In San Francisco, Fresh Kosher-Israeli Bread for a Fresh Year

Making bourekas at Taboon, a new kosher Israeli bakery. Image by Facebook/Harel Meri Myrtle Photography

By Michael Kaminer January 1, 2017

Yanni has opened a kosher Israeli bakery in San Francisco.

No, not that Yanni. This one’s a 4th-generation baker who goes by one name only and partnered with three friends from Israel to open Taboon. Recipes come from Yanni’s great-grandfather Mosheh, who emigrated from Iraq to Israel and owned a bakery in Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market.

“We wish to offer our customers a glimpse into our rich culture and heritage so that you too may experience the smells and tastes that we have grown up with,” the owners state on Facebook. “The flavors and smells of our culture are our mother tongue.”

Look for savory baked goods including stuffed pastries called sambusak, with fillings like potato-chive and feta-green olive, and bourekas loaded with cheese, spinach or potatoes as well as a variety of challas, bagels and pitas. SFGate reported that Taboon is cranking out 1,000 pitas a day.

A Taboon is a clay oven traditionally used to bake Middle Eatern bread called lafa, or Iraqi pita.

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Michael Kaminer is a contributing editor at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected]

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