The Kosher Deli in Helsinki (which was closed) has reopened and is called: Zaafran & Co.

See map below for location. (It is next to the Synagogue, Kamppi metro station and the Radisson Blu Royal hotel)

More info on www.zaafran.fi
You can Email Lee@zaafran.fi for more info and orders (including hot meals)

Read more about Kosher & Jewish Travel to Helsinki, Finland here: http://yeahthatskosher.com/2008/09/helsinki-finland-2/

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I love reading about new kosher restaurants in places where I don’t expect it. Not long ago, opening a Kosher restaurant in Moscow would’ve been unheard of. Now there’s a growing Jewish community to support it.

According to this article in the Moscow News, Noodles is a Brooklyn-inspired Kosher meat restaurant that has a nice interior, but doesn’t quite remind one of Brooklyn.

Its menu is mainly Euro-American cuisine, with a few “Jewish” dishes like Gefilte Fish, but not Matzo Ball soup.

Here’s a sample from their menu (prices are in Russian Roubles)

• Hummus with lamb 350
• Gefilte fish 380
• Beef noodles 450
• Smoked black cod 970
• Chocolate truffle 380

Website: www.KosherClub.ru

Earlier this year, I flew KLM/Delta to Israel, with a nice 8+ hour stopover in Amsterdam. I liked this option as it gave me the opportunity to leave the AMS airport and explore the city.

In the short time there I managed to figure out exactly how to (using public transportation only) get to the Jewish area to find the Kosher restaurants, head downtown, find a couple attractions, and get back to the airport in time for my flight to TLV.

Now I’m hearing more friends opting to take this route, since it’s a cheaper option to flying El Al, and it offers a short European excursion…. and it doesn’t hurt that flying KLM is an amazing experience!

Flying on KLM, we were offered fairly large kosher meals from Borenstein Caterers, and they were pretty good all things considered. Remember to call your airline the week before your flight to confirm that you will have a kosher meal on EACH leg of your trip. (If you have a stopover in each direction, that’s 4 legs).

When we arrived at AMS around 12pm local time, we took our carry-on luggage and deposited it in one of many lockers in the airport for about €5. Be sure to remember exactly where that locker is, because we got lost trying to find it on our way back.

Inside the airport there is a huge train terminal, with intercity trains leaving every few minutes. Trains can take you into Amsterdam, around Holland, or even south to Brussels, Antwerp, and Paris.

We headed directly to the Kosher restaurant area, and ended up eating at Golan Grill in the Jewish neighborhood south of the city. Here are exact directions there. You will end up taking a local train and then switching to an above ground tram. Once you figure out which train and track you need and buy your tickets, the trip should take ~40mins. Maybe a little longer if you get lost. For this first train, you want to buy a ticket to “Amsterdam Zuid”, which was not apparently clear to us originally, and shouldn’t cost more than a few Euro. Once arriving at Amsterdam Zuid, you will buy tickets for the tram. If you follow my itinerary here, you will only need two rides on the tram per person. One to the Jewish area, and one into the city.

• Important Tip for Americans: Using your American credit cards will not work when buying tickets from machines at AMS (or from most machines in Europe for that matter). These machines only accept credit cards with a “chip & PIN”, which our cards do not have. You can use your Debit card, which has a PIN by default.

Golan Grill is a small, clean, Israeli style restaurant. Since we didn’t speak Dutch, we spoke to the owner in Hebrew. We had shwarma in pita, which was very different from what I’m used to, and it came with some interesting toppings. Click here to see their menu.

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Down the street from Golan was a Kosher deli / market / eatery called Mouwes (they have a few tables in the back, but at first glance, it does not appear to be a sit down place).

From there we headed into the city via tram. We wanted to walk around and see the sights, but given the fact that we needed to be back in the airport in a few hours, we chose one site to visit: the Anne Frank House. See map to the right for exact directions from Golan Grill to the Anne Frank House.

Once we arrived at the Anne Frank House, there was a line to get in and pay. Forewarning: The house is very narrow and you’ll be doing some climbing in very narrow staircases. If you have extra time, you’re about a 10+ minute walk from the center of town and tons of museums and other sites. Unfortunately, we needed to be back in the airport as our flight was leaving within the next 3 hours. We walked to the central train station: Amsterdam Centraal, which was a nice ~20 minute walk through central Amsterdam. See the map below for walking directions. If you have extra time, and want to check out the Spanish-Portugese Synagogue, you’ll need to take another tram across town (approximately 15 minutes). Click here for directions from the Anne Frank House.

