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"The Basketball Game" is a graphic novel adaptation of the award-winning National Film Board of Canada animated short of the same name – intended for audiences aged 12 years and up. It's a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry. In the end, as is recognized by the kids playing the basketball game, we're all in this together.

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Tag: restaurant

An Israeli-Moroccan kitchen

An Israeli-Moroccan kitchen

The falafel plate at Ofra’s Kitchen. (photo from Ofra’s)

Ask Ofra Sixto what makes her Israeli-Moroccan restaurant successful and she’ll unabashedly tell you: it’s keeping a positive attitude. But it takes a whole lot of moxie, too.

After all, it isn’t easy to launch a new restaurant in the midst of an unexpected economic shutdown and to create enough name recognition that patrons are willing to line up at your door for takeout. But that all speaks to the allure of Ofra’s Kitchen, which opened this past December, just as the holiday season was coming into full swing. Sixto, who owned a Moroccan restaurant on Hastings Street with her brother years ago, said it’s been her dream to open another restaurant – this time centring on vegetarian and vegan dishes.

Her previous restaurant was called Jacqueline Moroccan Food and was named after her late sister. When her brother was forced to return to Israel, the two siblings realized they would have no choice but to close the restaurant.

Jacqueline’s “was very successful. Very,” Sixto acknowledged.

It was the venue’s eclectic Israeli-Moroccan cuisine that later gave her the idea for a vegetarian follow-up focusing on classic Israeli dishes and flavourful specialties from around the Middle East.

“There is a great need, I think, for good vegetarian cuisine,” she said.

As a “flexible vegan,” Sixto said she often has trouble finding truly appealing food when she eats out. “When I go to a restaurant and I ask, ‘Do you have anything vegetarian?’ they push a salad. I’m not a rabbit, I want something substantial, right? So, when you come to my restaurant, you actually eat food. You eat really, really good and healthy and fresh and made-on-the-spot food that makes you feel good.”

The choices run the gamut from iconic falafel and pita, shakshuka and Israeli salad to lesser-known Iraqi kube and delicately spiced Moroccan beet salad. Diners can also enjoy an array of traditionally made desserts and Turkish coffee.

photo - Ofra Sixto’s restaurant focuses on vegetarian and vegan dishes
Ofra Sixto’s restaurant focuses on vegetarian and vegan dishes. (photo from Ofra’s)

Asked about her favourite dish, Sixto admitted she is partial to eggplant, which plays a starring role in several of her popular dishes. Her sabih – a Tel Aviv specialty that consists of fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, tahina and an Israeli chutney – can be ordered as a pita sandwich or as a platter. She also serves homemade babaganoush and eggplant salad, early pioneer dishes that are still popular in Israel today.

“And, of course, my falafel is the best in town,” she said. “Not only by what I say but everybody else who eats it. It’s fresh, it’s crunchy outside, it’s moist and soft inside. It’s beautiful.”

But cooking isn’t the only exceptional quality that she brings to Denman Street. A big heart and an innate sense of civic responsibility are helping mobilize a small movement to ensure that those who can’t afford to eat at Denman’s restaurants also have food to eat.

Earlier this year, Sixto noticed that the number of individuals on Denman who were homeless was growing. She said the economic shutdown, which closed many establishments and sections of streets in downtown Vancouver, exacerbated the homeless problem, forcing many people onto Denman from Robson and Granville. Rather than ignoring the issue, Sixto decided to do something to help.

“When I would walk [to work] I would see so many homeless people. I decided, you know, I need to do something about it. I have the means and I could help – whatever my capacity is, right? So, I started feeding the homeless by giving away soup and falafels.”

And her reputation began to grow. “I mean, they are hungry,” said Sixto. “They get drinks, they get food, whatever they need.”

In time, she decided she could do even more. “I decided to make it a social thing and make people be a part of the solution.”

She began letting customers know that each $5 they donated would go toward feeding an individual who was homeless. Sixto said the idea is catching on. “It’s amazingly successful,” she said.

