Bullets and Bagels and All the Weekly Dish
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We’re almost afraid to write about — a gun-and-nosh club founded by L.A. mohel Fred Kogen — but we’ll report and you decide.
“Our premise is that there are Jews who either enjoy shooting sports or who have an interest in trying to shoot a firearm, but may feel overwhelmed or intimidated,” declares the group’s site. “We’re non-exclusive, non-political, but we have a Jewish star in our logo,” Kogen told the L.A. Times last week.
The Times reports Kogen’s brought in food from beloved L.A. spots like Got Kosher Deli on Pico Boulevard, which makes special pretzel challah and Belgian-chocolate challah for the group; Katella Bakery for deli food, bagels, catering trays and alligator coffee cake; Peets Coffee; Mangiamo Gelato; and Bon Jour Bagels(http://bonjourbagelcafe.com/ “”) in Los Alamitos.
Tel Aviv Food Hall Opens
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Big foodie news from Tel Aviv: Sarona Market, Israel’s biggest indoor food hall, has finally opened in the city’s Sarona district, site of the former German Templer settlement. “Think Chelsea Market in Hebrew,” enthuses Israel21c.
Among the 89 businesses spread across nearly 100,000 square feet: Restaurants, bakeries and stands for sweets, spices, fruits and vegetables, wine, cheese and fish.
New Nosh Opportunities in Beantown
Closer to home, the long-awaited Boston Public Market, threw open its doors in Beantown this month.
Among its 35 vendors: A branch of Newton Center Jewish resto Inna’s Kitchen, whose inaugural Market offerings include breakfast pita with za’atar and sautéed shitakes.
At a nearby stall, Beantown Pastrami Company will hawk sandwiches made with “Old World-style delicatessen methods, such as steaming, slow roasting and hand carving,” with all main ingredients sourced from New England.
VC Company Buys Gold’s
Gold’s Pure Food Products, the family-run business that brought horseradish to the masses, has been sold to Chicago venture capital company LaSalle Capital.
The purchase marks the first time 83-year-old Gold’s will not be majority-owned by the Gold family, Newsday reports. Owners Marc and Steven Gold — grandsons of founders Tillie and Hyman Gold — will maintain an investment in the company.
The Golds were Polish immigrants “who began packaging and peddling a few dozen jars from their apartment in Brooklyn as a desperate measure to make money in the Depression,” according to the New York Times. The business grew into a behemoth that sells millions of bottles of condiments every year.
Kudos and Mazel to an Old Friend
We loved last week’s Ultimate New York City Bagel Glossary by Eater’s Devra Ferst, with its very funny — and smart — A-Z definitions, from “arguing” (over who makes the best bagel) to Zabar’s (home of the city’s master fish slicers).
P.S. to food-blog fanatics: Ferst, a former food editor at the Forward, will decamp for TastingTable this month.
A Good Bagel in Phoenix? Not So Fast.
Image by Facebook/Einstein Bagels
Speaking of bagels, Phoenix New Times writer Robrt [sic] Pela offers a hilarious chronicle of his quest to find a decent bagel in metro Phoenix.
Pela checks out more than a dozen local establishments, comparing them all to his Jewish husband-to-be’s baked treats.
But Pela loses points, as far as we’re concerned, for holding up Einstein Bros. Bagels as an exemplar of bagel-baking.
“Making a better bagel,” Pela concludes, “is no walk in Masada National Park.”
Michael Kaminer is a contributing editor at the Forward.
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