I’d like to express my gratitude to all the folks who have viewed, shared, critiqued, and contributed to the map. To celebrate, here’s a selection of users’ reactions from over the years (posted with their permission):

So grateful for this. Can’t say thank you enough. You’ve made the journey to becoming kosher so much easier.
- Albert (9/4/2024)

I appreciate your including such a wide variety of categories, since I would eat in all of them and it’s important for the frum community to see the diversity of kashrut approaches people who care about kashrut take.
- D. A. (11/4/2024)

Thank you for providing this service! … I appreciate your providing a more expansive list and leave it to the consumer to make their own kashrut decisions. I also love the way the map is embedded into google maps enabling seamless integration.
- Jeff Schreiber (4/9/2018)

THANK YOU for creating and maintaining this incredibly helpful map. It makes my life better/easier at least several times a week!
- Sarah M (6/4/2024)

Great work! Thanks for the amazing effort!
- Norman Cohen (9/5/2017)

Kol hakavod — your app is AWESOME!
- Iris Engelson (8/2/2017)

I love this map!
- Amy Z (8/10/2021)

[Full disclosure: I volunteer for Lighthouse K… and you can too!]

Ras Plant Based

Founded in Brooklyn five years ago by Milka and Romeo Regalli, Ras is a “bold reimagining of Ethiopian flavors.” The Brooklyn location — certified kosher by Rabbi Sam Reinstein — was a James Beard Award semifinalist in 2022.

When their Bleeker Street location opened in June last year, Milka shared that “This second location is a milestone for us.” She continued:

Our mission is to redefine plant-based dining by offering creative, delicious, and sustainable dishes that inspire people to embrace a more conscious way of eating.

Their menu includes the Langano Bowl (stir-fried seitan with berbere sauce, caramelized string beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, zucchini, and mashed avocado), Azifa (lentils, jalapeños, onions, tomatoes, and wasabi), Mushroom Tibs (rice or injera with tender button mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, and rosemary), and sambusas (filled with veggies, lentils, or butternut squash).

Their brunch menu (weekends only from 11–4) includes less traditional items, e.g. vegan mac n cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, coconut milk, Ethiopian cardamom, and berbere sauce), vegan French toast (ice cream, berries, walnuts, powdered sugar, and maple syrup), and Kitfo burrito (pea protein crumble, black beans, brown turmeric rice, avocado, and lettuce).

Note: Their kosher certification doesn’t apply to wines or liquors.

Spicy Moon

To Quote Dani Klein of Yeah That’s Kosher:

What sets Spicy Moon apart is not just the menu — it’s the vibe. Each location is uniquely decorated but carries the same signature pink aesthetic, cozy seating, and upbeat energy.

Spicy Moon first opened as a cozy East Village restaurant back in January 2019. They’ve grown to four branches including the huge 265 Bowery space that used to house the short-lived restaurant Belse.

Their specialty is Szechuan cuisine; dishes include their best-selling Dan Dan Noodles with homemade chili oil, crispy taro fries in a sweet chili sauce, peppercorn Brussels sprouts, and Hen of the Woods mushroom bao buns served with pickled onions. Drinks include everything from Sapporo to “Boozy Milk Tea” to Fig / Honey / Vanilla Bean infused rice wine.

Note: Their kosher certification doesn’t apply to wines or liquors or to the packaged goods sold in the adjacent market and online.

How kosher certification should be

A couple of month ago, I began volunteering to help organize a network of folks to support Lighthouse Kosher in NYC. Lighthouse K is a kosher certification agency led by Rabbi Barry Dolinger, the YU-ordained rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom in Providence. Their business model is certainly unique:

• Their funding comes from the community rather than as a tax on restaurants (they don’t charge restaurants a fixed fee for kosher certification)
• They only certify vegetarian and vegan restaurants and food products
• Spot-checks are done by local volunteers

Nearly every time I describe this business model, the reaction is some form of, “Now that’s how kosher certification should be!”

Needless to say, a cadre of like-minded foodie friends have joined me in helping Lighthouse Kosher get off the ground in NYC with everything from restaurant spot-checks to reaching out to restaurants that might be interested in going kosher.

