Koshertopia has confirmed that The Heritage Café at the Museum of Jewish Heritage is now dairy, Cholov Yisrael and managed by Esprit Events under the supervision of the OU. They have a brand new dairy menu with breakfast and lunch options, including an espresso machine and exquisite sweet treats. The Cafe recently changed management from Foremost Caterers and a meat kitchen. Online Ordering and delivery in lower Manhattan to be available shortly.
Koshertopia has confirmed that Circa Downtown at 111 Fulton St. (between Fulton & William) has permanently closed it doors. The popular kosher and health conscious clientele will certainly miss this lunch option.
Chef/Owner Mike Gershkovich, of Mike’s Bistro and Mike’s Pizzeria and Italian Kitchen, has signed a new lease for the previous location of Aroma Pizza at 35 West 36th Street in Midtown.
Although the space will not be ready for 2 months or so, this location will be offering breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The two Upper West Side locations will remain open for business as usual.
A new restaurant opens in Englewood. Ariel’s restaurant, located at 18 Engle Street in Englewood, offers an eclectic mix of dairy options focusing on southwest and pan-asian cooking as well as thin-crust pizzas. Everything is made in-house from the ravioli, gnocchi to the fresh tamales made daily. All desserts are made on premises, including homemade ice-cream and fresh doughnuts. They even smoke their own salmon. Ariel’s is under the supervision of the RCBC and is Cholov Yisrael.
On your way into the restaurant you first pass tables that are enclosed in a glass area. These patrons can easily feel they are eating outside. Great 72nd Street people watching as well! When I was first seated in the front I asked to move to the back part, I just had to have more ambiances and truly explore the place!
As I was led to the back of the restaurant you pass a lot of scrumptious desserts. This restaurant has a ‘tradition’ of having amazing desserts. Years ago they were called My Most Favorite Dessert Company. You can even buy the restaurant cookbook, which lines the shelves strategically before you enter the main dining area. Even though this is a pretty new venue, it has a longstanding history in Manhattan. In the small hallway on the way to the bathrooms the restaurant’s history is highlighted in reprints of Zagat reviews, newspaper articles, and other press clippings. The restaurant is broken up into three areas. The front which I just mentioned looks onto the street, and encompasses the take out area & counter bakery. The partitioned off middle section boasts bright orange booths with bright white walls. I love the modernity of the restaurant’s orange/white combo. They work the accent color so well.
The details are really noticeable in this sleek space. The leather bound menu holder, staff shirts, jazz music, dessert prints as artwork (yum), and the way the butter is presented (you’ll just have to go check it out yourself).
Last I’ll mention my favorite area, and the one I sat in. The back of the restaurant has exposed brick walls and a Garden Room feel. Natural sunlight pours in and you feel like you are outside since the overhead is all glass. A brick pillar separates the garden area from the middle area. Tiny lights are in the ceiling. I wonder how dark it gets at night, because the lighting is sparse in the back area.
The only negative to this space is that the sound echoes a lot in here since it is such an open space, especially if there are loud children. However I now know that is why they wanted us to sit in the front. I can’t wait to come back to see how romantic-ish the back can be with low lights. Also in the winter this will be a nice venue to frequent if I want to continue the eating outdoors feeling.
Yummy Yummy is one of the newest gems for kosher diners who work and live on the east side of Manhattan. Yummy Yummy offers a dairy Mediterranean menu, primarily focused on their highly touted falafel. Although their menu isn’t necessarily ground breaking, it’s their attention to detail that really sets them apart from like menu’d restaurants in the area.
The front of the restaurant is opened to the street in classic Israeli style, which is quite inviting. The interior is clean, sleek and modern. Although the look of the restaurant is welcoming, the atmosphere in the restaurant can be a bit overwhelming. On my visit to Yummy Yummy, there was loud techno music playing, and the place was very busy, as it was during their lunch hours. While both of these by themselves are not bad, coming in to that from the hot summer sun makes it all slightly off-putting.
The negatives come to a screeching halt at this point, as the food at Yummy Yummy definitely lives up to its name. I approached the counter and was greeted by friendly staff, who were more than happy to recommend their favorite items. I began my meal with a split pea soup, a bold choice on a summer afternoon, but even on such a warm day it turned out to be a good choice. The soup was creamy, but not to thick, and had just the right amount of spice to make it really interesting. To make sure I covered all the recommendations I was given by friends, I ordered a Falafel box, which came with 6 falafel balls on a mound of chumus, along with 2 sides and unlimited use of the salad bar. In addition, I ordered a Sabich sandwich which consists of eggplant, chummus, and a sliced hard boiled egg, along with all the salad you can fit inside. The chummus had a really authentic homemade Israeli taste which is a giant upgrade from the packaged supermarket variety that is often repurposed and used in restaurants. The falafel was crispy on the outside and soft and warm in the center, and even when I asked for a bit of olive oil to be drizzled over the top, it still was not overly oily. The Sabich sandwich was a new experience for me, and one that that I will be sure to repeat. Gearing up to try the Sabich is when I found the hidden gem of Yummy Yummy: authentic Israeli Amba sauce (Mango Chutney). Whenever I visit Israel, I drizzle Amba over almost every dish I have, and their version brought me right back to the streets of Jerusalem. I had my Sabich in a whole wheat pita, with Israeli pickles, and a healthy amount of Amba over the top. I highly recommend this for anyone looking to have a filling lunch, without going into a “heavy food coma”. The last dish I tried was the classic Potato Boureka. I wasn’t expecting much from the Boureka, but I was pleasantly surprised. The dough was flaky on the outside but still held together well, and the potato in the center was quite tasty.
One thing that you will notice in Yummy Yummy is the diverse crowd. Most kosher restaurants attract mostly kosher customers, however, at Yummy Yummy, the majority of patrons were not Jewish. It definitely seems like they have made a great impression on more than just the kosher the community in a very short amount of time.
All in all it is nice to see a new kosher place open up with a real focus on customer service, and attention to detail. The prices are highly competitive and the staff is friendly and helpful. I highly recommend giving Yummy Yummy a try!
Insiders tips:
- Try and check it out a little before noon or after 1:30 for a calmer experience.
- If you’ve had your fill of falafel recently, make sure to try the Sabich Sandwhich which is fresh, light, and delicious.
Click here for the Yummy Yummy listing
Koshertopia has confirmed that Boston’s well known Milk Street Cafe is coming to Manhattan. The 29 year old cafe known for their homemade delicacies and corporate catering has secured an 8,000 square foot cafe space and 13,000 square foot commissary at 40 Wall Street diagonally across from the New York Stock Exchange (Between Broad and William Streets). This new addition to the Downtown business district will no doubt be warmly welcomed by kosher consumers.
Koshertopia has confirmed that The Pasta Factory in Teaneck has officially changed its name to NoBo Wine & Grill. NoBo (North of Bagota), the only kosher restaurant in Bergen County to offer liquor, is boasting a new chef & menu.
Following our June 1st report of David’s (formerly Avi & David’s) temporarily closing, Koshertopia has confirmed that the popular dairy eatery will not re-open at its old location of 1046 Third Avenue. Koshertopia has learned that David’s is working on re-opening at an alternate location. Stay Tuned for more details.
Koshertopia has confirmed that a new Cholov Yisrael Dairy restaurant, Tiberias, is set to open TODAY under the supervision of the OK. The new restaurant at 45 E. 34th St. is the third kosher establishment on the block between Madison & Park Ave. Nestled between the Eden Wok & Mendy’s Restaurant, Tiberias will offer a wide range of pastas, salads, juice, smoothies and toasts and will be will be open 24 hours (excluding Shabbat).
