Junior’s Deli faces abrupt closure Dec. 31.

Published on December 27, 2012

Junior’s Delicatessen, which served the West Los Angeles Jewish community and the broader residential Westside for 53 years, will shut its doors for the final time on New Year’s Eve.

Sunday at Kenny and Zuke’s Delicatessen

By Rob Eshman
Published on August 22, 2012

More than Jews have kept delis, the deli has kept the Jews.

From which seeps the essence of Jeff’s Gourmet

By Louis Keene
Published on June 29, 2012

Lisa is a L.E.A.N Traveler! (video)

By Lisa Niver Rajna
Published on March 12, 2012

Spice up your Jerusalem experience

Published on February 9, 2012

Even though the sap begins to rise on Tu B’Shevat, colder temperatures continue can drag on in Jerusalem for weeks, if not months. That means finding the right place to drop in and warm up at some of the city’s most appealing restaurants.

HOOTERS, children and me being the greatest parent that ever lived…

By Julia Bendis
Published on January 3, 2012

Rack ‘em up

Published on November 18, 2011

A mural of shadowy black silhouettes covers the wall with just one splash of color: a solitary red man. As the jazz-era-style mural stretches along the length of the restaurant, it follows the red man as he meets a lone red woman, and they end up sharing a table ... and a drink. The painted walls illustrate the overall theme of The Rack, an eclectic Woodland Hills eatery designed with the kind of intimate atmosphere that makes it an ideal meeting place.

Jerusalem lodging boasts refined eatery, spa

Published on September 13, 2011

JERUSALEM — It had been years since I’d ventured any farther than the lobby of the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem, so when I received an invitation to tour its spa and one of its restaurants, it was hard to say no.

More Facts, Questions and Things I Will Never Understand or Have Answers To.

By Julia Bendis
Published on June 29, 2011

Swastikas, death threat found at N.Y. restaurant

Published on June 1, 2011

Spray-painted swastikas and a death threat written in German were found at an Italian restaurant in Orangeburg, N.Y. The manager of Cassie's Restaurant told police that he found the symbols inside and outside the business when he opened Monday afternoon. Between $2,000 and $3,000 was missing.

VideoJew’s VideoGuide to L.A. #3—Jewish Los Angeles

Published on October 16, 2008

Dining, shopping, living, praying -- VideoJew Jay Firestone shows you how it's done Los Angeles-style.

VideoGuide to L.A. - Volume 3 - Jewish L.A.

By Jay Firestone
Published on October 16, 2008

Location, location, location

By Elyse Glickman
Published on August 15, 2008

Destination weddings in spots like Hawaii or the Caribbean are a romantic way to start a new life with someone, but changes in the economy and fuel prices are forcing many couples to rethink the concept of getting "married away."

Table for none?

By Amy Klein
Published on May 5, 2008

They open, they close -- will this latest entry in the kosher restaurant wars survive a year?

Chef Akasha adds fresh twist to holiday traditions

By Judy Zeidler
Published on April 10, 2008

Akasha Richmond, a self-trained chef and artisan-style baker who has been catering events in the Los Angeles area for the past 20 years, shares some Passover recipes.

Bring the taste of France to your Passover table

By Judy Bart Kancigor
Published on March 22, 2007

One might expect the chef-owner of a haute cuisine, award-winning French-American restaurant, where l'addition can easily top $300 per couple, to be an egotist. One would be wrong.

Cozy Kosher Surf Shack—Observant Oasis in the ‘Bu

By Adam Wills
Published on August 31, 2006

Situated a quick jaywalk across Pacific Coast Highway from Surfrider Beach and the Malibu Pier, Malibu Beach Grill is a kosher oasis in a town renowned for breathtaking seaside vistas, A-list celebrity sightings and new-age crunchiness.

Lawsuit Filed in Granada Hills Jewish Community Center Shooting

Published on August 24, 2006

World News; Lawsuit Filed in Granada Hills Jewish Community Center Shooting; Young Quits After 'Hurtful' Remarks; Olmert Pressed on War Inquiry; Diaspora Money Heads North; Israeli Officials Face Sexual-Harassment Charges; Israeli Children Anxious After War; Major Israeli Writer Dies; Israel: Hezbollah Used Russian Weapons; Jewish-Owned Market in Moscow Bombed; Restaurant in India Named After Hitler; Annan Chides Iran on Holocaust Cartoons.