Lighthouse K goes above and beyond the traditional requirements of an Orthodox kosher certification agency:

They’re strict on food…

• The pilot light is lit by a member of the Lighthouse K staff
• Fruits and veggies are checked for bugs
• Cooking wines and wine vinegars are checked to make sure they’re certified kosher
• No outside food is allowed, both by patrons and staff
• Certifications expire before and renew after Pesach

… and they’re strict on ethics too:

• Chocolate and coffee products must be free of human trafficking
• Safe and sanitary working conditions are required for all staff
• There must be no evidence of human trafficking/forced labor

(They have a partnership with Uri L’Tzedek’s Tav HaYosher)

A potential conflict of interest… and an opportunity

There have been many occasions when restaurants have offered to cover the cost of my food, or to invite me to a special event with free food. While I’m not a traditional journalist or food critic by any means, I still prefer my posts to be as objective as possible. Restaurants’ lobbying for positive reviews by way of free goodies would get in the way of that goal, so I’ve always declined the freebies.

Those days are now in the past.

When I post about restaurants, I’m no longer neutral, so-to-speak. When I post restaurant updates or share photos from a recent meal, it’s important to me that folks know that I’m a volunteer for Lighthouse K, but not only because it’s a potential conflict of interest. My hope is that they—you—would be inspired to volunteer, donate (check out their Lighthouse Keepers campaign), or simply choose to eat at a restaurant that’s certified kosher by a mission-driven organization that values good food, sustainability, ethics, and community.

Overthrow Hospitality’s Journey

A few years ago, Ravi DeRossi went on a mission. His goal: “convert all of the meat and cheese-heavy menus in his establishments to be plant-based.” As a 2016 Forbes article noted: “He could no longer justify the toll his practices were having on the environment and on animal welfare.” Eight years later, he’s delivered: all of Overthrow Hospitality’s award-winning restaurants are now vegan.

I reached out to Ravi last month to see if he was interested in going kosher, and his answer was an emphatic yes: “getting kosher certification is definitely something I want to do,” he wrote.

Lighthouse Kosher Returns to NYC

I first encountered Rhode Island-based Lighthouse Kosher when they were listed as the certification agency for Marty’s V Burger, a vegan burger spot on the corner of Lexington and East 27th. I recall looking up Lighthouse Kosher and being intrigued by their approach, both to kashrut and sustainability.

The Boston Globe describes Lighthouse Kosher as “… a new model of kosher supervision… only certifying high-quality vegetarian and vegan establishments, while encouraging … partners to source locally, choose organic, limit food waste, prefer compostable waste, and use toxin-free cleansers and materials.” The article goes on to quote founder and CEO Rabbi Barry Dolinger — the Yeshiva University-ordained rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom in Providence — who describes their approach:

As a nonprofit, we’ve also flipped the classic business model. Rather than charging a fixed fee for our kosher supervision, we’re building a model that relies on the goodwill and voluntary donations of partner food businesses, while seeking funding from public supporters. In this way, kosher supervision no longer serves as a sort of tax on food—one that might be passed on to consumers in the form of higher costs, lower quality, or a combination of the two.

Marty’s may have closed last year, but I’m excited to see Lighthouse re-enter the NYC restaurant scene with Overthrow Hospitality, a group that shares their approach to sustainability.

Now let’s get to the good stuff:

The Restaurants

The Michelin Guide referred to Avant Garden as a “little jewel box of a restaurant,” that channels “all the coziness of a treehouse.” Menu items include:

• Roasted beets with hummus, dates, sumac, chickpeas, and cucumber tzatziki
• Scorched cauliflower with toasted garlic, fried capers, and cauliflower puree
• Risotto with lobster mushrooms, watercress, balsamic pearls, and basil oil

Led by two-time James Beard semi-finalist Chef Shenarri Freeman, Cadence is a soul food haven. Menu items include:

• Maple buttermilk cornbread with sage maple syrup and seasonal jam
• Fried oyster mushroom & waffles with lavender maple syrup and buffalo Sauce
• Southern fried lasagna: bolognese with pine nut ricotta and spinach, a dish that Pete Wells recommends in his glowing review, “Through some trick of engineering, the lasagna is rolled inside individual squares of pasta, then breaded and fried like a drumstick. In the process, Ms. Freeman convinces you that lasagna, a dish she grew up on, is just as Southern as she is.”

