Kosher Blog

Avenue Deli — Exclusive Preview

It’s here — the Gordon & Alperin “kosher strip mall” is finally entering its delicious phase two. The Kosher Blog had an insider’s preview tonight of Avenue Deli, 549 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, MA (under the supervision of Rabbi Aaron Hamaoui).

First, “deli” is such a limited term. While the restaurant has all our favorite deli standards — pastrami, corned beef, et al — the menu is dotted with so many other delicious choices like steak tips, hamburgers, kebabs, grilled panini, and hearty soups. But even such a menu is limiting, confides owner (and attentive chef) Ricardo Bosich.

He likes to wake up in the morning and think of new and fresh dishes to serve — so expect to see interesting, homemade specials listed.

Our dinner was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The hot corned beef and pastrami sandwiches (served on fresh bread from Bodavi Bakery next door) were both delicious, especially coming in from the bitter New England cold.

Reasonably priced, too — three dollars cheaper than Rubin’s. (Granted, Avenue Deli has counter service, but with Ricardo behind the counter, it’s a pleasure.)

And as a special treat, we were served a plate of grilled chimichurri-marinated steak. It looked so good, we forgot to take a photo before digging in…

The finishing touches are still being applied, so do call first and ask for the hours - 617-332-4170.

Après Kosherfest @ Solo

After Novembers’s trip to Kosherfest, the gang and I met up with some local friends and readers for a swanky meal at Solo. I had really wanted to try their tasting menu, but I ultimately decided it would be too onerous and costly to foist upon a big group. Our decent-sized group let us try most everything on the menu, limited as it was — the restaurant’s main dining area was devoted to a large function, so the menu was pared down quite a bit, most notably missing all varieties of fresh tuna.

As such, we were shuttled off to a quiet, glass-enclosed room, where Valentino, our able waiter, greeted us and thoroughly explained all of Solo’s dishes. In the spirit of the day, we ordered, and then passed our dishes around for all to try. Aside from Avi’s chicken, I think we were all quite satisfied. What follows is our amateur photographic record; the lighting wasn’t ideal, so use your imagination as necessary.

David’s Cowboy Steak, an extra-thick bone-in aged ribeye topped with hearty onion rings. One of the tastier steaks I’ve ever tried.

Chaim’s steak au poivre. This one really surprised me. The ginger-infused poached pears were a heavenly match with the black pepper encrusting the steak

I ordered this veal filet. The veal was cooked perfectly, but it took me a few bites to warm up to the yam/sausage hash beneath. A fine, hearty meal for those looking to venture beyond steak.

The details of Avi’s chicken dish escape me, but I recall he was unimpressed. I wasn’t surprised, as my one experience with the Prime Grill (Solo’s sister restaurant, which I’ll never visit again) involved a similarly disappointing chicken.

The Jack Daniels-infused chocolate mousse.

My dessert, the banana brulee tart. Outstanding! Crisply browned bananas, decadent shortbread crust, delicate caramel ice cream. And a healthy portion, to boot.

Milk Street disappoints

If last year’s community kosher survey is any indication, Milk Street Cafe is a fine restaurant. In general, I’ve concurred — their facilities, marketing materials, and catering operations have all been top notch. My lunch today, though, seriously shook my confidence in Milk Street’s abilities.

Strike 1: Asparagus soup. It smelled delicious and looked hearty, but with one spoonful, I frantically grabbed a napkin to spit it out. It was chock full of long, fibrous, gag-inducing strands, showing clearly that the cooked asparagus was never strained before being mixed with the other ingredients.

Strike 2: Napa panini. Completely imbalanced, the slippery contents fell from the sandwich time and again and the goat cheese was too overpowering — and I like goat cheese! What irked me the most was the roasted peppers — used with the skins still on. Yech.

Milk Street is a seasoned operation, celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. Perhaps in all that time, they’ve forgetten these basics of culinary education?

Kosher-NY.com

Today, Kosher-NY.com launched with the aim of providing a comprehensive resource for New York kosher dining. It’s an excellent effort, and a gargantuan one — the site has several areas where further development would be desireable.

