History repeats itself: Israeli “diner” planned for Brookline
Courtesy of Paul, from the Brookline Tab:
You may think North Brookline is already rife with options for the kosher foodie, but Rada Roda said that’s not the case.
“Eating kosher myself, I don’t have many options to go to,” she said.
The Russian native plans to open a new kosher diner called Jerusalem Pita at 10 Pleasant St., near Beacon Street, this fall. She said the menu likely will include shuvarma, falafel and other traditional Israeli food.
Let’s explore this logic.
- Brookline has few kosher restaurant options.
- Brookline has a kosher Israeli place.
- Therefore, someone in Brookline should open another kosher Israeli place.
Maybe if someone had tried this before, wannabe restaurateurs might not pursue such ventures.
Give me a break. And pass the Rami’s.
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“Russian native”? They should open a russian cuisine place. I would go on a Saturday night for 3-4 hours of russian courses and bottles of ice cold vodka. could be a fun time.
(I know there was a similar treyf place in revere that was open for years - might still be open, so there seems to be some sort of market for one)
10 Pleasant? That is just a couple of doors down from where Cafe Aviv used to be. (It also was a meat Israeli place.)
I remember a Russian place at the edge of Harvard Square (near Games People Play) that I used to go to in my treif eating days. I agree that almost anything would be better than another Israeli place. My dream would be good fleishic Thai or Indian.
Word.
What we really need is something more like another Rubin’s that stays open later than 8:30 PM. And maybe for Rami’s to double their space.
I could see another Israeli place but only if it was a fancy sit down kind of Israeli place like Taboon in the Chicago area rather then another fast food kind of place like Rami’s.
Does anyone know which hechsher this place will have?
I don’t know, but it looks like it’s ready to open any day now. I walked by there today and there’s signage and the interior is being finished.
What’s with all the stores that are boarded up on Pleasant Street? There’s so much foot traffic around there I would expect stores to flourish. Parking is tough, though.
I can see the point of opening another Israeli Grill joint if they get Rabbi Hamaoui (or Chof k/Star k) to give the hechsher, because then they’ll get everyone who doesn’t eat KVH. On the other hand, I don’t think anyone living near Young Israel really cares one way or the other. That kind of store would probably do better in Brighton.
BTW, way back in the 70’s Cafe Shalom (Marv Weiner) was in one of those stores, before it moved to Harvard St.
Last I heard, the area rabbis had no idea what kind of supervision it would have. I peaked in the other day, and they had a nice mosaic counter set up, and stacks of new chairs… we’ll see.
I have heard that they had indicated interest in ORC supervision, but had not yet established direct contact with the ORC. I have also heard that the Vaad has not been approached about supervision. Both of these pieces of information are less than a week old.
Does anyone know if this place has opened yet? Can’t wait to hear the reviews.
I have heard there is a new place seeking supervision from Rabbi Hamaoui.
MC, what new place? Is it the Jerusalem restaurant or another one?
I heard from two sources today that Jerusalem Pita will be supervised by Rabbi Hamaoui, and it will open on Tuesday.
I went there xmas eve. Big mistake. After an hour and a half I got my take-out order, which turned out to be missing one of the items I had paid for. On the upside, the food was really decent, and they seem to know what they’re doing; they were just overwhelmed by the crowd on the holiday evening. I think they may have shot themselves in the foot by rushing to open for the holiday rather than opening on a regular weeknight. They just were not ready. I hope people were not turned off and will give them a chance to hit their stride.