The cafés at two of the biggest Jewish institutions in San Francisco — the Jewish Community Center and the Contemporary Jewish Museum — are both in states of transition.
On Jan. 31, Sweet Jo’s became the latest of several cafés that have folded up shop at the JCCSF in recent years. Run by Joanna Karlinsky and Victoria Smiser, the enterprise was open for slightly more than two years.
JCCSF patrons wanting a nosh or beverage need not go without, however. As of Feb. 3, an interim café was up and running, offering soups, salads, baked goods, sandwiches and meals such as crispy chicken breast with latkes and caramelized Brussels sprouts on the side.
Although the menu is more than just deli style, two old sandwich favorites are offered: smoked whitefish salad and warm corned beef. Many menu items come in two sizes, depending on whether one wants a snack or more of a meal.
Open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., the nonkosher café is under interim management with help from FK Restaurants and Hospitality, a San Francisco–based restaurant consulting firm run by Frank Klein and head chef Chad Newton.
“That’s for the time being, while we determine what the long-term future of the café will be,” said Nathaniel Bergson-Michelson, director of marketing at the JCCSF. “We are committed to serving our guests … we fully intend to keep a food service operation in that space,” the Pottruck Family Atrium.
Bergson-Michelson said the JCCSF hopes to have an announcement later this month regarding a new, long-term plan. In the meantime, he added, inquiries from outside vendors are being welcomed.
Across town at the Jewish Museum, officials for the past two months have been seeking proposals to run the museum café, noting that they have had conversations with a few potential operators. The Café on the Square closed in August 2010 after the contract of the last vendor, McCall Associates and Events Management, ended.
“We continue to be very encouraged about our plans for determining what is best for our café,” Connie Wolf, the museum’s director and CEO, said in an e-mail. “We are currently reviewing our options … in the meantime, we are utilizing the space effectively with the installations.”
The café space includes indoor seating in the easternmost section of the museum’s lobby level as well as outdoor seating on Jessie Square.
One of the final events associated with the café was “What’s Cookin’ with Josh Kornbluth,” in which the Bay Area performer was booked for five dates last summer to entertain and engage lunchgoers.
Wolf indicated there is no target date for opening a new café, noting only that the goal is to keep the space as an eatery and that “we are keeping the process moving forward.”