{"id":198230,"date":"2025-10-14T00:22:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T00:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/198230\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T00:22:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T00:22:23","slug":"it-only-took-5786-years-but-jewish-food-is-having-a-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/198230\/","title":{"rendered":"It only took 5,786 years, but Jewish food is having a moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matzo ball soup is suddenly something it\u2019s never been: cool.<\/p>\n

The 19th century Jewish German staple is showing up on Bay Area restaurant menus in ways that would make my grandma Frances roll over in her grave. We\u2019ve got matzo ball gnocchi at pop-up Hadeem. Matzo is making its way into falafel at Bubbelah\u2019s in Menlo Park. The Marina\u2019s new designer deli Super Mensch is even mixing a matzo ball soup margarita<\/a> made with parsley, carrot top, celery, dill pollen, and shmaltz-infused tequila.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pair these newfangled balls with a pastrami tower as tall as Coit, and it\u2019s very clear: Jewish food is trending, with chefs reimagining the oldest of recipes and taking them far beyond your bubbe\u2019s kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though this isn\u2019t the easiest time to be an American Jew, with antisemitism on the rise and intense discord within the Jewish community over Israel\u2019s conduct in Gaza, it is a remarkable time for Jewish food. Nobody embodies the trend more than Adam Rosenblum\u2019s Super Mensch, which has been sardine-packed since it opened last month on Rosh Hashana, the New Year holiday marking year 5786 on the Jewish calendar.<\/p>\n

\"\"Matzo ball soup at Super Mensch. | Source: Angela DeCenzo for The Standard<\/p>\n

At the same time, James Beard Award-recognized chef Spencer Horovitz has been pounding the pavement in search of a permanent space for his wildly popular Jewish Californian pop-up<\/a> Hadeem. David Nayfeld of Divisidero\u2019s Che Fico recently revamped his Menlo Park alimentari into Bubbelah, a fast-casual ode to the food of the Jewish diaspora. And the Boichiks, Schloks, Loveskis, and Wise Sons of the city\u2019s bagel scene seem to be proliferating like Hasidim in Brooklyn.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMore and more Jewish American concepts are coming out,\u201d Rosenblum says. \u201cWe\u2019re all taking very, very different approaches. The more the merrier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, all these nice Jewish boy-chefs aren\u2019t trying to make anyone feel better about the state of the world. That\u2019s too heavy of a lift. But they are hoping to bring people \u2014 all people \u2014 together, in the name of pickles, not politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Hadeem\u2019s menu includes modern interpretations of Jewish diasporic dishes like kibbeh nayeh and hummus. | Source: Angelina Hong\u2018It\u2019s Jewish penicillin\u2019<\/p>\n

Mere weeks into Super Mensch\u2019s existence, Rosenblum worries (a natural condition for a member of the tribe). But he also feels blessed. The place is fully booked; passersby peek in to say thank you for being here. <\/p>\n

He is humbled, he says, watching a mix of Jews and gentiles brunching on challah French toast and hunks of chocolate cake. Gen Zs snap pics beneath the restaurant\u2019s sign to text to their moms. It\u2019s enough to make a Jew feel something uncommon: optimism.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuper Mensch is not like some deep political stance I\u2019m taking,\u201d he says. \u201cI try not to mix politics and religion and food. There\u2019s a time and place for each, respectively. But I know the world we\u2019re currently in. I know what the perception of Judaism is and Israel is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Beverage director Elmer Mejicanos, left, and chef Adam Rosenblum, owners of Super Mensch. | Source: Angela DeCenzo for The Standard<\/p>\n

Super Mensch isn\u2019t meant to reflect anything other than his heritage, namely, the significance of the word \u201cmensch,\u201d Yiddish for someone with integrity and honor. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a word that has a really important meaning to me,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s something I strive for as a human being. To be a good person. It\u2019s what we should all strive for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wise Sons founder Evan Bloom \u2014 a Jewish-food pioneer who brought good bagels<\/a>, matzo balls, babka, and many a visiting East Coast bubbe to the Mission 15 years ago \u2014 says communing over kugel, corned beef, and kitsch in the form of, say, a bagel and lox martini, is a way to show support for a culture under duress. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jewish community feels like it needs to come together right now. People are afraid to show their Jewishness,\u201d\u00a0 Bloom says. \u201cFood is familiar, innocuous, the great equalizer. It\u2019s Jewish penicillin. It\u2019s comfort. It\u2019s comforting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ATal Mor of Loquat. | Source: Minh Connors for The StandardFood places as safe spaces<\/p>\n

For Nayfeld, rebranding his Menlo Park market as Bubbelah, a Yiddish term of endearment his dad still calls him, doesn\u2019t mean he peddles in stereotypes, either. Jewish food contains multitudes, like Jewish people, which is why the Bubbelah menu takes inspiration from Egypt, Italy, Syria, Georgia, and Lebanon. Are there latkes? Sure. But not lox.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Born to Soviet refugees, Nayfeld has never been big on Seinfeldian cuisine. \u201cThis sounds sacrilege, but deli is not my favorite,\u201d he admits. \u201cI don\u2019t just dream of going to delis. Although I have mad respect for all the deli men out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tal Mor is definitely not a deli man, either. His Jewish diaspora-focused bakery, Loquat, turns 3 years old this month and just keeps getting busier. People pile in for Friday challah pickups and during monthly sabich nights for fresh pita stuffed with eggplant. <\/p>\n

Mor, who was born in Israel to an Iraqi father and Ashkenazi mother, says Jewish food can be a bridge over the ever-deepening chasm between Jews and Palestinians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ASalted chocolate babka at Loquat. | Source: Minh Connors for The Standard<\/p>\n

Mor and Sam Mogannam, the Palestinian American owner of Bi-Rite Markets, have been hosting weekly, Quaker-inspired \u201ccommunity gatherings\u201d at Bi-Rite\u2019s teaching kitchen 18 Reasons since the start of the war. They brew tea, snack on Loquat pastries and Bi-Rite\u2019s perfect produce, and reflect. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of division,\u201d Mor says. \u201cBut food places can serve as safe spaces for the community, as places to connect without politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Mor admits it\u2019s a scary time to open a Jewish business. And yet, it\u2019s also a good time. \u201cPeople are experiencing both \u2014 being embraced and boycotted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nayfeld, Mor, Bloom, Rosenblum, and Horovitz all agree that they\u2019ve never felt more buoyed by the Bay Area\u2019s Jewish community. \u201cSupport has grown a hundredfold in the past three years,\u201d Nayfeld says. \u201cEspecially those of us who are going out on a limb to create spaces and be unabashedly ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s perhaps even harder to be a Palestinian business right now, notes Mor, which is why he goes out of his way to source z\u2019aatar and olive oil from Palestinian producers, promote Palestinian cookbook authors, and foster community with colleagues like Mogannam. \u201cI always try to lead with heart,\u201d he says. \u201cI think that\u2019s a very Jewish thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matzo ball soup is suddenly something it\u2019s never been: cool. The 19th century Jewish German staple is showing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[86275,32143,69782,1991,102,6636,3783,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-198230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-bagels","9":"tag-chefs","10":"tag-cocktails","11":"tag-food","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-nutrition","14":"tag-restaurants","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}