Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky.
Fundraising platform GoFundMe hosted an online town hall last month called “What’s Good” and featured Robyn Sue Fisher, CEO of San Francisco-based Smitten Ice Cream. Fisher’s talk begins 52 minutes into the video posted on YouTube.
Smitten is an ice cream store that Fisher founded in San Francisco’s Mission District. (There’s a second store in San Jose.) A few weeks after the Israel-Hamas war started, a vandal or vandals shattered several large windows and spray-painted pro-Palestinian graffiti at her S.F. location. Fisher hadn’t made any statements about the war but has been open about being Jewish.
In her GoFundMe talk, Fisher discussed the “I Choose Love” campaign, which she began after the vandalism to promote togetherness. She talked about how the campaign (also called “I Scream Love”) transformed her experience from feeling entirely alone to feeling deeply connected with people.
“After this massive heartbreak, there was this massive heart-opening,” she said.
Fisher also announced that she is working on a plan with other ice cream entrepreneurs in the city to bring people together in discussions while they spoon up ice cream.
Hummus Prince is now open for business in Palo Alto.
The new pickup service is the brainchild of UC Santa Cruz graduate Gur Rivlin, who is selling homemade hummus, falafel and pita — emphasis on homemade, since he’s cooking in his parents’ kitchen.
Rivlin came to Silicon Valley from Israel when he was 16. He started his business after realizing how poorly many college students eat.
“Food can be expensive, and the affordable stuff isn’t what you necessarily want to eat,” he said. “Hummus is healthy and affordable. I’m trying to make it a healthy alternative to fast food like McDonald’s.”
In addition to obtaining the proper permits, he had to strike a deal with his parents because they still need to use their kitchen, after all.
Rivlin describes his hummus as “Israeli homestyle.” He uses a lot more tahini than some of his competitors, he said, to make it especially “smooth and silky.”
His falafel has a bright green interior due to what he considers much more than the usual amount of parsley and dill.
Rivlin said it took him just a day to perfect his pita. And while there’s nothing about the process that’s difficult, it takes a lot of physical labor because the dough requires 30 to 40 minutes of kneading, which, so far, he’s been doing by hand. He said he’s been selling about 100 pita a day, “but it’s backbreaking.”
Rivlin is self-taught and said he enjoys the hospitality industry so far. He could see opening a restaurant or a venue where people hang out and play board games.
His business has spread mostly through word of mouth and an “Israeli moms” Facebook group. Orders can be made at thehummusprinceofpaloalto.com and picked up in Palo Alto between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.