A tapas and wine bar, Ladybird is “double-take gorgeous.” New York Magazine’s mini-profile continues: “Lush green-velvet seating and ornate gold detailing serve as complements to hanging brass planters filled with various ferns and their tender tendrils.” Their menu includes:

• Hot udon: miso sesame broth with baby bok choy, tempura-fried burdock root, oyster mushroom, and chili oil
• Banh mi toast with pickled carrot and daikon slaw, cucumber, smoked sriracha aioli, marinated tofu, cilantro, and jalapeño on sourdough bread
• Kimchi mac & cheese with housemade spicy kimchi, breadcrumbs, and microgreens

There are not one but two vegan Italian restaurants in Manhattan (the other being Coletta), and now both are certified kosher. The menu at Soda Club — a Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient — includes:

• Castelvetrano olives with nduja, feta, and orange
• Watercress salad (with roasted grapes, feta, pine nuts, and a cipollini vinaigrette
• Tagliatelle with lemon nori butter, broccoli rabe, capers, and celery root (this dish comes highly recommended)
• They also have a 6 course pasta tasting option (“Try all our pasta with a bottle of wine”) for $75/person, minimum two people.

Third Kingdom started out as a pop-up space called &Beer, but it was so popular that it became a restaurant in its own right. The menu at Third Kingdom is, appropriately, “comprised entirely of mushroom-centric dishes,” such as:

• Lion’s mane dumplings with daikon sauce and micro cilantro
• Pioppino curry grits with saffron butter, red watercress, and balsamic pearls
• Black pearl oyster with mole, enchilada, epazote sour cream, and broccolini
• Blue oyster with celery root, fennel, button mushroom puree, charred cipollini, and peppercorn sauce

As a fan of sustainability and kashrut, I’m quite thrilled, to say the least.

… and it’s a good one 🙂

Tsion Cafe (a popular Ethiopian restaurant in Sugar Hill) announced some changes back in February:

Tsion Cafe on Instagram‎: "Change is good for the soul. ❤️ We officially wanted to inform you that Tsion Café is now vegan and kosher. We decided to explore this direction in support of sustainability for our environment and to nourish you with healthy food with less carbon footprint. Even though we are making some changes, we will never forget where we started. Thank you to all who have joined us on this journey. We ask that you continue to support, as we welcome new members to our table. Here's to a new page in our chapter. 🥂 Shabbat Shalom! שבת שלום Melkam Senbet. #tsioncafe #shabbatshalom #shabbat #african #ethiopian #ethiopianfood #ethiopianjews #betaisrael #africanjews #jewsofcolor #blackjews #nycfood #harlem #kosher #koshervegan #kosher_restaurant #vegan #harlem #newyork #nyc #happyweekend #harlemnyc #glutenfree #healthyfood #foodie #nycfoodie #restaurants #newmenu #newlook #topnycrestaurants"‎

They’re now certified kosher (by Rabbi Andre Malek / RAM Kosher) and completely vegan. Why vegan? “We decided to explore this direction in support of sustainability for our environment and to nourish you with healthy food with less carbon footprint.” Their decision to go vegan parallels my own decision last year to turn meat layers off by default for the Manhattan Kosher Map.

Tsion Cafe has participated in NYC Restaurant Week in the past, but this is the first time they’ll be participating as a vegan and certified kosher restaurant.

Restaurant Week begins on Monday July 22 and runs through September 1. They’re offering a $35 Prix fixe menu. Note: their official Restaurant Week page says $45; I confirmed via email that their menu is indeed $35.

Appetizers include Plantini (crispy green plantains with shiro dip), injera rolls with lentils, and injera chips with yellow split peas.

Entrees include the Tsion Platter (shiro, atakilt, mild lentils, qey sir, green salad, and injera), the Addis Harlem Bowl (quinoa, portabella, dinish, and plantains), and the Mama Africa Bowl (jollof rice, black-eyed peas, beets, and plantains).

Desserts include Malawach (flaky Yemeni pastry) with date syrup and coconut flakes, and Halva.

P.S. If you’re ordering off the regular Sunday lunch menu, I highly recommend the plantain sliders. I sampled the gluten-free version, topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms, cabbage, and microgreens:

Update (12/30/2024)

While many spots have been added to the list – there were 22 when this was originally published in July 2023, and there are now 36 (!) – Blossom on Columbus (which was featured in the article) closed a few months ago after many years on the Upper West Side.

Vegan restaurants come in all shapes and sizes. From upscale to casual, Latin American to Mediterranean, dim sum, pizza (yes, vegan pizza), and more, vegan restaurants are on the rise.