So far, Sixto estimates she has given out in excess of 1,300 meals. She admitted that the donations she receives don’t fully cover the out-of-pocket expenses. “But it doesn’t matter to me,” she said. “It’s not about that $5 that people give. It’s about the acknowledgment of the situation.

“You know, I speak with [the people living on the street],” Sixto said. “I stop and say, how are you today? Did you eat anything? How are you feeling? They are people. They were babies. Somebody loved them or not when they were babies, you know? Something happened to these people along their lives [before they got to where] they are. Nobody chooses to live on the street because it’s fun, right?”

In June, the province of British Columbia issued a revised health order to guide restaurants in how they can operate safely during the coronavirus pandemic. Sixto has taken those rules to heart. Her seating is about half-capacity, with tables situated two metres apart. And she has some gentle ground rules: patrons must agree to sanitize (either with hand sanitizer or by handwashing) when entering the restaurant and wear a mask when walking to and from the table.

Sixto also supports the province’s request to record the contact information of at least one customer per table. According to the province’s health office, the information is retained only in case COVID-19 contact tracing is necessary. Sixto said most people appreciate the effort that restaurant owners are making to keep their venues safe and comfortable.

When it came to navigating the recent shutdown, Sixto said her landlord played a big role. “My landlord is amazing,” she said. The temporary rent reduction allowed her to keep operating – “I never closed, not even for one day.”

Ofra’s Kitchen, located at 1088 Denman St., in Vancouver (604-688-2444, ofraskitchen.com), is open Israeli hours, starting at 11:30 a.m. and closing at “8ish” in the evening.

“As long as there are people, I’m feeding them. If you come by and I am there, I will open the door and seat you,” Sixto said. “Just like Israeli hours.”

Jan Lee’s articles and blog posts have been published in B’nai B’rith Magazine, Voices of Conservative and Masorti Judaism, Times of Israel, as well as a number of business, environmental and travel publications. Her blog can be found at multiculturaljew.polestarpassages.com.

Format ImagePosted on September 11, 2020September 10, 2020Author Jan LeeCategories LocalTags business, coronavirus, COVID-19, entrepreneurship, food, homelessness, Ofra Sixto, Ofra's, restaurant, tikkun olam, Vancouver
Grab a ferry, head to Buzzy’s

Grab a ferry, head to Buzzy’s

The Hungry Jew, one of the signature sandwiches at Buzzy’s Luncheonette. (photo by Adam Bogoch)

My friend, Adam Bogoch, pitched it as the “Smoked Meat Story.” Soon after that email, he would write his own review, for narcity.com, titled, “This smoked meat sandwich on Salt Spring Island in B.C. will actually change your life.” His friend and colleague, Howard Busgang, had opened a deli on the island, and not only did I need to meet Busgang, but I needed to get on a ferry and taste The Hungry Jew, one of the signature sandwiches at Buzzy’s Luncheonette.

Between the Independent’s annual summer publishing hiatus and the High Holidays, it was November before Adam and I headed to Salt Spring. The travel ran like clockwork and we were pulling up to 122-149 Fulford Ganges Rd. right in time for lunch. We shared a Hungry Jew – a Montreal smoked meat sandwich with homemade horseradish sauce, coleslaw and, I kid you not, two latkes – and the Rabinowitz, Buzzy’s take on a Reuben. They were both incredibly good, and the only reason I’ve waited this long to share the news is because I wanted to wait until better weather, when people would be more likely to take a day or weekend getaway.

photo - Howard Busgang serves customers rugelach on a sunny November afternoon
Howard Busgang serves customers rugelach on a sunny November afternoon. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)

Even in winter, Buzzy’s was busy. Having arrived at prime feeding time, it was hard to get Busgang to sit down and, as we talked, he was constantly distracted – in a good way – by customers.

“Tell me, I’ll get you another sandwich before you go,” he said as he finally was able to join me at a table outside for the interview.