Cozy Kosher Surf Shack: An Observant Oasis in the ‘Bu

By Adam Wills
Published on August 17, 2006

Joyce Brooks Bogartz's look isn't quite what you'd expect from the owner of a kosher restaurant. Adorned with brown-and-cream dreadlocks, the nearly 50-year-old proprietor of Malibu Beach Grill would at first glance seem to fit in better with customers sporting board shorts than black hats. But this post-punk Gidget is the kind of 'Bu Jew who is as comfortable around Chabadniks as she is with surfers.

A Man for All Seasonings

By Hank Rosenfeld
Published on June 1, 2006

Like many baby-boomers today, I sometimes feel older than Keith Richards up a palm tree. So when Irv and Eddie, my better elders, invite me to go out with them, I tag along, if only to combat creepy self-pity.

The Meatiest Offer in Town

By Howard Blume
Published on March 23, 2006

The tables were filled and the clock turned back at Canter's on Monday, as the landmark Fairfax deli lowered the price of a corned beef sandwich to 75 cents in honor of the restaurant's 75th anniversary.

Letters

Published on February 23, 2006

Letters to the Editor

Oxnard Kosher Dining Is a Sur Thing

By Sally Ogle Davis
Published on February 2, 2006

Oxnard's population is more than 70 percent Latino, which could explain why Tierra Sur, the finest new kosher restaurant on this coast (or almost any other), has decided to open with a decidedly Mediterranean-Spanish flavor, with a large dose of Tuscany thrown in for good measure.

There’s the Rub—in Tel Aviv

By Howard Blume
Published on February 2, 2006

Tierra's setting in its bustling, mostly residential neighborhood is stylish coffeehouse; the food is inventive. One typical appetizer consisted of figs stuffed with mushrooms, macadamia nuts and chicken -- flavored with cardamom, cinnamon and a Hindu date dressing (34 sheckels). Not all the entrees strain to be eccentric; there's "grilled pullet and polenta" for 58 sheckels and "calamari paperdello" for 54 sheckels. Some menu offerings are mouth watering; others more creative than tasty. But there's a full bar to wash everything down.

Getting Out Before Katrina Still Painful

By Julie G Fax
Published on September 15, 2005

It's hard for Gideon Daneshrad to imagine himself on the receiving end of tzedakah (charitable giving). In the 30 years since he arrived from Iran to study computer science at North Louisiana University in Monroe, Daneshrad, 56, has built himself a full life -- with four children, a lakefront home and New Orleans' only kosher restaurant.

"Just close your eyes and imagine that you wake up in the morning and you are stripped of your identity," Daneshrad says. "You are nobody. You are nothing. You have no money coming in. You don't have clothes. You don't have food. And all the people you knew are scattered around the world."

Daneshrad and his family have been in Los Angeles for more than a week, and he still finds himself imagining this is all a nightmare.

Bachelorettes Just Wanna Have Fun

By Lisa Alcalay Klug
Published on July 7, 2005

Your best friend is soon to wed. You're in charge of the prenuptial ladies fete but your buddy is an iconoclast and so are you. If you're looking for bachelorette parties that score points for originality, you might consider these unusual substitutes.

Kosher Stylin’

By Jessica Ravitz
Published on June 2, 2005

I have plenty of friends who keep more strictly kosher than I do, but even some of them make exceptions -- like bouillabaisse in France or lobster in Maine. I deviate when I'm the guest in someone's home, and the options are slim -- my rationale being that it's better to not shame a host than to stick to my half-baked rules.

East of Western— a Kosher Cornucopia

By Edmon J. Rodman
Published on February 24, 2005

Kosher east of Western? Out here on the edge of the eruv that runs along Western Avenue (the pole-top strung boundary that allows traditional Jews to carry on Shabbat), I live with my family in an old area of Los Angeles a few miles west of downtown called Country Club Park.

Briefs

Published on November 11, 2004

Briefs

Seattle—Kosher Mecca of Northwest

By David J. Litvak
Published on November 4, 2004

In the past, the dynamic and innovative Pacific Northwestern city of Seattle has been associated with Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, The Pike Street Market, The Space Needle and grunge bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

Chabad Cafe Makes Waves in Malibu

By Evan Pondel
Published on August 26, 2004

The recently mounted mezuzah on the front door of a soon-to-be opened restaurant in Malibu is symbolic for many reasons.

