Sometimes a Pretzel Is Just...A Really Good Pretzel

Finally got to Sigmund's Pretzel Shop today, about two weeks later than planned, what with illness and the lack of appetite that dogged me for at least a week after I was officially better.  And a food blogger without an appetite is like a hipster without bacon: dazed and somewhat pathetic.
  Having grown up in Brooklyn, I'm quite familiar with a certain kind of soft pretzel: It was doughy, salty, soggy, and, on humid days, sported a viscous coating of melted salt.  Oh, and they were stone cold.  We couldn't get enough of them: Filling and cheap, they were ideally suited to teenaged appetites.
  Sigmund's pretzels are another story.  They remind you that pretzels are, after all, bread.  I got a plain salted, as I didn't want the distraction--at least this time-- of jalapeno cheddar or gruyere. versions.  These babies are pretzels at their best.  Light, yet not insubstantial, they are redolent of yeasty bread, the chew offering just enough resistance, the crust (for want of a better word) a chestnut brown with a toasty flavor.   If there is such a thing as an elegant pretzel, this is it.
  The pretzels are $3.00 each, and come with your choice of dip.  I got a zesty honey mustard, a flavor for which my weakness is well known.  I'm looking forward to trying the caraway pretzel, perhaps with a horseradish dip.  Soon.
  29 Avenue A, between 2nd and 3rd Streets.