Israel in the Gardens is back. Hope you’re hungry.
The Bay Area’s annual celebration of all things Israel serves up the yummiest of savory treats. The lines might sometimes be long, but what doesn’t taste better after waiting 20 minutes for it in warm, afternoon sun?
This year some familiar vendors have returned, along with a few new faces, including two of the Bay Area’s splashiest new kosher eateries: Oakland’s Amba and Mountain View’s the Kitchen Table.
Two other newcomers are Paramount Piroshki, located in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, and Rainbow Italian Ice, an Oakland establishment that serves a water-based, dairy-free frozen treat (not shaved ice, gelato or ice cream).
Returning to San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens from last year will be Nob Hill Pizza, the Flying Falafel and Mazal Tov Catering — all of them billed as “kosher style” — and Tel Aviv Kosher, a grocery and kosher eatery in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset District.
The Kitchen Table, which serves artisanal kosher food, is reaching its first anniversary, having opened the first week of June 2009. Its restaurant menu includes pickles and smoked meats made onsite, and the cuisine is a mix of Mediterranean, traditional kosher and California cuisine.
“It’s our first year [at Israel in the Gardens],” says Kitchen Table executive Heather Helton. “We’re very excited to let the community know more about us and get the word out that we exist.”
She plans to do that with a menu that includes pastrami sliders, fruit kabobs and a mini–grain bowl: heirloom grains served warm, tossed with fresh herbs and mixed veggies, and finished with an avocado mash.
Amba, which opened in December in the Montclair District of Oakland, is also participating in its first Israel in the Gardens, which co-owner Jonathan Wornick is quite excited about. A longtime Jewish community activist, Wornick and his wife co-chaired the event two years ago. This year, says Wornick “the owners will all be behind the counter and working our tails off.”
“We’ll be up all night the night before making huge batches of fresh hummus,” he adds, “which we’ll package in half-pint containers and sell with fresh pita.”
Also on Amba’s menu, a sabich wrap (made of fried eggplant and egg) as well as a falafel wrap, both of which will include a drink.
Items ordered at the Amba booth might even include amba, which is a pickled mango garnish popular in Israel.
“We’re excited to get our brand out there,” says Wornick. Putting food concerns aside for a moment, he says that while it’s “always important” to show solidarity with the Jewish state, this year “I’m sensing with all the [anti-Israel] activity out there, there has never been a better time to support Israel.”