It marks the first kosher eatery to open in the seaside community. It also symbolizes Chabad of Malibu's first foray into mainstream life in a city of surfers and celebrities.

Chabad has been cultivating its surf town persona since 2001, purchasing several buildings and a house across the street from the Malibu Pier. A sign posted in front of the property portrays the silhouette of a Chabadnik riding a surfboard.

A Taste of Tunisia Comes to Melrose

By Gaby Wenig
Published on May 20, 2004

It's a formula that Marmet is trying to emulate in his Melrose Avenue restaurant. Named for his wife of four months, Greta Pinto, who also helps out with the cooking, Greta's pays homage to the Parisian bistros that Marmet loved so much. The resturant offers a Tunisian menu of extremely fresh, tasty and hearty food served in a setting made intimate by its rustic earth-toned colors and through the soft glowing light from candles on the table and wall votives. Greta's has a dining room of only 34 seats, and its produce is bought from local vendors and then prepared a-la-minute, to order.

A Match Made in Ratner’s Restaurant

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on March 18, 2004

Laurie Gwen Shapiro is not, repeat not scion to a matzah fortune, like the heroine of her hyperkinetic new novel, "The Matzo Ball Heiress."

Dining With Tolerance in Krakow

By David Wallis
Published on February 19, 2004

Soon after Alef Jewish Restaurant opened for business in Krakow's Jewish quarter more than a decade ago, a gaggle of Polish schoolgirls wandered in during their lunch break. The anxious students asked the restaurant's co-owner, Janusz Benigier, whether they served non-Jews.

Star of the Canyon

By Mojdeh Sionit
Published on June 12, 2003

The only store nestled in the verdant Laurel Canyon, Canyon Country Store, built in 1919, has served as a location for several films and is also a hangout for many artists, musician and actors.

Kosher Eats,    Tasty Treats

By Gaby Wenig
Published on September 19, 2002

"We don't do falafel or schwarma," said Avi Ben-Harouch while seated on a beige banquette in the elegant dining room of his new restaurant, Avi's Bistro in Agoura Hills.

Mecca in the Valley

By Amy Klein
Published on October 18, 2001

Deep red curtains, dark lighting, cushiony pillows and pictures of camels and bellydancers adorning the walls: That's what you'd expect from a restaurant reputed to be one of the best Middle Eastern eateries in Southern California.

Instead, what you find is a bright diner-like atmosphere, with orange and yellow arches on the walls, in a strip mall in Sherman Oaks. Oh, and a long line of Americans, Arabs, Druse and Israelis.

Carnival's green awning welcomes guests in Hebrew ("Bruchim Ha'baim") English and Arabic. Newspapers in three languages line the table of the anteroom, as people wait for a table or takeout on this busy Saturday night.

Hot Dog Blues

By Adam Wills
Published on February 8, 2001

Yoshinoya and a sushi restaurant sprang up at Dodgers Stadium after Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo donned blue, but it's going to be a while before L.A. fans will be able to bite into a kosher Dodger dog, even with the addition of Jewish outfielder Shawn Green.

Leah’s Restaurant

By Beverly Levitt
Published on September 23, 1999

Leah's Restaurant

Looking for Mr. & Mrs. Losnick

By Teresa Strasser
Published on August 27, 1998

Who is supposed to pay? And why does the whole subject make me so squeamish?

Passover

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on April 2, 1998

"I'm a Jewish girl, and my husband's a Catholic,"says Barbara Lazaroff, who has been married for 15 years to renownedchef Wolfgang Puck.

About 12 years ago, Passover was a lonesome timefor Lazaroff, most of whose Jewish relatives lived out of town. SoSpago regulars nudged her to create a restaurant seder, and she consulted withhubby Wolf ("He said, 'We can make shrimp.' I said, 'I don't thinkso,'" Lazaroff quips).

The result was the first seder ever held in anupscale Los Angeles eatery, with kosher-style (i.e., not strictlykosher) fare a la Puck's trendy-interpretive cuisine.

The Book on Olives

By Rob Eshman
Published on September 4, 1997

Food

Too Hot Kitchen?

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on May 29, 1997

Today the once-legendary Spanish Kitchen restaurant is a study in decay, the "K" missing from the neon sign, the arched storefront crumbling and covered with graffiti.