The site features a large directory — about 160 establishments in all — ranging from dining halls and coffee shops to some of the finest kosher joints in the country. The main list includes neighborhood (midtown, downtown, etc.) and type (milk, meat, and “vegetarian”), and individual listings include further details like address, contact information, kosher supervisor, hours, and a small Google map that shows nearby subway stops. Certain entries have short reviews written by Kosher-NY staff.

On top of that, concise restaurant info and restaurant suggestions based on location can be requested directly from your cell phone, or sent to your phone from the website — a great feature.

Given that the site doesn’t cater to my particular demographic, I asked a local for his impressions on the site. Here are our combined thoughts and suggestions:

• Including subway data is a necessity for Manhattan, but the instructions are a little confusing, both for residents and out-of-towners. Links to driving and subway directions (provided by HopStop) should be included prominently in the listing text, and not relegated to the marker within the map.
• A more data-intensive browsing interface should be developed to include more important fields like cuisine, kosher supervision, and whether a restaurant has been reviewed. Since the site’s policy is to include restaurants with any kind of heksher, most visitors will appreciate the saved click by knowing the level of supervision up front. Make the list sortable by each field.
• Add an advanced search, with which the user can clearly select all of his desired attributes.
• The reviews seem accurate, just add more of them, and enhance reviews with lots of pictures. With so many kosher options available, the human factor is critical in helping people make dining decisions.
• Allow visitor comments and ratings. Keeping reviews and other data fresh is difficult, so learn from Zagat and Shamash — let other people help out.
• Consult a web usability expert to improve the site design and add some professional polish. For example, link underlining is inconsistent, and a black background with grey text can be difficult for some to read.
• Add “e-mail this listing to a friend” functionality.
• Include all the data fields available on other sites, like methods of payment, restaurant features, price range, and menus.

Such a site was long overdue, and if maintained and extended vigorously, Kosher-NY.com will be here to stay. We wish the site’s creators the best of luck.

Kosher in… Stoughton?

Attention IKEA shoppers… only minutes away from your favorite Swedish furniture mecca — and down the street from the Striar Jewish Community Center — is Eastern Massachusetts’s newest kosher spot. Accoridng to an e-mail sent to members of the Young Israel of Sharon, Deja Vu Cafe at 516 Washington Street, Stoughton (Route 138) is under the kosher supervision of Rabbi Mendi Horowitz from the Canton Chai Center (Chabad). The cafe serves Israeli food and ice cream.

I’m sure this is a welcome development for South Shore Jews.

Milk and Honey, West Bloomfield, Michigan

Once again, we welcome roving reviewer Ari — now relocated from Boston to the midwest — who offers us a comparative glimpse of kosher dining near his new home.

Milk and Honey, a restaurant located off the main entryway of the JCC of Metro Detroit, is under the supervision of the Vaad Harabonim of Greater Detroit. Equally important, the food was a cut above most other restaurants at which I’ve eaten.

This dairy restaurant provides a relatively narrow assortment of fish, pasta, and vegetarian dishes. The menu (Adobe PDF) is certainly a different approach than Rubin’s twelve-insert menu. The basic, simple treatment of the menu is reflected in the restaurant’s decor as well. Tables are angled so that you face your party, rather than your neighbors. (Emily and I discussed that Ta’am China would have managed to squeeze in about 40% more tables.) The feeling of privacy is compounded by an orzo-shaped bar that divides one side of the restaurant from another. It was nice to have some space, both on the table, and around us. Of course, space is cheaper in the midwest.

We started with Minestrone soup for Emily, and Mushroom Barley for me. Her soup had a deep tomato flavor, while mine was relatively bland. Mine was only mildly better than Tabatchnick’s, though it had a lot more solids. Emily’s would be worth ordering again.

Given that Emily and I try to eat high-fat/high-starch foods, we followed with twice-baked potato skins. These were amazing, with solid amounts of cheddar and sour cream, and fresh chives. (As a note, ketchup is delivered in a bowl, rather than in the bottle!)