They’re often certified kosher…

Nearly half of Manhattan’s approximately 50 vegan restaurants are certified kosher (restaurants with multiple locations are only counted once). All 22 kosher-certified vegan restaurants are listed on koshermap.nyc of course, but I’ve also set up a handy dashboard for further exploration of these spots:

The dashboard includes filters for kosher certifying organization, cuisine type, and even whether the restaurant has Tav HaYosher certification (Uri L’Tzedek’s ethical seal). A few takeaways:

• There are no upscale Asian restaurants on the list (Hangawi and Franchia are both vegan, but neither are kosher-certified).
• IKC certifies the vast majority of the restaurants. They’ve been particularly active in this space, especially after UKS and OKS folded a couple of years ago, so this came as no surprise.
• IKC also seems to have a lock on the upscale restaurants, as it certifies all eight of them.

… but are they keeping it a secret?

I often hear that folks who only eat at kosher-certified spots wish that more vegan places were certified kosher. It turns out they already are, but they may not be advertising as such. For example, in my initial review of the Blossom website, I missed their kosher certification info since it’s buried on the Contact Us page. The word “kosher” doesn’t appear at all on the P.S. Kitchen website. They’re not alone: 2 of the 14 casual spots and 4 of the 8 upscale eateries omit the word “kosher” entirely from their websites and/or Instagram pages.

Are these restaurants actively hiding their certification?

Emphatically, no.

Rather than make assumptions, I reached out to all 22 restaurants to find out more. All but two of the restaurants stated that they display their kosher certificate in a prominent location (e.g. the storefront window). For those restaurants where the word “kosher” was left off the website, all of the restaurants I was able to reach shared that it was not a conscious decision.

Kiley, the general manager at Blossom, explained that they’re not trying to hide their certification. On the contrary: they’re eager to “provide vegan food to a larger community,” and kosher certification enables them to do just that.

P.S. Kitchen’s manager, Timothy, echoed that sentiment. He explained that the omission from the website was totally unintentional, and that they’re planning to fix it.

“We’re proud to be kosher,” he said.

P.S. Kitchen derives its name from the idea that it’s not just a restaurant. Yes, they serve food (the BBQ burger is excellent), but… P.S. they’re vegan. And P.S. they donate 100% of their profits to charity. P.S. they’re kosher too, and I’m hoping that this blog post can be one small step towards moving the needle on restaurants’ kosher certification being relegated to a postscript 😉.

Did I leave any off the list?

Let me know if you have info about kosher-certified vegan restaurants in Manhattan so I can make sure they’re marked appropriately on the map.

#DefaultVeg

I first encountered the #DefaultVeg hashtag in 2021 when Avodah announced that all of their meetings and events would be vegan or vegetarian by default. Their goal was “to make… vegetarian and vegan [food]… the norm.” What I love about their model is that they haven’t written off folks who want to eat meat. Instead, they’ve simply switched the default: “meat and other animal products … need to be requested in the same way vegetarians/vegans/people with food allergies currently do.”

A bit over a year ago, inspired by many calls to action and lots of data about the environmental impacts of eating meat, I decided to turn meat layers off by default for the Manhattan Kosher Map. Users are still able to turn the meat layers on if they so desire (just as folks can request meat in Avodah’s #DefaultVeg model). I’m encouraged by the anecdotal feedback I’ve received: map users are less likely to go to meat restaurants due to the extra effort needed to turn on the meat layers.

(Note: while I’m excited to see that some kosher meat restaurants are now thinking more carefully about where the meat comes from, it’s not clear that grass-fed beef is more sustainable, and in some cases it’s actually harmful.)

Restaurants without Kosher Certification

I’ve struggled for a long time about the fact that many restaurants on the Kosher Map are not certified kosher, making the title somewhat of a misnomer. While I do reach out to establishments before adding them to the map (with especially rigorous criteria for the non-certified restaurants), I am not a certification agency.

As such, I’ve set the “Vegan (not certified kosher)” and “Vegetarian (not certified kosher)” layers as turned off by default as well. I’ll continue to update the non-certified restaurants, but now users will have to actively turn those layers on in order to see them.

DeliverZero: It’s Complicated

DeliverZero is “a network of returnable, reusable food containers.” As the organization points out, “[s]ingle-use packaging litters our streets, pollutes our waterways, piles up in landfills, contributes to air pollution, and adds to greenhouse gas emissions.” I love the idea behind DeliverZero. I too share the commitment to “fight climate change and waste.” (I’ve found that some kosher certification agencies often don’t share that commitment, though many do, including Lighthouse Kosher and EarthKosher.)

