Super Mensch, the highly anticipated Jewish deli and cocktail spot in San Francisco’s Marina District, opened on Sept. 24. Owned by the team behind Causwells, chef Adam Rosenblum and mixologist Elmer Mejicanos, it promises Jewish deli favorites that Rosenblum grew up with on the East Coast, as well as Jewish-themed cocktails. We will have a full report in late October. Super Mensch is at 2336 Chestnut St., S.F.
We’ve long followed Iliana Berkowitz and her As Kneaded Bakery in San Leandro, profiling her in 2018. Now As Kneaded is planning to open a cafe at the San Leandro Main Public Library in early 2026. It will have indoor and outdoor seating and feature baked goods and pastries, salads and sandwiches on its signature breads. As Kneaded often carries Jewish holiday items, too.
“Like the San Leandro Public Library, AKB has become a ‘third place,’ which engages the community through its food offerings and offers comfort in a familiar, warm setting,” the bakery’s newsletter said in an announcement. “A café and the library act in symbiosis — one nourishes the body while the other nourishes and engages the mind.”
Albert Straus, the founder of Straus Family Creamery, received the prestigious Organic Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organic Trade Association on Sept. 15. Straus is the eldest child of Bill and Ellen Straus, refugees from Hitler’s Germany who in 1941 established a small dairy farm in West Marin. In 1994, Albert Straus established the creamery, the first organic dairy farm west of the Mississippi. The brand sells its milk and cream in thick glass bottles, yogurt and ice cream on the West Coast and beyond.
According to the Organic Trade Association, Straus Dairy Farm is developing a replicable carbon-neutral organic dairy farming model, with a goal of achieving net-neutral emissions across all 13 of Straus Family Creamery’s supplying farms by 2030.
Albert Straus was also one of the earliest dairy farmers in the state to install a methane digester. His climate-first approach to farming has earned him recognition worldwide,
“I am truly honored to receive this award,” Straus said in the press release. “My lifelong mission is to create a replicable organic dairy farming model that sustains family farms, fosters the next generation of farmers, and revitalizes rural communities — all made possible by producing high-quality, delicious organic products that nourish people and positively impact our planet.”
Hummus Bodega, one of San Francisco’s only kosher restaurants, announced on Instagram that it would be taking its food on the road to the East Bay. The “Bodega on the Go” kosher food truck began taking up residence on Sept. 15 outside of Bay Kosher, the Chabad-run kosher market at 3477 Golden Gate Way in Lafayette. The truck is there Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Bagel Blurb: Cafe Brusco is the newest place to peddle bagels in Berkeley. While you can get three basic bagel flavors and schmear, they come with a twist: Different toppings are offered for each half of the bagel, including such nontraditional choices as burrata and fennel pollen. (The cafe is run by the owners of the much-lauded Rose Pizzeria just a half-block away, and the bagels are baked in the pizza ovens.) As the San Francisco Chronicle noted, it’s not a bagel joint, it’s an all-day cafe. Cafe Brusco, 2000 University Ave., Berkeley, is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily and until 9 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.