Column: Bagels & Brew’s rainbow bagel makes mornings fun again

From grilled cheese to muffins to Frappuccinos, 2016 was the year that food went full unicorn — that is, becoming a hyper-color psychedelic swirl of its former self.

But only a few of these fantastically-colored items were actually edible, much less turned out to be better than their bland-looking originals.

Last summer, South County breakfast staple Bagels & Brew — with three locations across the 949 area code — became the first place on the West Coast to start selling unicorn bagels, which made mornings fun again with mesmerizing twists of blue, purple, red, yellow and white, all kissed with a hint of vanilla.

This creation was of course in addition to their already impressive list of 30-plus daily bagel flavors, but it came with another multi-colored menu addition: birthday cake cream cheese, which splits the difference between cake frosting and breakfast condiment in a way that’s so wrong it’s right.

Bagels & Brew has locations in Lake Forest, Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo. For more information, visit bagelsandbrew.com.

SARAH BENNETT is a freelance journalist covering food, drink, music, culture and more. She is the former food editor at L.A. Weekly and a founding editor of Beer Paper L.A. Follow her on Twitter @thesarahbennett.

ALSO

What to Eat Now: Sarah Bennett’s favorite Orange County dishes

Vegan Corner: These four O.C. spots think differently about vegan dining

Alta Baja Market’s botana blends crunchy-cool with local sourcing

Wok N Tandoor’s Szechuan fries blend Americana and Indo-Chinese