While picking up some grub at the nearby Lemmon Avenue Einstein Bros. bagelry, a recent mystery was solved for a regular customer. It had something to do with those tasty candy cane holiday bagels the shop put out during the holidays. Turns out, they were just the regular ol' potato bagels, dyed and festivized.
"Fantastic!" the older woman replied, "but I wish they were still here." Well, the next holiday will receive its own fantastic bagel, the server informed the customer -- heart-shaped, in fact. "I was hoping for that," she responded in a tone that was no less than completely satisfied and somewhat anticipatory. Yep, lady, so were we. So were we.
So there you have it. Your Valentine's Day gift search is solved, and it's not even February yet. But here's a tip: You might want to call ahead when you go get your lover's bagel nearer to Cupid's big day. Einstein's seems to have trouble keeping chicken noodle soup in stock throughout a cold day, so you wouldn't want disaster to strike and end up on February 14 with no shmear. (Take that however you want it.) --Merritt Martin