Once at the station be sure to buy tickets to the airport which is a fairly short ride and only 1 or 2 stops. The trains pull up underneath the airport and relatively close to the lockers where you may have stored your carry-on luggage.

“Kosher Roast” is renting out a bar called “The Shop” in the Kensal Rise neighborhood of London. The Shop will be converted into a Kosher restaurant for 2 Sunday’s next month: December 4th and 11th.

This is clearly a concept that the founders of Kosher Roast are testing.

For each of the 2 days, only 60 places are being offered, and tickets must be purchased in advance at £25 each.
>> Purchase your tickets to Kosher Roast < <

With your ticket, you’re entitled to one of 2 menus: Meat & Vegetarian:

KOSHER ROAST SUNDAY LUNCH
• A selection of classic British bar snacks
• Roast beef and Yorkshire puddings; goose fat roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, gravy
• Coffee/tea and chocolate surprises

KOSHER ROAST VEGETARIAN LUNCH

• A selection of classic vegetarian British bar snacks
• Vegetarian Wellington; rock salt and rosemary roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, mushroom and red wine gravy
• Coffee/tea and chocolate surprises

The Kosher supervision is being provided by Rabbi Moshe Dadoun, a prominent member of the Porat Yosef Synagogue and Hendon Jewish community.

Contributed by: Ashley Spade | Last Date of Travel: June 2011

I recently returned from a trip to Marbella, Spain with a few classmates and my dog, Sir Winston Pugsalot. I know how hard it can seem to find Kosher food while traveling, especially depending on the country.

Luckily, my student health insurance agent is an observant Jew who’d spent some time in Spain and offered great tips on how to keep Kosher while traveling.

Kosher Info:

I found a local market to avoid eating out all the time, my favorite being Supermarché Kosher. I bought basic groceries like breads and deli meats that I could prepare and cook into kosher meals without leaving the hotel, plus they sold delicious kosher wine by the bottle. Attached to Supermarché Kosher, I found that Restaurante Shalom Kosher offered a Shabbat menu, did catering, carry out and import Kosher products from France and Israel as well as locally within Spain. We enjoyed a meal of hot pastrami sandwiches with a glass of wine while listening to noise from the casino down the street. Their website (linked above) offers a menu, certification and map of their location.

But, I didnt want to be a total spoil sport and never go out anywhere. The people I was traveling with were great about coming with me to try out a Kosher restaurant or two.

We found a few great Kosher restaurants that were either in Marbella or super close. The two restaurants I tried were The Delis Café and the Gourmet Deli. Both offered a wide variety of food and drinks. We had dinner one evening at the Gourmet Deli after spending a few bucks at el Corte Inglés shopping center just across the street. I had a turkey sandwich, a friend of mine had a corned beef sandwich and our other friend had roast beef. Myself, my dog and friends were all satisfied, so much so that we went back the next night and shared a huge brisket platter. The Delis Café had a lot of the same food with huge portions. We enjoyed stuffed cabbage one night along with roast turkey.

Tourist Info:

Marbella is a beautiful city with great weather, so nearly everything to do is outdoors, which is great if youre traveling with a pet.

Touring the Old Town is absolutely necessary. It was probably my favorite part of Marbella. Its narrow streets are lined with gorgeous old buildings, shops (interesting, not kitschy), flowers and street vendors. The beaches in Marbella are to die for. Im a beach snob, but these beaches were spectacular, especially the Paseo Maritimo beach.

We also checked out the Puerto Banus area, a few of the Kosher delis were there, but I didnt absolutely fall in love with it. Its much more developed and Touristy than the Old Town and some of the beaches. There is plenty to do there, but if you dont like crowds, it might not be your scene.

However, Puerto Banus does offer amazing boat and yacht cruises, which can be super affordable if youre going in with friends. Our captain was nice about letting me bring my dog, clad in his little life jacket. You can go fishing too, if thats your thing.

Jewish Info:

Though the Jewish community in Marbella is relatively small, there are synagogues, restaurants and markets.

I attended the Beth El Synagogue a few times while I was there and felt very comfortable and welcomed. The synagogue is also a great source of information for all things Kosher while you’re in Marbella. They’d be happy to help you out. Their website offers location information as well as more resources and a useful guide for navigating the Jewish community.

And most importantly, have fun and enjoy your time in Marbella!