It was too early for us to eat the full-size fish or pasta dishes, and they were out of the portabella mushrooms (for the portabella sandwich), so we each had main course salads. Emily’s caesar had real anchovies, fresh croutons, and a generous portion. My Greek had great feta chunks, beets, and a great-tasting mild dressing. I appreciated that neither of the salads were drenched, and both were truly fresh. Given that we visited on a Sunday, I sometimes get nervous ordering vegetables at restaurants…

Dessert was Tiramisu and Apple Pie! The pie slice was bigger than my face with caramel sauce and ice cream. Tiramisu is a dessert that I love, but is so hard to find. Milk and Honey’s version was in a martini glass, and was a cut above.

In summary, lunch was great. I didn’t like that they included the tip on the bill, but the service was polite, the food was excellent (other than my soup), and I got out for a four-course meal for $45 when all was said and done.

That said: Jabbett and I have debated why no restaurant has tried to capitalize on the foot traffic of the Newton JCC. It seems like a great captive business and family audience, in a decent Jewish neighborhood.

(Jabbett’s note: To suggest that the Newton JCC is in a “neighborhood” is overly generous, perched up on that hill in what could be Newton’s only “middle of nowhere.” I’d have no problem driving to the suburbs for a good kosher meal, but there are far livelier spots — with far greater concentrations of kosher Jews — to choose from.)

Globe Staffer Reads KBlog (at least once)

From today’s Boston Globe Magazine:

Kosher-centric blogs have been abuzz about the news that Shalom Beijing, on Harvard Street in Brookline, has gone tref . . . As one blogger laments, “That leaves Boston with no source for kosher sushi.”. . . Being kosher takes “a lot of money,” [owner Jun] Yang says. “I don’t have money.” When asked about the loss of kosher sushi, Yang sounds frustrated: “I don’t need ideas; I need money.”

Sorry, Jabbett.

(The quotation is from “Side Dish,” by Alison Arnett.)

FAQ: Starbucks

Every so often, someone asks about what’s okay to drink at Starbucks cafes. Though the information is readily available elsewhere on the Internet, I am reposting here what the Star-K recommends:

Kosher Protocol at Coffee Shops
Due to the flood of consumer inquiries regarding what may and may not be purchased at local coffee shops such as Starbucks, we have compiled the following guidelines:

• All unflavored, roasted coffees (both regular and decaf), may be purchased in a disposable cup. Sugar may be added. Milk (not creamer) may be added, and is cholov stam.
• Creamers and flavors may be added separately after the consumer verifies that the label of the original container of these items bear reliable certification.
• Only packaged food items bearing reliable certification may be purchased.
• At Starbucks, bottled beverages bearing a KD are certified kosher, dairy, cholov stam, by R’ Zevulun Charlop.
• Frapuccino, whipped toppings, and other beverages prepared in coffee shops are not recommended since they are made in carafes/pump pots that are not exclusively used for kosher beverages.

R’ Eliezer Eidletz of KosherQuest.org recommends the following:

Coffee Shops often seem to be growing at a faster rate than the general population. When there is kosher certification on a whole coffee shop it is very easy for the kosher consumer to peruse their menu and order whatever they choose. However, many of the popular coffee shops today (such as Starbucks) sell some kosher coffee, but also carry many non-kosher items, flavorings and drinks. As a general rule, plain unflavored coffee (regular or decaf), in many types of roasts (such as French Roast etc.) does not present a kashrus problem. The main concern in such drinks would be that they be served in a disposable cup and stirred with a disposable utensil.

