Press

He's the rugelach king of Harlem. Alvin Lee Smalls' obsession with the buttery nuggets began more than four decades ago when he stumbled onto a recipe in a newspaper and launched his quest to create his own version of the traditional Jewish treat.

Alvin Lee, the owner of Lee Lee’s Baked Goods in Harlem, may be one of the last commercial bakers in New York producing traditional butter-dough rugelach, the Austrian-German-Jewish cookies that are like tiny strudels. ...Mr. Lee’s rugelach are buttery, magnificent, and fleeting. He says he came out of retirement, after a 30-year professional baking stint, determined to master the rugelach genre. “I couldn’t find one that I wanted to eat, with all the old Jewish and German bakeries closing,” he said. “So I had to make them myself.

On a shady side street in South Harlem, my grandmother’s rugelach met its match. At Lee Lee’s Baked Goods, Alvin Lee Smalls serves -flaky crescents available with either apricot or chocolate filling. Mr. Lee has been making rugelach for 48 years, and experience shows in each carefully curled pastry. ...There is simply no substitute for soulful rugelach and well-weathered walls.

I have a confession… I used to be a commercial rugelach kinda gal. The actual bakery variety never tempted me. I always enjoyed the chewy, soft, slightly Pillsbury-like texture of Green’s cinnamon rugelach and the house brand from Zabar’s. I couldn’t even keep a bag of them in my apartment for fear of unfettered overindulgence.

Not too long ago I had guests in town visiting from Florida who once lived in NYC. They wanted to walk the streets of Harlem. So I took them down the fabulous and famous Frederick Douglass Blvd. We get to 118th Street and FDB; and we see this adorable candy-striped awning with lovely tree stands. As we get closer, this amazing sweet smell creeps in.

But, wait, there's hope for rugelachphiles! In one of those unlikely New York twists, the best rugelach in the city is found in Harlem