In a quiet but unmistakable transformation, NY Bagel & Deli on Wilshire Boulevard has entered a new era. The bagels are still boiled and baked in-house, the pastrami still stacked high and the regulars still take their coffee at the counter. But look closer and you’ll notice a fresh layer of polish; redesigned booths, warm lighting, a vibrant bakery case lined with rainbow cookies and chocolate rugelach. Moreover, the name has been changed ever so slightly to New York Bagel Deli & Bakery and a new neon sign that glows “It’s a Sweet World long after dark.”
Behind the changes are husband and wife team Lenny Rosenberg and Adaeze Nwanonyiri, who quietly purchased the deli in February and have been steadily reimagining the space ever since. The couple, whose backgrounds are as diverse as their menu, have spent more than a decade reviving bakeries and cafes across Los Angeles, the Valley and even the East Coast, always with an eye toward honoring tradition while refreshing the look and feel.
“This place had a strong core already,” Rosenberg told the Daily Press. “We didn’t touch the recipes. We just gave it more presence, added a bakery, revamped the interior and gave people more to look at when they walk in.”
The bakery case, now central to the shop’s layout, is stocked with a rotating selection of treats drawn from Rosenberg and Nwanonyiri’s other venture, Bea’s Bakery in Tarzana. Almost all of the baked goods, including their signature challah, ube cookies and poppy seed rolls, are trucked in from the Valley each morning, a deliberate move to make Bea’s popular offerings more accessible to Westside customers.
“We weren’t going to buy just another bakery,” Rosenberg said. “This place gave us a Westside footprint and let us blend bakery with bagel deli in a way that feels organic.”
Their acquisition of the shop came at a time of heightened local tension, with rebuilding in fire-ravaged Palisades neighborhoods still stalled and some downtown areas struggling to regain foot traffic. Yet Rosenberg remains unfazed. A baker since the age of seven, he’s weathered economic crashes, 9/11 and the pandemic without losing a single business.
“It’s never been about the environment,” he said. “It’s about learning to pivot. If you offer something good, and you know your audience, people will find you.”
That principle is something Nwanonyiri has leaned into as well. Born in Houston to Nigerian parents, she studied design in New York and Los Angeles before turning her creative instincts into a full-time role shaping the look and feel of each shop Rosenberg acquires. When they met at a party in Malibu more than a decade ago, the two bonded over food, aesthetics and a shared desire to build something lasting. Since then, they’ve co-managed a string of revamps, from Marmalade Café on Montana to Lenny’s Deli on Westwood Blvd, with Nwanonyiri handling design and Lenny overseeing operations.
“I used to decorate my friends’ dorm rooms in college,” she said. “My mom would redo our house every few months. I think that stuck with me, colors, textures, atmosphere. It all matters. People want to feel something when they walk in.”
In Santa Monica, that meant replacing the shop’s worn chairs with new red booths, redesigning the outdoor seating area with plush furniture and shade canopies and bringing in design elements that nod to New York’s classic delis without overwhelming the space. A monthly live music series is also now part of the weekend schedule.
“People come in for a bagel and end up staying,” she said. “We want this to feel like a place you can linger.”
The couple also recently released a cookbook, It’s a Sweet World: Recipes from Around the Globe at Bea’s Bakery, which expands their culinary vision even further. The book, published in February by Mango Publishing, grew out of their Jewish Life Television series of the same name and features recipes rooted in Jewish and Nigerian traditions, alongside baked goods inspired by customers from all over the world.
“The book includes a Ukrainian poppy seed roll, Filipino ube challah, Southern sweet potato pie,” Nwanonyiri said. “These are stories as much as recipes. A lot of them came from customers, things they missed, things that reminded them of home.”
Praise for the book has come from actors, producers and longtime fans of the couple’s work. Henry Winkler called Bea’s black and white cookies, “The best I’ve had for the last 45 years.” Actor Tom Arnold praised their rugelach. The foreword, penned by deli veteran Ziggy Gruber, frames the bakery as a modern link in a vanishing tradition, a place where food, memory and community meet.
For Rosenberg, it’s a full-circle moment. He grew up in New York, the son of a Holocaust survivor who taught him to bake and to value hard work. Now, decades later, he’s still restoring family-run shops with the same sense of purpose.
“My dad passed the torch to me,” he said. “And now Adaeze and I are doing the same. We want to keep the good stuff alive, but make room for something new.”
Though they still maintain their Valley base, Rosenberg says the Westside has always been part of their story. Customers from his past ventures already recognize him here. And Santa Monica, he says, is ready for what they’re building.
“We’re not done yet,” he said, nodding toward a still-to-be-unveiled bread wall and more nostalgic touches planned for later this year. “But you don’t need to change everything all at once. Sometimes subtle is best.”
New York Bagel Deli & Bakery is at 2216 Wilshire Blvd and is open Mon–Fri 5am–3pm and Sat–Sun 5am–4pm. Check out nybdbakery.com for more information.
scott.snowden@smdp.com