When we have a lot of people over for brunch, I love serving my version of a New York classic. Each person can easily pick up a stack—only half a bagel—from a tower and not get full on too much bread. You can even cut each tower into quarters so your guests can pick up a bite. I like using H&H poppy seed bagels, but feel free to substitute your favorite bagel.

　　

Ingredients

Serves 8

　　4 bagels

　　1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

　　1 pound thinly sliced smoked salmon

　　1/2 cup chopped fresh herb leaves, preferably dill, parsley, and basil

　　

Step 1

Carefully cut each bagel horizontally into 4 even slices; each round will be 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Toast until golden and crisp.

　　

Step 2

You then reassemble each bagel: Spread cream cheese on the 2 bottom halves (the rounded bottom and the upper-middle slice) of each bagel. Top each cream cheese slice with 2 slices of smoked salmon and 2 tablespoons herbs. Top with the other bagel slice and reassemble each bagel. Cut in half or quarters if you like.

　　Reprinted with permission from Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes by Jean-Georges Vongerichten with Genevieve Ko. Copyright © 2011 by Jean-Georges Vongerichten; photographs copyright © 2011 by John Kernick. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Jean-Georges Vongerichten is one of the most influential chefs in the world, having single-handedly redefined haute French cuisine, lightening and refining it by adding select Asian accents. He is the chef-owner of dozens of restaurants in fourteen cities around the world. His flagship restaurant, Jean Georges, at New York's Columbus Circle, is one of six restaurants in the United States to have been awarded three coveted Michelin stars; it received four stars from the New York Times. The winner of multiple James Beard Foundation awards, he lives in New York City and Waccabuc, New York, with his family.Genevieve Ko is a cookbook author and the senior food editor at Good Housekeeping magazine. She has written for Martha Stewart Living, Gourmet, and Fine Cooking and lives in New York City with her family.