Born and raised in Montreal, stand-up comedy took Busgang first to Toronto and then to Los Angeles, where he met his wife, Melanie Weaver, and where he lived for 28 years, before returning to Canada.

“She’s Jewish-adjacent,” joked Busgang. “She was working for a rabbi when I met her.”

The two met on a blind date, he said, brought together by a Jewish comic who knew both of them.

When he started in comedy in the early 1980s, Busgang said, “There were not a lot of comics around. It wasn’t like today where every second person does stand-up, so it wasn’t that OK a profession,” as far as his parents were concerned. “It was kind of an oddity, like maybe he’ll grow out of this kind of thing.”

Busgang attended Jewish high school, then went to McGill University before heading to Toronto.

“You know where I started?” he said. “United Synagogue Youth, USY, that’s where I started. I was emceeing all their events and that led me to go professional.”

He recalled the first time he performed at amateur night in Toronto. “They packed the place with all these people from USY who knew me. It was packed, and it was great.”

photo - Howard Busgang, left, and Adam Bogoch prepare sandwiches
Howard Busgang, left, and Adam Bogoch prepare sandwiches. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)

So great, he said, that he was put into regular comedy shows right away, “which wasn’t so easy, by the way, because it wasn’t my friends anymore in the audience.”

When he was a stand-up comedian, Busgang did a lot of Jewish material. “I was a very Jewish comic,” he said.

In Los Angeles, he moved from stand-up to comedy writing. “I just was a little tired of the road,” he said, and performing caused him some anxiety.

“Listen, I had a respectable career, I did well, but I would constantly punish myself by asking, why am I doing this? But I think I do that with everything. I do that with this place [Buzzy’s], I do that as a writer.”

As Busgang was in the middle of saying he might just be a miserable guy, he was called back into the deli to help make a sandwich.

Weaver took his place. Her recollection was that a woman from the synagogue set up that first date.

“I was the only non-Jew in the whole place,” she said. However, Weaver was raised Jewishly, with her family observing some of the holidays, hosting seders, for example, and she taught at a Jewish camp. Born and raised in New York, she moved to Los Angeles some 30 years ago. She and Busgang have been married for about half that time.

“Howard had this property on Salt Spring our entire marriage,” she said. “And so, our entire marriage, I kept hearing ‘Salt Spring,’ ‘Salt Spring,’ and all I kept seeing was this property tax bill every month. I was, like, how good could it be? Then the elections and everything started to happen in the U.S. and it just got bad. We took a trip up here in September [2016], I fell in love and then we came in July [2017].”

A blended family, the couple has three daughters: Alexandra, 30, in Toronto; Emma, 20, in Seattle; and Hannah, 10, who was dividing her attention between helping in the deli and playing with a local dog while her mother was being interviewed.

Neither Busgang nor Weaver had any restaurant experience before opening Buzzy’s. “It’s funny,” she said. “The night before we were open, we had to learn the cash and I was almost in tears.”

The ignorance was a kind of blessing, she said. “I don’t think we knew what could go wrong, so ignorance was bliss, in this case.”

Their first day, there were lineups out the door.

“We got thrown into it, which was great,” she said. “I think if we had opened in the winter, when it was slow, it would have been a different experience.”

Busgang’s love of cooking seemed to have come out of nowhere, said Weaver. “And then he started to smoke his own meat. So, we had that in our back pocket.”

But the couple still wasn’t planning on opening a restaurant, until the location became available. “It was basherte,” she said.

In addition to Busgang’s meat-smoking skills, Weaver’s desire for a good tuna sandwich was a motivation. “So, again, why not open a deli? Not the brightest of ideas, but it worked out.”

photo - Howard Busgang’s father called him Buzzy, hence the deli’s name
Howard Busgang’s father called him Buzzy, hence the deli’s name. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)

And it’s hard work. There is only one staff member. Busgang smokes meat “around the clock,” said Weaver. “It’s like having a newborn. It’s a lot of work but the rewards – it’s a community, we’ve become part of a community and it means so much. My daughter gets to work the cash register. It’s crazy. We still can’t believe we have keys to this place.”