Patrons may even add milk if they are not particular about cholov yisroel. The small cream containers often display the kosher certification (such as O/U) and one has only to check the container for the reliable hashgacha. As a pareve alternative, many coffee shops also carry pareve soy milk, which too must be checked to ascertain that it is, in fact, under proper kosher supervision. Unless the sugar used is flavored, that too does not pose a kashrus challenge. However, a real problem in non-certified coffee shops are flavored coffees. Flavoring is often derived from non-kosher sources and therefore must bear a reliable certification. Some of these non-certified coffee shops actually use coffee flavorings bearing OK, OK-Dairy, or OU symbols, while others use flavorings with no kosher certification at all. In order to determine this, one must ask to examine the bottle of flavoring used in the flavored coffee to check for the presence of the hashgacha. In an unsupervised shop, this must be a ritual that is repeated each time one orders a cup of flavored coffee as the store can change the source of their flavoring at any given time. Therefore, if a coffee shop is not under reliable kosher supervision, the kosher consumer may purchase any unflavored plain coffee, or ask (each time) to see the bottle(s) of flavoring or topping used in a drink to look for a reliable hashgacha.

As with everything, ask your rabbi. Since coffee shop trends vary from region to region, you may be surprised to learn what is or isn’t permissible in your neighborhood.

Village Crown Closes

Steven I. Weiss reports the closing of the Village Crown, which he describes as the “best kosher restaurant, dollar-for-dollar, in New York City.” The Village Crown Group will continue to offer catering and takeout from its midtown location.

The press release is here.

Bostonians in Philly

Ari and Emily sent in the following report about their trip to Philadelphia. Enjoy!

We hit three restaurants - Chinese Vegetarian Kosher Restaraunt, Maccabeam, and Maxim (which I don’t believe has any relation to the magazine, as I didn’t see Tara Reid anywhere.).

Maccabeam, an Israeli-style grill which is about 8 blocks from the center of the historic downtown, came highly recommended. After locating the restaurant and entering somewhat dingy confines, we were pleasantly surprised by prompt table service. The metal tableware and ample seating stood in stark contrast to a meal at Rami’s. Despite being denied a few menu items because of the impending Fourth of July (”No Lafas or Lamb — our meat order didn’t come in”), E and I were quite happy with the food. We shared a steak and onions pita, and a shwarma pita. We were pleased that the salad in the pocket was fresh and tangy, with a notable amount of parsley and lemon juice that we both enjoyed. The meat in each of our pitas tasted pretty similar, although the schwarma dripped clear oil and the steak a tasty yellow substance. The french fries were really lousy. Don’t get those.

Chinese Kosher Vegetarian Restaurant, in Chinatown, gets respect for having a terrible name. Unfortunately, Cherry Street possesses a strong and unpleasant odor. Once inside, I was falsely seduced by the variety of wheat gluten dishes which included “pork” and a variety of “chicken” and “beef” efforts. I made the mistake of ordering the sweet and sour pork. It was well presented but disappointing, with balls of fried glutein smothered in a bottled sweet and sour sauce. E’s Tai Chin Chicken was awesome. It came with some weird jelly that we poked, and some crazy glutin blobs, but the sauce was tastier than anything “Uncle Ta’am” puts out. The soups were also interesting, with an unusually thick hot and sour broth. I enjoyed the vegetable (as opposed to meat) wontons in my soup, though they fell apart when touched. I would say that the restaurant merits a return visit, but I wish I had known to get one of the better dishes. Of course, for a total lunch cost of $13 for two people, including tip, whatever.

Maxim, a LARGE Israeli style restaurant next to our hotel, was a bit overwhelmed by our party of about 30 people. Since we all ordered at the same time, I don’t feel right really reviewing the quality of the food. The shwarma and beef kabob platters that we shared were solid, unspectacular examples of the genre, though we did find some undercooked chicken. The five people around me thought that the side of cilantro-flavored rice was spectacular. I thought the portions were small for the $14-18 price range.

The real highlight of Philly was the Kosher Experience in the ShopRite neighboring Maxim. This subsection of the store was as large as the Butcherie, and laid out in a less-threatening manner — the Butcherie should learn that high shelves intimidate shoppers, but I digress. We bought 79-cent bags of Bloomy’s candy, were shocked at $1.99 for Rubashkin Turkey Deli Slices, and drooled at the huge cheese selection. The wife and I planned to split a $7.99 rotisserie chicken for breakfast, but ultimately decided against it. Are the high real estate prices the reason that this can’t be replicated in Boston’s supermarkets?