Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky.

A luncheon held this month at Covenant Winery in Berkeley, co-hosted by Fred Hertz and Sherry Morse, featured a talk by Ben-Gurion University professor Aaron Fait. Fait, who is of Italian-Jewish descent, spoke about how his research at BGU is helping to further wine production in the desert. Wines from Israel’s Ramat Negev Winery and Nana Estate Winery were served along with Covenant’s Israeli wines. The lunch entrée was roasted salmon with fennel and appetizers were sumac-roasted baby carrots, marinated feta with garlic tahini and braised winter greens with Meyer lemon. Catering was by chef Arnon Oren’s Richmond-based Anaviv Catering.

Frena, the Israeli-style kosher bakery, has soft-opened its second San Francisco location. The Richmond District outlet is located at 5549 Geary Blvd. at 20^th Avenue. Frena opened its first location in 2016 to great fanfare at 132 Sixth St., on the corner of Minna.