She said, “If we did anything right, it’s that we didn’t focus on the tourists, we focused on our people, and so we have a lot of loyalty here. I think people also come here [because] there’s a lot of cursing, a lot of bad behaviour, you can come here and just laugh, and that’s what we want. Come here, have a laugh, I’ll make you eat, you have to finish your plate or you go to your room. That was our business plan – make the community happy, hopefully make a few bucks.”

Since they opened, the menu has seen some additions; in particular, matzah ball soup and tomato soup. “We don’t want to get too big. We just want to stay like someone’s kitchen,” she said.

And the island has been very welcoming. “Someone knew that we want to make our own pickles, so they’re going to grow us cucumbers,” said Weaver as one example. “The love here,” she said, “it’s insane.”

Hannah, who had checked in a couple of times with her mother, joined the interview. In addition to sometimes working the cash, she delivers food to the Saturday market and to the bar a few doors down from the deli.

“That’s another thing,” said Weaver, “it’s a family joint.”

School runs four days a week and, while Hannah enjoys helping out, she was still getting used to living on the island. When she’s not working or at school, she’s probably at soccer or horseback riding; she had just received a paddleboard for her birthday. Though she has a couple of sandwiches named after her, her favourite is the grilled cheese.

“A lot of what we’re doing here has to do with taking the power back in our lives,” said Busgang, when he returned to the table. “It has to do with being in showbiz all those years and feeling like you had no control over anything and feeling like you’re handing over all the power to other people to validate you…. I was tired of it.”

Buzzy’s opened on June 22 last year. “Whereas, in show business, nobody wants to help you, in this business, I have so many people who want to help me.”

One of those people was William Kaminski, owner of Phat Deli in Vancouver, who Busgang described as a mentor.

“We’re not perfect but we’re figuring it out,” said Busgang.

The smoked meat he has got down to a science.

“We’re open till four o’clock and then I have to get my brisket ready for the next day, so I have to bathe the brisket,” he said. “We cure it for eight days – dry cure – and then I have to take the salt out, so we bathe it. I’m bathing a brisket right now and sometimes I sing to it. It’s very sweet. After I bathe it, then I put some rub on it and then I’ll take it home and we’ll smoke it for seven-and-a-half hours. And then it goes in the steamer for two, three hours.”

Finding rye bread was one of the early challenges.

“I knew I was in a special place,” he said, “because people would come by with bread and say, ‘Try this bread.’ They’d constantly come in and say, ‘What are you going to do about the bread?’ It became like a cause célèbre, the bread. It took me three months, and I got someone here on the island to make me an organic rye bread.”

Barb Slater makes the bread; Shigusa Saito, the knishes. Saito is now also “making a dark chocolate babka to die for,” wrote Busgang in a follow-up email. “If you’re not already dead, she’s also making us New York cheesecake, our soon-to-be-famous potato knishes, and rugelach.”

Meanwhile, Busgang – whose credits include having been a head Just for Laughs-gala writer, creating the award-winning sitcom The Tournament and writing for TV series Boy Meets World and Good Advice, among many others – is still writing, still pitching shows. Earlier that afternoon, he was slicing meat while plugged into his phone, listening to a meeting in which a producer was trying to put a deal together.

Weaver popped out to say that Busgang often has to go next door to finish his calls because the meat in the charger of his cellphone prevents his phone from charging. “There’s meat everywhere,” she said.

photo - The November sunset as seen from the ferry, en route home
The November sunset as seen from the ferry, en route home. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)

A couple of relatively new customers stopped to say hello to Busgang and Weaver. They said they were slowly adding Buzzy’s to their list of usual places to eat.

And, said Busgang and Weaver, local Jews have discovered, by going to Buzzy’s and meeting fellow Jews, that there actually is a Jewish community on the island.

