Honey and Ice at ‘Intersect’ Image by Intersect

Restaurant table Image by iStock

If you’re looking forward to Rosh Hashanah dinner – but not necessarily to cooking – fear not. Restaurants around the country are rolling out special menus for the High Holidays this year. Here are some of our favorites. Please note: None of these are kosher. Prices are per person, and don’t include taxes, beverages, or wine/alcohol. And some venues also offer kiddie menus.

Abe Fisher, Philadelphia
Sunday, September 29
$65
At $65, Chef Yehuda Sichel’s inventive, whimsical Rosh Hashanah menu sounds like a steal. Start with peach challah and gem lettuce salad with pomegranate before feasting on chicken/matzoh-ball “tamale”, brisket-braised short ribs, and more. Finish with apple and peach hand pies — think turnovers — with whipped vanilla quark.

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Summer House Santa Monica, Chicago
Sunday September 29/Monday September 30
$44.95
Usually a haven of seasonal California-style cuisine, Summer House Santa Monica gets trad for the holidays, with chopped liver and gefilte fish, matzo-ball soup, salmon, brisket, or chicken as mains, and family-style sides of latkes, tzimmes, kasha varnishkes, and couscous. Apple galette with cinnamon ice cream starts the new year on a sweet note.

Tocqueville, New York City
Sunday September 29/Monday September 30
$88
This refined, relaxed French-American mainstay will welcome 5780 with homemade challah and Greenmarket apples, chicken bouillon soup with chicken truffle ravioli, sriracha-marinated filet mignon, and more. Holiday-inspired desserts include warm apple tart with acacia-honey ice cream.

Joe’s Seafood Prime Steak and Stone Crab, Washington DC Sunday, September 29 and Monday, September 30 $49.95 From the name, you’ve probably figure out this one’s not kosher. But Joe’s is offering a heart-warmingly traditional Rosh Hashanah dinner this year, including gefilte fish with horseradish; matzo ball soup; brisket; potato pancakes with homemade applesauce; and ginger-glazed carrots — fancy tzimmes, we think.

Freedman’s, Los Angeles
Sunday, September 29
A la carte
This white-hot Los Angeles deli, run by siblings Amanda and Jonah Freedman, reboots tradition for Rosh Hashanah. Think coal-fired tzimmes with Japanese sweet potato and heirloom carrots; black pepper and apple kugel; whole roasted head of broccoli; glazed brisket with bone marrow and rye toast; and more. Available for pre-order, and in the restaurant on Sunday.

Kubeh, New York City
Sunday, September 29 and Monday, September 30
$68
Savor a Sephardic spin on Rosh Hashanah at this West Village Middle-Eastern hotspot. Start with ash reshteh, traditional Persian soup of herbs, beans & noodles; munch on mezes like muhamarra, rich roasted red pepper, walnut & pomegranate dip; and feast on fesenjan, Persian stewed chicken with walnut & pomegranate over basmati rice. Wine pairings include vintages from Israel, Italy, and Spain.

Free Times Cafe, Toronto
Sunday, September 29
$48 (CDN)
Judy Perly’s Toronto haimish haunt always feels like a celebration, so it’s perfect for Rosh Hashanah dinner. It’s tradition all the way this year, with chopped liver and gefilte fish; salads like coleslaw and eggplant; brisket, roast chicken, flanken, and salmon; and kasha, tsimmes, and noodle kugel. Homemade honeycake makes a sweetly nostalgic dessert.

Lexus Intersect, NYC
Through September
This is the coolest Rosh Hashanah foodie offering — literally. Kakigori is a Japanese delicacy whose shaved ice is meant to mimic fallen snow; it’s covered in flavorful concoctions. This month, chef Kajuo Fukimura is offering apple-and-honey kakigori, a tip of the toque to the Jewish new year. It’s not a kiddie dessert; cognac syrup, caramelized honey foam, honey comb, Granny-Smith apple-cider syrup, and nepital mint pack a punch. P.S. Lexus Intersect is where Argentine-Jewish chef just opened a pop-up version of Mishiguene, his hit Buenos Aires restaurant.

Honey and Ice at ‘Intersect’ Image by Intersect

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