score starts with the application. Too little creates a persistent feeling of longing, too much is a logistical nightmare of spread management and bagel obfuscation. Messy preparation can result in constant napkin grabbing that mars the experience. For flavor and texture, successful spreads exist across the spectrum, but when compared to the bagel it's more a conversation of outliers. Ripe, dairy forward cream cheese is harder to pull off at the elite levels when compared to dairy latent, whip cream-like spreads. Chunky cuts of scallion bring a texture dynamic that asserts itself more reliably than the zesty flavor a fine scallion blend might bring. When judging for excellence, the factors considered are application amount, application technique, viscosity, dairy perspective, scallion texture, scallion flavoring, and interplay with the bagel. 5