“We’re blessed to have this,” said Busgang.

As he explained the deli’s name – his father called him Buzzy – Hannah returned, offering him a taste of a new salad dressing she had created. “Daddy, just try it.”

“Interesting,” he said, “I like it.”

“It’s gross,” she corrected him.

Three generations seemed present in that moment.

As the interview came to an end, Busgang asked, “Do you want some rugelach? I gotta keep feeding you.”

Buzzy’s is open Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Find them at facebook.com/buzzysluncheonette and then head to bcferries.com and start planning your trip.

Format ImagePosted on March 22, 2019March 24, 2019Author Cynthia RamsayCategories TravelTags Buzzy's, deli, entrepreneur, food, Howard Busgang, Melanie Weaver, restaurant, Salt Spring Island, smoked meat
Finding joy in food and art

Finding joy in food and art

Talia Syrie (photo from Talia Syrie)

In 1999, Israeli-born longtime Winnipegger Talia Syrie spent her summer working as a tree planter in British Columbia. Trained as a heavy diesel mechanic, she was tree planting to pay off her student loans. A month into the summer, Syrie stepped on some broken glass and injured herself. Not yet ready to leave, however, she found work in the kitchen, helping feed 90 planting staff.

“I kind of endeared myself to the kitchen staff and they let me stay on,” said Syrie. “I realized, doing that, that I really enjoyed it, really liked cooking. I came back to Winnipeg and did that for the next year or two.

“I really liked the bush-camp cooking experience, when you’re out in the middle of nowhere and you don’t have the resources available to you that a regular kitchen provides. I liked that challenge.”

With this newfound passion, Syrie started working in the catering world. Then, a friend suggested that she open her own catering business.

With that, Syrie began searching for a commercial kitchen from which to work, eventually finding a small one at a downtown hotel. The owner offered her the kitchen, as long as she also agreed to open a restaurant at the hotel.

“There wasn’t anything like that in the neighborhood, on Main and Logan,” said Syrie. “It’s now the Red Road Lodge, but it used to be the Occidental Hotel. I had grown up in the North End, where my grandfather on my father’s side had a business. Today, too, I live quite close to there (in North Point Douglas).

“It felt nice to be working in that neighborhood, I was happy to do it. I didn’t really think that anyone would come into the restaurant. I thought it was going to be mostly for show and then we’d run the catering company and have this ‘fake’ restaurant.”

When Syrie first opened the Tallest Poppy, they only had three or four tables. As it turned out, these tables were always occupied, so they had to add more. In no time, the restaurant was so busy that Syrie did not have much time for catering.

“It was very challenging at the beginning, the restaurant industry,” she said. “Having little to no restaurant experience, there was a pretty steep learning curve. It was exciting and there was a lot of fun and a lot of things were great, but, in a lot of ways, it was pretty messy.

“I always say that I’m really grateful that we started out where we did. The North End is pretty forgiving, pretty gentle with us, so we were able to make mistakes and learn things.”

After a few years, Syrie found enough time to start developing the catering part of her business, doing office lunches, barbeques and small parties. “We also cater a lot of funerals,” she said.

“I love making party sandwiches,” added Syrie. “If I could do anything, I’d probably just make party sandwiches. That would be my dream job. I like the practical nature of a lot of catering. You have a whole bunch of people and they have to eat, people working that have to be fed.”

Syrie said her primal drive to feed people has its roots in her Jewish upbringing, being taught at an early age that the only way to really show someone you care is by feeding them.

“That’s the only way that really counts,” she said. “You buy somebody a car, it doesn’t matter. If you make them soup when they’re sick, that’s how they know you actually love them.”

About three years ago, a new community marketplace, Neechi Commons, opened in the neighborhood. The owners asked Syrie for help setting up their restaurant. She agreed, as she was happy to help a worthwhile project in her neighborhood. She ran both places for awhile and, later, decided to close the Tallest Poppy.