Unfortunately, shared reusable plastic food containers are tricky when it comes to keeping kosher. Once plastic containers are used for hot (or spicy) treif food, they can’t then be used for hot (or spicy) kosher food. Even if there were somehow a mechanism in place to kasher the containers before they were used in a certified kosher restaurant, for example, it’s unclear if such containers are even kasherable at all.

The potential issues extend to restaurants’ kitchens as well. After use, the containers are “returned to a participating restaurant, washed, and reused for another delivery.” In other words, the containers have potentially been used for hot treif food at restaurants and customers’ homes (e.g. to reheat the takeout or any other treif food they may have at home). Participating restaurants then receive and wash these containers with their dishes and cookware.

Personally, I don’t eat at restaurants that participate in this project, and I had therefore initially planned to remove the participating vegan Manhattan restaurants from the map. In the spirit of sustainability and letting users make their own decisions, I’ve decided to keep them on the map in a new hidden layer. It’s called “Vegan or Vegetarian (shared containers & not certified kosher)”, though I’m open to suggestions for making it a shorter title 😉.

Looking Ahead

Thank you to everyone who has shared restaurant updates and general feedback over the last few years. I’m of course interested to hear your thoughts about these latest updates as well.

Excited about these changes? Frustrated about the new defaults?

Feel free to share your feedback here: koshermap.nyc/feedback

One vegan and two vegetarian restaurants are participating this time around. Note that this post only covers Manhattan-based restaurants.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, while there are filters labeled Vegan and Vegetarian, they only filter for restaurants that have vegan or vegetarian options rather than for restaurants that are completely vegan or vegetarian. That being the case, I’ve done the filtering for you!

The Restaurants

NYC Restaurant Week runs from January 17 through February 12, 2023.

• Hangawi (Vegan; not certified kosher)
  $60 weekday dinner
  Optional add-on: $17 for optional purple lotus soju cocktail
  Participating during weeks 1–4 (Jan 17 — Feb 12)
• Seeds & Weeds @ Tin Building by Jean-Georges (Vegetarian; not certified kosher)
  $45 weekday lunch / Sunday brunch or lunch
  $60 weekday / Sunday dinner
  Participating during weeks 1–3 (Jan 17 — Feb 5)
• The Butcher’s Daughter Nolita | West Village (Vegetarian; not certified kosher)
  $30 weekday lunch
  $45 weekday dinner
  Participating during weeks 1–4 (Jan 17 — Feb 12)

After wading through nearly 30 pages of over 600 restaurants, [drumroll, please…] there are only 3 completely vegan Manhattan restaurants total.

As I mentioned last summer, while there are filters labeled Vegan and Vegetarian, they only filter for restaurants that have vegan or vegetarian options rather than for restaurants that are completely vegan or vegetarian. That being the case, I’ve done the filtering for you!

The Restaurants

Restaurants are listed in alphabetical order. NYC Restaurant Week runs from July 18 through August 21, 2022.

• Caravan of Dreams (Vegan; certified kosher by R. Andre Malek) | Menu
  $45 weekday lunch / $60 weeknight dinner
  $30 Sunday brunch or lunch / $60 Sunday dinner
• Hangawi (Vegan; not certified kosher) | Menu
  $60 weekday dinner (plus $16 for optional lychee mojito soju cocktail)
• PLNT Burger (Vegan; certified kosher by DC Kosher)
  $45 weekday lunch or dinner
  $45 Sunday brunch, lunch, or dinner
  Note: while Restaurant Week prices are usually per-person, PLNT Burger’s $45 deal is for 2-3 people. It includes 1 Crispy Chik’N Sandwich, 1 Mushroom BBQ Bacon Burger, 12 Piece Lil’ Dippers, 2 Large Fries, and 2 Shakes.

NYC Restaurant Week

Openings

Coletta (vegan; certified by the IKC)
An Italian restaurant from City Roots Hospitality and Chef Guy Vaknin (of Willow and Beyond Sushi). Pizzas include Wild Mushroom Truffle with caramelized cipollini onions, lemon “ricotta,” fresh rosemary, crema, and red chili; pastas include “Squid” Ink Ravioli with fire roasted eggplant caviar, wild greens, lemon butter sage sauce, “parmesan,” and toasted pine nuts; and desserts include Cardamom Vanilla Panna Cotta with strawberry coulis, vanilla, fresh strawberries, and mint.

