Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky.
Outbaking, a Berkeley bakery offering rugelach made by Ukrainian refugee women, was the subject of a story I wrote recently for Berkeleyside. I was tipped off by J. reader Irene Lefton, who had once employed Outbaking’s founder, Sasha Zabelin, in the tech field. Lefton, who happens to be on Congregation Beth Am’s board of directors, recommended the rugelach to the Los Altos Hills synagogue, which has purchased them for a number of events.
While Zabelin doesn’t identify as Jewish, the recipe he uses is based on one that his bakers helped re-create from his memory of the rugelach his Jewish grandmother made, he said. The rolled cookies are an Eastern European Jewish pastry filled with jam, walnuts and sometimes chocolate.
The women working at the bakery are in the Bay Area as part of the “Uniting for Ukraine” program, which allowed Ukrainians already here to sponsor members of their family to come and work in the U.S. during the current war.
Mandy Eisner, Beth Am’s director of membership and development, said supporting the cause sounded like a win-win, not only because the rugelach are tasty, but because of the bakery’s mission, too.
“They’re just absolutely delicious and everyone devours them, and Sasha provides excellent customer service,” Eisner told J. “He’s been so great to work with, super responsive and lovely. I only wish I could order more and give them even more business.”
The rugelach can be found at cafes around the Bay Area, including inside two Hyatt hotels. (Find locations at tinyurl.com/rugelach-finder.) Zabelin, who started the bakery with his own savings, is hoping to grow the business to be self-sustaining and support even more refugees. He’d also love to serve the kosher community if he can raise sufficient funds. Anyone with ideas is welcome to be in touch with him through the company’s website, outbaking.com.
In 2014, my former colleague Andy Altman-Ohr wrote about Odd Bagel, the East Bay-based, gluten-free bagel business. It recently came to my attention that the owner lost his lease and is crowdfunding to stay afloat. If you are an Odd Bagel consumer and want to participate, you can visit his GoFundMe. And speaking of bagels, Boichik Bagels has just opened in Concord at 2980 Treat Blvd.
With the success of chef Max Blachman-Gentile’s pizza pop-up called Jules, he has opened his own pizza restaurant in the Lower Haight, and it’s garnering a ton of buzz right now. Reservations are hard to come by, though they reserve a few spots nightly for walk-ins.
Another new business is an Israeli-owned shawarma spot that opened in Santa Clara called Ayuni Shawarma & Grill. I plan on trying both as soon as we can and will report back. Jules is at 237 Fillmore St., S.F., and Ayuni is at 1345 Coleman Ave., Santa Clara.
The Ma’lawah Bar, the kosher Palo Alto restaurant specializing in Yemenite breads, will be opening a ghost kitchen in San Francisco — meaning the food will be made in a kosher kitchen but for pickup and delivery only. Owner Doreet Jehassi said plans are in the works but the date is not set yet. She also is working on breakfast and Shabbat dinner menus, which will be rolled out at the Palo Alto location and then brought to the city. Watch this space in the coming months to find out when it launches.