Presence

Kosher Bed and Breakfast Opens in Ocean City

Steffi's Place is a new kosher Bed and Breakfast located in Ocean City, MD. The B&B is owned and operated by Stephanie and Andy Becker of Baltimore, and is located one block from the Chabad of Ocean City, and is open year round. Service includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, certified by R. Y. Zvi Weiss of Baltimore. The menu looks quite diverse, and there is mention of scotch on Shabbos, which is always a plus.

A one-day stay at Steffi's Place is $109 per person; they also have a Thursday-Sunday Shabbos package which is $325 per person (keep in mind this includes all meals). For reservations, visit their website.

Upscale Kosher Dining Done Right: Potomac's Pomegranate Bistro

Peninah and I took a trip down to Potomac to try out the new kosher restaurant, The Pomegranate Bistro. It was a great experience. The restaurant was nice, clean, well-decorated; the staff was courteous and service was prompt. The portions were generous, the food was delicious and the prices were reasonable. Reservations can be made quickly and easily via their website. I don't really have anything bad to say.

I highly recommend you give The Pomegranate Bistro a try; it's appropriate both for special occasions and business meetings. As of now, it is, in my opinion, the finest kosher dining experience to be had in the Baltimore-Washington area.

A few pics (including shots of the menu) below.

Exterior of the restaurant.

Foyer/Entryway

Seating area

Menu - Appetizers (you can see the prices, click through and look for the All Sizes link to enlarge)

Menu - Entrees (you can see the prices, click through and look for the All Sizes link to enlarge)

Beef Satay Appetizer (forgot to take a picture before I ate)

Sicilian Eggplant

London Broil

Salmon - a very large piece of fish

Peninah had the Rib Eye Steak.

Amarreto Chocolate Cake - really good.

Washington Post Gets "Kosherized"

Today's Washington Post features an article entitled In Kosher Kitchens, More Than Taste Matters. Apart from giving a brief overview of the laws of kashrut, the article, ever so subtley, plugs the new Pomegranate Bistro in Potomac.

The article repeatedly makes use of the term "kosherize." I was unaware that this was a word. Welcome to the vernacular, "kosherize."

As an aside, the article metions a kosher Krispy Kreme in Alexandria, VA, of which I was unaware. The article also quotes R. Sanders of the Va'ad as saying, ""Now there is a guy who wants to open a Chinese place."

New Potomac Kosher Restaurant: The Pomegranate Bistro

I heard rumor about this a while back, now the Washington Jewish Week has an article about a new kosher restaurant opening in the Cabin John Shopping Center in Potomac, called The Pomegranate Bistro:

Recently retired airline executive Jacob Schorr, an Orthodox Jew, often encountered turbulence of the culinary kind. That is, he had trouble finding kosher restaurants where he wouldn't feel embarrassed hosting business contacts.

So he has created one of his own ‹ the Pomegranate Bistro, which is scheduled to open in the next few weeks in the Cabin John Shopping Center in Potomac.

The 80-seat meat and pareve establishment, in a storefront that formerly housed the Chicken Out Rotisserie, will strive to fill any number of upscale market niches, according to Schorr and the restaurant's staffers.

The article also mentions that Mr. Schorr was involved with The Red Heifer, which many of you may remember from a few years back. While it was a fine dining experience, The Red Heifer closed after only about a year.

If anyone happens to drive by the location, send me some pictures.

The article also mentions that Mama Leah's in Rockville closed down, which I was not aware of.

I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

The Washington Post seems to have a bit of a misunderstanding as to what cholov yisrael means; from an otherwise positive review of Siena's Pizza in Rockville:

And as some of the faux meats contain lactose, they are not entirely cholov Israel -- that is, they combine meat and dairy -- so purely kosher diners should check with the staff.

I wish that's what cholov yisrael really meant, you know, for all of us who don't keep cholov yisrael (I know, I know, there really isn't anything that's *not* cholov yisrael acoording to R. Moshe, etc....it's just a joke).

Two points if you get the reference from the title of this post.

And for the record, at press time, Siena's is 100% kosher and under the supervision of the Capitol-K.