Once the Neechi Commons restaurant Come ’n Eat was up and running, Syrie opted to move on. She returned to British Columbia to do some consulting work for a friend and then returned to Winnipeg to find a new location to reopen the Tallest Poppy.

“I was walking down Sherbrook Street with a friend one day,” said Syrie, “and, as we were passing by the Sherbrook Hotel, he said, ‘I think that’s a restaurant … I think you should check that place out.’ All the blinds were shut. My friend said it used to be a Chinese food restaurant, but that there is nothing in there now…. I called and made an appointment to come down and take a look. The rest is history, as they say.”

Syrie reopened the Tallest Poppy in its new location last September. Not knowing the neighborhood well, she did not know if her concept would be a good fit, but she has found the people to be very welcoming, generous and kind.

Wanting to give space to the arts community, Syrie has offered her restaurant walls to local artists.

“I don’t know if I support the artists or they support me,” she said. “It’s important to me to have art around me all the time. It makes me feel better. It’s kind of selfish. The Winnipeg arts scene is so exciting. I work a lot and I’m stuck in my restaurant a lot of the time. I can’t always get out to gallery openings or go to shows. It’s really convenient for me to have them come do it right at my place.”

Syrie has formed a connection with a local company that displays art in public places, called Synonym Art Consultation, and the company organizes and programs all the restaurant’s art-related happenings. This includes a residency project that brings in an artist once a month to the restaurant to create art in the restaurant, while also interacting with clientele. “They are these super people doing this wonderful work,” said Syrie. “We sort of ride on their coattails. I’m very privileged and honored that they’re willing to work with us.”

The artists are varied, and some are performers.

“They come for two to three days, generally on the weekends, and people are able to engage them, which is a lot of fun,” said Syrie. “So, regular people having breakfast can come and talk to the artist about the work they’re doing.

“The artist has an opportunity to engage a lot of people they may not normally have access to. Their work is shown in the restaurant for a month, whatever it was that they built or did.”

The Tallest Poppy also hosts an after party on the first Friday of every month for people who go from gallery opening to gallery opening, including food and an arts presentation with DJs.

“A lot of things about Winnipeg make it really hospitable for independent business,” she said. “Our economy is pretty stable and there’s a bunch of hardworking people who are generally pretty down with jumping on board if you have a good idea. If I was going to do something else, this is the only place that makes sense for me to do it.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Format ImagePosted on April 15, 2016April 13, 2016Author Rebeca KuropatwaCategories NationalTags restaurant, Syrie, Tallest Poppy, Winnipeg
Secrets from best chefs

Secrets from best chefs

Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek work together often. Instalments of their Made Easy cookbook series have been featured in the Jewish Independent, with positive reviews. And now, the pair have co-authored Everyday Secret Restaurant Recipes (ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, 2015).

Here are not just 103 recipes, but they all come from restaurants, many from across the United States, but also from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Israel, Panama, Thailand and Uruguay. For each recipe, there is information on the restaurant, a large introduction and photo(s), ingredients, instructions, tidbits or hints for the home cook, and sometimes comments from the chef.

There is also an essay on kosher food trends by Elan Kornblum, founder of Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine, and an interview with him, followed by some basics that prep cooks do. Another essay covers the topic of sweets in the prep kitchen, and yet another, the smoking of foods.

There are 21 starters and sides, like avocado egg rolls from Bocca Steakhouse in Los Angeles; 16 soups and salads, such as a green salad from Milk N Honey in Melbourne; 12 sandwiches, including Philly steak sandwich from Retro Grill in Brooklyn; 17 chicken and meat recipes, such as gong bao chicken from Dini’s in Beijing; 10 fish recipes, like a salmon from Fresko in Aventura, Fla.; 14 brunch and lunch suggestions, including fettuccine with pesto from Deleite in Rio de Janeiro; and 12 baked goods and desserts, such as a halva from Lula by Darna in Panama City.

