Food

Scenes From a Foodie Street Fair

Image by Liza Schoenfein

By Liza Schoenfein June 21, 2015

A Montreal-style pastrami sandwich from was just one of the many fabulous foods on offer at the Workmen’s Circle’s Taste of Jewish Culture street fair.

It was supposed to be a washout. Heavy rain, flooding rain, pouring rain… That’s what I kept hearing, all week long. But the intrepid organizers of The Workmen’s Circle’s Taste of Jewish Culture street fair were undaunted. They tweeted and posted that Sunday’s event would take place, come rain or shine.

And darned if it didn’t shine.

“It’s beshert,” author Cara de Silva said to me, sunglasses on, as we stood plotting a project under the bright blue sky in front of the Workmen’s Circle booth, where I said hello to Forward contributing editor Leah Koenig as she signed copies of her cookbook, “Modern Jewish Cooking,” and talked to Jordan Schaps about the fascinating “Eating Delancy,” which he co-authored with Aaron Rezny.

Falafel fixings from the Taïm truck. Image by Liza Schoenfein

I arrived hungry, so I made a bee-line for the Taim truck, where I picked up a falafel platter with hummus, quinoa tabouli and Israeli salad. There’s a reason Einat Admony’s Taim falafel was called the best in the city by New York Magazine’s Adam Platt.

Image by Liza Schoenfein

To the truck’s left, a tall, skinny man sold ice cream sandwiches from an adorable little cart. Made by La NewYorkina’s Mexican-Jewish chef-owner, Fany Gerson, the cool confections came in such flavors as mango-blackberry and chocolate babka, pictured above.

Image by Liza Schoenfein

At Brooklyn Sesame’s booth, I sampled a divine halva spread but decided to keep it classic, buying instead a jar of tahini, which was smooth and creamy and contained just a touch of honey for very subtle sweetness. Owner Shahar Shamir is above.

Image by Liza Schoenfein

Gorgeous babka and rhugelah were in big demand at the Breads Bakery](http://www.breadsbakery.com/ “”) booth, but I didn’t have an inch of space left in my stomach. Luckily, this purveyor — and all the others present at the fair — make their contributions to the city’s Jewish culinary renaissance available any time. For a more complete list of purveyors, [click here.

Liza Schoenfein is food editor of the Forward. Contact her at [email protected].

Liza Schoenfein is a former food editor of the Forward and author of the blog Life, Death & Dinner. Follow her on Instagram @LifeDeathDinner.

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