The Brasserie Sold to Max's

Word on the street is that The Brasserie has been sold. The new owners are, reportedly, The Shalom Group, who also own Max's Cafe in Silver Spring (they also own Shalom's Kosher Market next door). Word is that Max's will be revamping the space over the next few weeks to make Max's a more affordable eatery.

Interesting news, to say the least. Max's in Silver Springs is good food (much better than Kosher Bite) in a somewhat nice environment (again, nicer than Kosher Bite...why is that the standard?). One thing that Max's does and does well is schwarma; Max's has a dedicated schwarma chef (a Palestinian, actually) who is passionate about his craft. It is probably the best schwarma in the Baltimore/DC area, so hopefully it will make it's way to Baltimore.

Hat tip to AS and IG.

Zoo Torah in DC

Via the Baltimore Achdus mailing list:

Join a Torah Tour of the National Zoo in Washington DC, led by the famous "Zoo Rabbi," Natan Slifkin! The tour will take place on Sunday, July 22nd, from 2pm to 5pm. It is aimed at adults and older kids, but all ages are welcome. The cost of the tour is $18 for adults and $12 for children. Advance registration is essential as group spaces are limited. If you would like to join the afternoon tour, please email zoorabbi@zootorah. com with the number of people in your group and a contact cellphone number, and you will be sent details of exactly where to meet.

Kashrus at Communal Events

The Washington Jewish Week has a very interesting article about kashrus at communal events (where communal inidcates the entire Jewish community, not just the Orthodox). For the first time, the DCJCC's annual dinner will be "kosher-style," meaning those who adhere to traditional standards of kashrut will likely be enjoying the airplane meal experience. Towards the end of the article, there are quotes from a broad array of rabbis from all denominations; most support traditional kashrus standards at communal events.

Only somewhat ironic, as the function of kashrus is, if not explictly then at least implicitly, to encourage, define and reinforce Jewish community. I once again refer you to R. Meir Soloveitchik's article The Meaning of Kashrut.

[Hat tip: The Jew and the Carrot]

Dunkin Donuts Outside of DC Remain Kosher, for now

The Forward has an article entitled 'No Donuts, No Peace,' Cry Kosher Protesters, which details the DC area Dunkin Donuts loss of kosher certification and the subsequent fury of the kosher-donut-consuming populace. In the article, it is noted that the decision to force the DC franchise to adhere to the standard Dunkin Donuts corporate menu only applied to the DC area for demographic reasons, and would not become standard corporate policy. In other words, Baltimore, New York, Boston and others, can breath easy and continue inhaling donuts.

The article also contains what I thought to be poigniant psychological insight into just why Dunkin Donuts is so gosh-darned important to the kosher community:

For observant Jews, though, Dunkin’ Donuts and a few other coffee chains are among the only points of access to mainstream, chain-restaurant America.

“The sad fact of life is that we are in the kosher community. We don’t get access to the other world very often,” said Rabbi Binyamin Sanders, director of field operations for the Washington rabbinical authority, or Vaad, that provides kosher certification for local Dunkin’ Donuts branches.

“The other world is the world where you can have a Dunkin’ Donuts product,” Sanders added. “It’s not like those regular kosher stores. It’s a national thing. It’s something you can feel like part of the rest of the world. You’re not so isolated.”

Ironic, as it's more than likely that the function of kashrus is to isolate its adherents from outside cultures. For more, read R. Meir Soloveitchik's excellent article on the meaning of Kashrut.

DC Dunkin Donuts Lose Kosher Certification

Via Kosherblog.net and SaraK, the Washington Jewish Week reports:

Dunkin' Donuts drops kashrut at two stores; third to follow;

The doughnuts will still be made with kosher ingredients, but, as of next week, the Washington area will have fewer Dunkin' Donut franchises certified as kosher.

With the corporation's push to expand its menu offerings, Jim Willard, who owns five franchises in the area, says he has received a letter from the corporation saying he could no longer make menu modifications in his stores. That, in effect, means he must sell nonkosher food products.

As of Wednesday, the Cabin John location in Potomac and the Rockville Metro Pike Plaza store near White Flint will no longer be certified by the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Washington kosher supervising agency.