There are 148 mouth-watering color photographs, both full-page and stamp-size. Whereas a previous version of the cookbook focused on upscale restaurants, this cookbook’s subtitle is “From Your Favorite Kosher Cafés, Takeouts & Restaurants.”

If you know someone who enjoys traveling and eating, or just trying new recipes, this would make a great gift. The cookbook is more than just recipes, it is also a wealth of information.

ARTICHOKES, ROMAN-STYLE
Tevere 84, New York City, Lattanzi brothers (owners/chefs)

6 medium or 2 pounds baby artichokes
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
additional oil for frying
12 minced garlic cloves
sea salt 

  1. Cut off the top of each artichoke just above the middle. Remove some of the outer leaves and the interior immature and hair-like leaves.
  2. Using a peeler, peel the stems of each artichoke.
  3. In a bowl, toss artichokes with lemon juice.
  4. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add garlic. Add artichokes and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook, side by side, stem side up.  Cook until artichokes are tender, turning several times for overall browning, 15-20 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, press each artichoke firmly to the bottom of the pan so that the leaves flatten out. Cook for 10 minutes. (Optionally, for very soft and hot artichokes, you can also transfer to the oven and bake at 400˚F for an additional 10 minutes.
  5. Before serving, heat additional oil in a sauté pan. Flatten artichokes to the flower shape and fry for two to four minutes before serving. Makes one to two servings.

ISRAELI BREAKFAST
Café Tamara, Jerusalem Technology Park, Ohad Vansuv (chef)

2 finely diced Persian cucumbers
2 finely diced tomatoes
1/2 finely diced red onion
handful chopped parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste
pepper to taste
olive oil for frying
4 beaten eggs
1 tbsp preserved lemon/lemon spread
1 tbsp harissa
1 cup yogurt
2 tbsp tahini 

  1. In a bowl, combine cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add eggs, preserved lemon, harissa, salt and pepper. Scramble eggs until cooked.
  3. Place salad onto a plate. Top with eggs, yogurt and tahini. Garnish with parsley. Makes two servings. Serve immediately.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, foreign correspondent, lecturer, food writer and book reviewer who lives in Jerusalem. She also does the restaurant features for janglo.net and leads weekly walks in English in Jerusalem’s market.

Format ImagePosted on April 15, 2016April 13, 2016Author Sybil KaplanCategories BooksTags cookbook, cooking, Dwek, restaurant, Schapira
אפליקציה סלולרית ברכבים

אפליקציה סלולרית ברכבים

אפליקציה סלולרית ברכבים: חברת הביטוח דז’רדינס מציעה לעקוב אחרי הנהגים תמורת עשרים וחמישה אחוז הנחה בפוליסה

לקוחות של חברת הביטוח המקומית דז’רדינס שיסכימו לתת לה אור ירוק לעקוב אחר נהיגתם, יקבלו בתמורה הנחה משמעותית בפוליסת הביטוח, בשיעור של עד עשרים וחמישה אחוז. כך החליטה חברת הביטוח לאחרונה, במסגרת קמפיין חדש כדי לעודד נהגים לנהוג בזהירות, כך שהדבר יגרום להקטנה משמעותית של מספר התאונות והנזקים בנפש וברכוש.

ד’זרנדיס היא בעצם חברה הראשונה בקנדה שמציעה ללקוחותיה ממש בימים אלה להתקין אפליקציה במכשיר הסלולר שלהם, שתאפשר לה לעקוב מקרוב אחר התנהגותם בכביש, כאמור תמורת הנחה בביטוח. האפליקציה תספק לדז’רנדיס מספר נתונים משמעותיים. ובהם: מהירות הנהיגה של הרכב, מרחק השמירה מהרכב שנמצא מקדימה, כמה פעמים לחץ הנהג על דוושת המעצור, באיזה יום הוא נהג ובאיזה שעה הוא נמצא על הכביש. עם סיום הנהיגה האפליקציה מסכמת את הנתונים ומעניקה לנהג ניקוד על צורת התנהגותו והתנהלותו בכביש, שמועברים למאגרי המידע של חברת הביטוח.

