Jack's Wife Freda

I have to admit, Jewish food is never top of my list.  I didn't grow up around it so not only are items like bagels, deli sandwiches, and matzah ball soup far from my top cravings, I am usually turned off by those foods.  However, there's only so much protesting you can do when a restaurant consistently receives great reviews like Jack's Wife Freda does.  I would never describe Jewish food as trendy, but the crowd in the SoHo café would beg to differ, considering the lively, posh crowd I saw on Thursday night.

Richard, always ready to try something new, was good to go without hesitation and when I realized the menu was influenced as much by Israeli/Mediterranean cuisine as it is by traditional Jewish food, I was much more intrigued.  Drawn to that Mediterranean food, I went straight for the Haloumi appetizer.  The salty cheese was topped with sweet grapes for a light start to the meal.  It was gone way too quickly.  I followed it up with the kefta kebab, meatballs served with hummus, tahini, and pita slices.  It was fabulous and reminded me how amazing hummus can be when prepared by people who know how to do it.  Richard loved his catch of the day (whole branzino with cous cous) and slurped down his matzah ball soup.

Jack's Wife Freda is completely separate from what I think of Jewish food to be - and I mean that in the best possible way.  Old world tradition has fallen into trendy SoHo and adapted.