The following is an account of one of our community members who survived last month’s Oslo terrorist attack. The person wishes to remain anonymous.

On July 22nd, 2011 Norway was hit with the deadliest terrorist attack its country has ever seen – and I was in the middle of it. At about 3:25pm, a politically motivated Norwegian triggered the explosion a bomb in Oslo’s government quarter and massacred over 70 teenagers at a youth camp a few hours away.

When I finally returned home to New York three days later, I decided to put the whole event behind me. I told a few friends and family but played it down, I’m not really sure why. Over the past two weeks I started getting hot flashes, nightmares, and anger triggered at random and after speaking to a few people, I’m confident that by keeping it in, I’m hurting myself.

I’d like to anonymously share with you what happened that day, I think it will help me move on but at the same time, save the memories for the rest of my life and I want to thank YeahThatsKosher.com for allowing me to share this.

I’ve traveled to over 20 countries and visited more than half the states in the USA. In my opinion, besides for Israel, Norway has to be the most beautiful country in the world. The Norwegian people definitely contribute to this as they are extremely hospitable, sweet, and their hands are always over extending.

On Friday, I decided to spend my last day in Oslo as my flight back to mainland Europe was scheduled to leave at 5pm (mind you Shabbat started extremely late). I spent the morning visiting the gorgeous Opera house, walked up Karl Johans Gate, checked out the royal palace and wandered around the government quarter. At 3pm I sat down for lunch at a nice cafe a few blocks from the Israeli Embassy near the government quarter. The restaurant had WiFi so I video chatted with my parents over Skype from my iPhone to wish them a Shabbat Shalom. About 20 minutes later the whole building shook and we heard 2 explosions coming from a building a few hundred yards away.

At first, I thought it must have been thunder or a car crash close by, but then the streets started filling with smoke and debris. I was reliving September 11th (2001) all over again. All kinds of ideas and and rumors were being thrown around: terrorist attack, plane crash, bombing, car bomb, anarchy and more. Chaos and havoc are not the words I can use to describe what was going on at that minute. Later on I realized this was because Norwegians are not familiar with violence on this scale, at least not since WWII.

As a Jew, my first thought was to head to the Israeli Embassy. I’m not an Israeli citizen, but I figured they can at least give me some shelter or help me get out of the city. After running for one block, I realized the Israeli Embassy was on the other side of the government compound and I would have to run through the blast zone to get there. Not knowing if there would be another attack, I decided this was a bad move so I started running south towards the Oslofjord so I could try and hop on a ferry out of the city. I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to my parents “I’m OK, getting out of the city, will call when I’m safe” just to keep their minds at ease while I get out of the blast zone.

I started running and arrived at Karl Johans Gate, the main avenue in Oslo. The day before this street, lined with parks on both sides, were filled with hundreds of tourists and locals shopping, eating and having a great time. There are street entertainers, dozens of high class clothing and shoe stores, many restaurants, cafes, and bars. The Gate leads from the Central train station by the water up to the magnificent Royal Palace. That rainy Friday, the air was filled with smut, papers and people covered in dust from head to toe. While heading south I was pushed into a building, hurt my hand and shattered my watch. Everyone was terrified and confused, including me. I tried getting some answers but everyone had the same questions so I ran inside a McDonalds, cleaned all the smoke and dust of myself and continued south towards the water.

When I got to the central station by the water, I found out about the second attack at a youth camp a few miles north which left over 70 teenagers dead. My flight from Oslo was cancelled and and my parents were calling me over and over again. After hearing about the second attack and I knew I needed to leave Norway ASAP and if I couldn’t get over the Atlantic, at least I could get back to mainland Europe. I found a flight leaving from mainland Europe, so a few of us jumped onto on a ferry heading south, out of Oslo. I was going to head to Amsterdam and from there head south if I could find a flight back to NY.

Much later that night, I arrived in Brussels where I spent my Shabbat and on Sunday I got the last seat on a Delta flight back home to New York.

I’ll be honest, writing this was not easy. I had to start and stop a few times, collect my thoughts and keep going. I’m still not sure if a lesson can be learned here, but there’s one feeling that stayed consistent throughout the whole ordeal. That G-d was watching over me.

From the moment the bomb went off, until I got off that flight at JFK I kept thinking one thing, that an hour before that bomb went off, I was standing a few feet from the blast radius. But thankfully, I am home safe.

Signed,
Anonymous
NY, NY

Pretty exciting for those traveling in from out of town to watch the matches. Thank you Chabad for your hospitality, yet again.

