Kosher Blog

Sunday: Ruth’s Kitchen “Renovation Celebration”

Edna Bension has spent the last three months renovating Ruth’s Kitchen — 401 Harvard Street, Brookline — and its menu, which now includes her mouth-watering Persian specialties and a healthy dose of additional Middle Eastern and Sephardic offerings. She will be open for a Renovation Celebration this Sunday, January 27, from 10 AM to 7 PM, with free samples between noon and 3. It’s a chance to think about what you might like for the following Shabbat, or even the Super Bowl. See you there!

Milk Street Cafe loses lease at Post Office Square

EXCLUSIVE TO THE KOSHER BLOG

In yet another blow to Boston’s Jewish community, the Kosher Blog learned just moments ago from an anonymous e-mail that Milk Street Cafe has lost the lease for its popular satellite location at Zero Post Office Square. The location is the primary kosher lunch destination in Boston’s Financial District, and is the only source of fleishig food in Boston proper. As of January 1, 2008, it will be replaced by a non-kosher establishment.

The main (dairy) Milk Street location will, thankfully, remain open.

Boston’s only kosher Dunkin’ Donuts closes tonight

Staff at the kosher Dunkin’ Donuts in Brookline’s Washington Square informed customers today that they’d be shutting their doors at end of business — no reason given.

Ruth’s Kitchen to change hands

This just in — Ruth’s Kitchen, at 401 Harvard St. in Brookline, will be changing hands in the next few weeks to Edna Ben-Zion of Ora Catering. No word yet on the details, but the thought of home-cooked Sephardi food is pretty exciting.

Boston kosher photo archive

I’ve just published my collection of reasonably high-resolution photographs of Boston’s kosher establishments, past and present. I’d like to do an update sometime, with new shops and better versions of some of the old shots, but a free Sunday to drive around and take pictures doesn’t come around so often anymore! If anyone else out there has photos to add, let me know.

Boston Kosher Survey results available

Neil Rosenbaum, Kosher Blog reader and president of Kosher Community Surveys LLC, has published the results of the 2007 Boston Kosher Survey (PDF). No big surprises among the top scorers — Milk Street Cafe, Cheryl Ann’s, Stop & Shop bakeries, Gordon & Alperin — but the detailed written summaries should be very helpful for store owners looking to improve, and are an enjoyable read for the rest of us.

Here’s a big thank you to Neil for keeping up with these surveys — always a professional job!

Kosher Subway coming to Boston?

The Jewish-Boston mailing list was abuzz last week after someone spotted this listing currently on the OU Job Board:

Job Title: MANAGER
Location: Boston Area
Job Summary: Responsible for all aspects of running a successful SUBWAY® franchise Glatt Kosher
Job Requirements: Impeccable Mashgiach certification and respect of major Kashus organizations; Successful food service experience including managing of staff; Strong business acumen; Willing to do whatever it takes to drive a strong food service brand business to success including working long hours at the start while training other team members; Pleasant and out-going personality.

(We asked for more information from the Subway folks, and were told by e-mail that things are being negotiated and more information would be available “when the time is right.”)

I’m excited by the possibility of a new restaurant, especially one that could be a reasonable value, but my coworkers are pretty pareve on the (treyf) Subway near our office. I’ll adopt a wait-and-see approach.

Haymarket

A friend of mine likes to buy produce at Haymarket, mainly, she says, for the “experience.” I’ve lived in the Boston area for close to a decade, but until this past Friday, I never got around to going to Haymarket. It’s open Fridays and Saturdays only, which doesn’t quite fit my routine (usually involving shopping and cooking for Shabbat Thursday night and then eating leftovers for several days).

Classes are over, though, and the weather has been nice, so I decided to make the trek. But first, of course, I had to Google “Haymarket Boston” to find out what to expect. The general consensus seemed to be that the market is characterized by crowds, rude vendors, and lousy produce, but with prices low enough to make it worthwhile.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the produce. Most of it was as good or better than what I usually find at the supermarket, and the crowds and vendors weren’t too bad, either. I attribute this mainly to my having gone Friday morning. The prices were, as advertised, ridiculously low. (This is apparently due to the low overhead cost of running a booth at an outdoor market as opposed to a store.)

I spent exactly $20. Here’s what I got:

• 3 lbs. rhubarb
• 2 lbs. strawberries
• 1 lb blueberries
• 1 lb raspberries
• 1/2 lb blackberries
• 2 heads Boston lettuce
• 1 bunch spinach
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 bunch scallions
• 1 bunch parsley
• 4 red peppers
• 6 large lemons
• 7 tomatoes on the vine
• 1 Vidalia onion
• 1 ginger root

Two of the peppers turned out to be rotten inside, some of the berries were sour, and the tomatoes got smooshed on the T, but for what I paid, it hardly mattered. We’ve had many salads since then, and there are mixed berry sorbet and Moroccan preserved lemons in the works.

In conclusion, I highly recommend not having a real job if you live in the Boston area and want good quality, dirt-cheap produce. If that’s not an option, consider taking a Friday off at some point, for the experience.

(Cross-posted to Apikorsus)

Update: Beacon Kosher closing for good

An employee confirmed over the phone today that Beacon Kosher would in fact be closing for good as of this Sunday, June 3. The deal we had reported last week has apparently fallen through.

Beacon Kosher purchased by Butcherie owner

Max Gellerman, owner of The Butcherie, has purchased Beacon Kosher, Brookline’s cramped, gritty, and only fully-glatt market. Beacon Kosher, which has been on shaky footing since the untimely passing of its owner, will remain under the glatt supervision of Rabbi Moskowitz when it reopens after a brief repurposing over the next few weeks.