אחת מעובדות של חברת דז’רדינס שמפעילה את האפליקציה במסגרת ניסוי שמתקיים מאז חודש ספטמבר, מציינת כי רק מעצם השימוש בה היא כבר הפכה לנהגת יותר זהירה ומבוקרת שמקפידה על חוקי התנועה.

אך יש גם לא מעט שמבקרים את הפרוייקט החדש וטוענים שהאפליקציה תאפשר בעצם לדז’רדינס להשיג מידע אישי על לקוחותיה, ומי יודע לאיזה ידים הוא אף יכול להתגלגל. בדז’דינס שוללים את הטענות האלה ואומרים בתגובה, כי הם יאספו רק מידע על התנהגות הנהגים בכביש, והוא לא יועבר לשום צד שלישי. אגב גורמי אכיפת החוק יוכלו לקבל את המידע מחברת הביטוח רק אם יציגו צו בפניה מבית המשפט.

אפליקציה סלולרית במסעדות: מסעדות מוכרות מראש כרטיסים לשולחנות למנוע הפסדים מהזמנות

כמה פעמים הגענו למסעדה ונאלצנו להמתין בכניסה בתור ארוך ובלתי נגמר עד שפקעה סבלנותנו. ומה שעוד יותר מרגיז שראינו לא מעט שולחנות שפשוט עומדים להם ריקים וגלמודים עם השלטים מאירי העיניים “שמור”, ואף אחד לא יושב סביבם.

מתברר שהשולחנות “השמורים” האלה מעצבנים לא פחות גם את בעלי המסעדות, שמפסידים כסף רב מהתופעה הנפוצה הזו. הרבה לקוחות שמזמינים שולחנות מראש מאחרים מאוד להגיע, וחלק מהם אף לא טורח בכלל לבוא ולהודיע על כך למסעדות.

בעלי מסעדות בקנדה החליטו שהגיע הזמן לעשות מעשה ולשנות את רוע הגזרה, של מכת השולחנות הריקים. חלקם בחרו בפתרון קל ביותר והם ולא מקבלים עוד הזמנות מראש. התוצאות מורגשות היטב בשטח. אחוז תפוסת השולחנות גדל בשיעור משמעותי של למעלה מעשרים וחמישה אחוז, ובהתאם לכך ההכנסות הולכות וטופחות. ישנם בעלי מסעדות שמנסים אף “לחנך” את הלקוחות, וגובים פקדון מכובד עבור הזמנת שולחנות מראש, שלא יוחזר אם לא יופיעו.

ואילו ישנם בעלי מסעדות אחרים, בעיקר אלה שנמנים על הדור הצעיר יותר, שהחליטו לחפש פתרונות יצירתיים מבוססים על טכנולוגיה, כדי לאפשר ללקוחות להזמין מקומות מראש, אך במקביל גם לא להפסיד גם כסף. הם החלו לאחרונה להפעיל אפליקציה במכשיר הסלולר למכירת כרטיסים מראש עבור השולחנות, בדומה למה שקורה בענף האירועים. מחירי הכרטיסים משתנים בהתאם לרמת התפוסה המסעדה, מועד ההזמנה (למשל: באיזה שבוע מדובר, באיזה יום מדובר ואפילו באיזה שעה מדובר), מיקום השולחן וסוג התפריט. האפליקציה מדווחת גם בזמן אמת ללקוחות פוטנציאליים, מהו זמן ההמתנה לשולחנות באותו יום ואם יש בכלל שולחנות פנויים. כך שכולם יוצאים מורווחים מהאפלקציה הזו.

Format ImagePosted on May 26, 2015May 24, 2015Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags Ajusto, app, Desjardins, insurance, restaurant, telematics, אפליקציה סלולרית, ביטוח, דז'רדינס, מסעדה
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