Originally posted on Chabad.org

Chabad-Lubavitch of South London Campuses’ kosher barbeque is back again, offering hamburgers, hot dogs, strawberries and non-dairy ice cream to hungry tennis fans at Wimbledon.

Begun in the driveway of Rabbi Dovid and Sora Cohen in 2008, the kosher operation moved to the Wimbledon Golf Club car park by “The Queue” two years ago and has been there ever since.

This year’s championships – the oldest tennis tournament in the world – opened June 20th, and continue through July 3rd.

—- Sponsored —-
If you’re driving to Wimbledon, make sure you have proper car insurance, you can check out quotes online at www.lv.com.
—–

Contributed by: Nava Billet | Last Date of Travel: May/June 2009

Buongiorno!

I thought people might be interested to hear about Shavuot in Rome.

I stayed in a small suite next to one Synagogue, Bet Shmuel, on Via Garfagniana  (pronounced Gar-Fan-Nyana). It is a small shul, with congregants mostly of Libyan descent; they came to Italy after 1967. There is one man from Jerba (a small island off the coast of Tunisia with an interesting Jewish history) and he is louder than all the Libyans put together. None of the women come at night but they do come to shul during the day.

The first night we ate a meal at a family named Naccache. They own a kosher bed and breakfast which I recommend you visit! They’re a very sweet and friendly family with children about my age. We communicated in English and Hebrew. They are very funny… I told them that I know how to make chraimi- a Libyan dish that I once ate in Great Neck– and they fell in love with me! (The next day after shul they invited us for dinner again.) They heard I was a rabbi’s daughter and I was given the task of giving a dvar Torah…

For lunch on Shavuot we ate at a family named Guetta. They had their whole “chamula” (extended family–maybe Arabic–they did not describe themselves as a chamula it is a word I picked up in Israel, used by Morrocans) over. They had a lovely ground floor dining area in an apartment building. It looked as I’d imagine an ancient Roman courtyard would look. There was a large area with sculpted heads spitting water into sinks coming out of the wall and a small lap pool adjacent to the courtyard. It had a large open dining area which led into the kitchen.  The husband is Italian and the wife is Israeli– another pattern I noticed– A lot of the Italian Jews in Rome find a spouse in Israel, then they either come back to Italy or move to Herzelia.

The major dish eaten by Libyans on Shavuot is a traditional dish called Bazin. It consists of some sort of boiled dough, a thickish onion/tomato sauce with potatoes and meat. (People compete to make the best Bazin.) Apparently the dough is supposed to represent Mount Sinai… then I heard another explanation based on the Hebrew spelling, that it is a gematria of Rashei Tevot (acronym, in Hebrew)– the letters represent

Bet = 2 Tablets

Zayin = 7 weeks from Passover to Shavuot

Yud = 10 commandments

Nun = 50 days from pesach to Shavuot

I’ll skip now to Shabbat day. I attended a synagogue near the main bus/train station–Estacion Termini, called Oratorio Di Castro; it houses an Italian minyan in the main sanctuary and a small Ashkenaz Nusach Sfard minyan in the basement. I tried out the Italian minyan. It was a little hard to follow (especially from the balcony–and there was quite a bit of talking). They had a bar and bat mitzvah in shul, which made the service quite long. The sanctuary was beautiful (I had time to notice many details): colorful and vibrant. Stained glass windows showed Torah scrolls that match the ones stored in the Aron Kodesh (Holy Ark). The Torah scrolls, externally had an “Ashkesfard” look. But when they were opened it was in the Ashkenaz style. The floor was painted and the ceiling had several different geometric patterns with menorahs interspersed in the design.

We ate at a family named Arbib. They had many guests and are known in the community for their hachnassat orchim (hospitality) and by no means fell short of their reputation. They are a beautiful family that clearly loves life and people.

General thoughts: I was surprised and impressed by how many people speak Hebrew. I was able to communicate more with adults in Hebrew than in English. The children/ my generation have a working English and Hebrew language versatility.

Overall, great impression of people. Weather was pleasant. I like Libyan Jews. My Italian had improved a little over my trip but had a setback on Shabbat  because I spent time with the elders of Bet Shmuel most of the afternoon (while my friends napped); I never knew if they were speaking Arabic or Italian. I studied excerpts from Proverbs and Ruth with them and it was quite enjoyable (they eventually switched to Hebrew so that I’d be able to follow).

Ciao for now,

Nava