Sixth Sense

This restaurant owner was clearly worried. Would New York’s new governor Kathy Hochul reimpose some of the “archaic” regulations for restaurants. “I barely made it out of the latest round of restrictions and can’t afford another round!” he said emphatically. He continued: “I hope that she realizes that

If you should somehow hang around at a Bar Mitzvah or wedding until the end, you might notice that wrapped up large trays with covers are taken by volunteers who then distribute the food either to individual poor people, to organizations like Met Council on Jewish Poverty or soup kitchens like Masbia. This is by no means a

The Ben & Jerry’s fiasco has many loyal customers asking “Why?” Why would a company, which is now part of the world giant company Unilever, inject politics into its image and sales? Why would the company decide that it would set foreign policy instead of doing what it is supposed to be doing, selling as much ice

I must profess that I have only recently returned to indoor dining. I now realize how much I missed the experience. At one restaurant I used to frequent I noticed that the service had gotten slower. I asked the owner for the reason. “The kitchen is operating with 3 fewer employees than before Covid and I am short two

Anyone who has been to South Florida in recent years knows that Harding Avenue in Surfside is the hub of kosher food including its many upscale restaurants. Many of the people who lived in Champlain Towers no doubt moved there because of its proximity to Harding Avenue. I remember a middle-aged woman who lived nearby being

Despite being hailed for its large-scale immunization of its citizenry, there are still many restrictions for travel from overseas. Although many business travelers have been able to secure special permits, I have heard from industry executives that they were having problems getting the coveted permits. My sources in

Brooklyn, NY…The ambiguity about wearing masks in the large kosher supermarkets is slowly vanishing as an increasing number of customers are dropping wearing the masks. Although most stores still post the signs, customers believe that the Covid-19 risk is behind them. Most store managers seem to be relieved since they

Sderot…Located less than a mile from Gaza, this city of some 27,000, is no stranger to rocket attacks. The latest round ended last week with yet another ceasefire between the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel. Over the years, Sderot has suffered numerous casualties with many killed, dozens wounded, and millions of

It was a warm muggy May night in Miami Beach but still diners ate outdoors just inches from the parked cars on Harding Avenue. For those who have not noticed, Harding Avenue has emerged as one of the hubs of kosher dining in the US. In fact, no South Florida vacation would be complete nowadays without dining at such

From everything I have seen of late kosher diners are itching to get back to indoor dining. It is not that the outdoor option is not welcome now that the weather is turning warmer, it is just that there was a pent-up yearning to dine out. In any event, that is the message I am hearing from restaurant owners and managers.