Galioto’s Delicatessen (vegan; not certified kosher)
Italian deli serving sandwiches, including Fig-etta Bout It with Smoky balsamic, glazed beet, house “ricotta,” caramelized onion, arugula, fig jam, olive oil, and vinegar. They also have pasta, salads, and “bites” including “Peperoni” Misti with eggplant, raisins, onions, peppers, tomato, olives, capers, and chili flakes. You can purchase their sauces and some of their “cheeses” in their deli case, plus they offer baked goods such as quiche, croissants, biscotti, brownies, and cookies. Note: their website features a photo that shows two Tony’s Chocolonely bars on display. All Tony’s bars are “Suitable for Vegetarians,” but some have milk. Those two flavors (dark almond sea salt and dark pecan coconut) are both “suitable for vegans.” I also confirmed with the deli that they only sell Tony’s bars that are vegan.

Magnolia Bakery @ Hudson Yards (dairy; certified by UKS)
They’re known for their banana pudding and their scrumptious cupcakes. This branch is located on the 4th floor (in between Shake Shack and The Body Shop, across from Zara) of the 20 Hudson Yards building.

Nuts Factory (dairy; certified by NKS)
Shuk-style store with nuts, dried fruit, halva, spices, and candy.

PLNT Burger (vegan; certified by DC Kosher)
A Washington D.C. mainstay, this is their first location in NYC. Burgers include many things (Beyond patty, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, caramelized onion, PLNT sauce, potato bun), but they contain very few vowels (e.g. DBL PLNT BURGER), and of course there’s no actual meat. They also offer oat-milk based soft-serve ice cream and shakes, as well as cookies such as the PLNT carrot-oat-pineapple cookie, which, they claim, has a “unique sweet and filling flavor, the perfect compliment to a juicy burger.”

Raíz (vegan; not certified kosher)
Their Instagram tagline is “Plant-based Mexican. Let us surprise you!” The menu includes tacos (e.g. Baja: panko breaded oyster mushrooms, Mexican slaw, chipotle mayo), burritos (e.g. Sweet Potato and Kale: sweet potato, rice, beans, avocado, blanched kale, pico, and fried plantains), quesadillas, nachos, soups (e.g. Birria: slow cooked jackfruit, onions), and salads (e.g. Cactus Never Die: romaine, grilled cactus, tomatoes, radish, onions, and v. cheddar cheese).

scen (vegan; not certified kosher)
Fast casual from Matthew Kenney. VegOut Mag notes that scen is working towards becoming “the world’s first certified zero-waste restaurant.” They offer rice/quinoa bowls (including a Balance Bowl with sushi rice, soy maple glazed tempeh, edamame, mango, wakame, avocado, sesame golden beet, carrot ginger dressing, and furikake), sushi (including a kimchi swiss chard roll with pecan dukkha, squash, and cashew kimchi sauce), bagel sandwiches, and smoothies.

William Greenberg Desserts @ Hudson Yards (dairy; certified by NKS)
This branch is unique in that they offer “prepared sandwiches, handmade breads and housemade granola alongside its beloved black and white cookies, fruit tarts, schnecken and Mad Men–famous brownies.” Located on level 3 (between H&M and Bluestone Lane, across from Zara) of the 20 Hudson Yards building. Note: their website currently says 30 Hudson yards; they’re working on fixing it, along with removing the Plaza location which no longer exists.

Closings

My Most Favorite Food
This classic restaurant was founded as a bakery called “My Most Favorite Dessert Company” in Great Neck in 1982. It moved to Manhattan in 1986, eventually making its way to the Upper West Side after years in the Theater District (with a stop on Madison Ave along the way). While the storefront is now closed, the bakery “will continue to feature specialty cakes for any occasion, as well as the cakes, cookies, sugar cookies, brownies, pies, tarts, breads, challahs, gluten-free and vegan options that have graced your table for years.” I’m especially eager to try their sweet brioche challah as well as their seemingly Breads Bakery inspired Circle of Life challah.

Tamam Union Square location
This falafel place just opened a year ago before closing in January, but not to worry, they’re already looking for a new location. The Upper East Side location is still open.

Kosher Certification Updates

National Kosher Supervision (NKS) has posted a number of updates of late:

• Sherry Herring is newly certified.

The following are no longer certified kosher:

• 16 Handles @ 64th & 1st
• 16 Handles @ 98th & Broadway
• Baked Cravings

H/T Maddy Hoffman for the collective noun for bakeries