SaraK has a link to a petition to sign to reverse the decision, while a commentor on KosherBlog.net says that they contacted Dunkin Donuts corporate and were told that the decision to go treif was made by the franchise owners.

DC Kosher Survey Results

The results are in for the 2006 DC Kosher Community Survey. The results are surprising, at least to me; I'm not that familiar with the JCC Cafe, which received the highest marks. Max's and Siena's, two of my favorites, did pretty well, which is nice to see (was at Max's last weekend, and noticed they had repaired their booths/benches, so perhaps they are listening).

At the DC Jewish Film Festival

Also screening at the DC Jewish Film Festival is Be Fruitful and Multiply:

For ultra-orthodox women there is no higher commandment than the biblical imperative to “be fruitful and multiply.” In many instances this results in families with 10, 12 or even 16 children—as is the case of one Brooklyn mother profiled in this probing documentary. What must it be like to spend most of your married life either pregnant or nursing? Director Shosh Shlam presents us with a pair of women who revel in their roles as head of their large broods. On the other hand, Shlam also presents two ultra-orthodox women who decided to limit their family size. Yentl, who appears in the film without her husband’s knowledge, goes so far as to assert that many of these perpetually-pregnant women are not as happy as they claim, but caught up in the peer pressure to produce large families. With an even-handedness that gives voice to both sides of the debate, Be Fruitful and Multiply provokes a fascinating discussion of the role of the ultra-orthodox woman.

It's like Trembling Before God, only for balabustas. There's a panel discussion afterwards that looks to be incredibly well-rounded.

It's playing the same night as The Rav flick. Who's up for a road trip?

New Blog: My Jack Abramoff Story

I stumbled across a new blog entitled My Jack Abramoff Story. The author opens with an introduction:

My name is Brian J. Mann and I was involved in The Jack Abramoff Scandal, and I'm going to be using this blog to tell you all about it.

His second post goes into a bit more detail. I have no idea if this is legit, but I thought it was interesting.

DC Kosher Community Survey

Kosher Community Surveys has just opened up the 2006 survey for the DC area.

The Nose Knows

Nextbook, one of my favorite podcasts (it's like NPR for Jews), is hosting a series of events at the DC JCC. The first sounds...interesting:

Sander Gilman on "Extreme Makeover: Jews And The Invention Of Cosmetic Surgery"
What does the nose job have to do with the Dreyfus Affair or Kant's theories of beauty? Sander Gilman considers philosophical and historical questions rarely broached by cosmetic surgeons or their patients. He looks at how new notions of race, beauty, and happiness arose in the 18th and 19th centuries, and how these turned "the Jewish nose" into an obsession for Jews and non-Jews alike. How are ideals of beauty informed by notions of race and ethnicity? How does external appearance relate to emotional well-being? And how has plastic surgery affected debates about Jewish identity? Sander Gilman's many books include The Jew's Body, Creating Beauty to Cure the Soul, and Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery.
TICKETS: 888-621-2230 or www.nextbook.org

The full list of Nextbook events is equally intriguing.

The Nose Knows

Nextbook, one of my favorite podcasts (it's like NPR for Jews), is hosting a series of events at the DC JCC. The first sounds...interesting:

Sander Gilman on "Extreme Makeover: Jews And The Invention Of Cosmetic Surgery"
What does the nose job have to do with the Dreyfus Affair or Kant's theories of beauty? Sander Gilman considers philosophical and historical questions rarely broached by cosmetic surgeons or their patients. He looks at how new notions of race, beauty, and happiness arose in the 18th and 19th centuries, and how these turned "the Jewish nose" into an obsession for Jews and non-Jews alike. How are ideals of beauty informed by notions of race and ethnicity? How does external appearance relate to emotional well-being? And how has plastic surgery affected debates about Jewish identity? Sander Gilman's many books include The Jew's Body, Creating Beauty to Cure the Soul, and Making the Body Beautiful: A Cultural History of Aesthetic Surgery.
TICKETS: 888-621-2230 or www.nextbook.org

The full list of Nextbook events is equally intriguing.