The Jewish Mother

We kept Anne's birthday celebration kind of small this year -- a family dinner the night before, and a special birthday lunch and visit to the aquarium the day of. Because our little foodie baby loves eating out, our list of potential birthday lunch locations was a long one. Finally, we decided to narrow our search to restaurants near the aquarium, for logistics' sake. While scanning the map, I noticed a little pin for the Jewish Mother only a few miles away and I turned to James. "We have to take her there," I said.  "She'll love it."

It was James's first time at the Jewish Mother too, but not mine. In high school, the old Oceanfront location was a favorite hangout among me and my friends because of the proximity to the beach, the great live music, and the baskets of steaming hot latkes (which are somehow the perfect beach food, don't ask me why). I hadn't been back since leaving for college, and I was interested to check out the new Hilltop location and see if those latkes were as good as I remembered.

They were. We ordered plates and plates of food, and dove in. The Jewish Mother's menu is so eclectic that just paging through it and deciding what to order is an event in itself. Besides traditional NY deli-style fare (bagels, brisket, borscht, knishes) there are some unexpected and unexplainable little gems (chicken livers, conch fritters, lumpia) that had piqued our curiosity. There's a pretty extensive kids' menu, but it would almost be a pity to order the standard kids' meals as there is so much else to choose from. And breakfast is served ALL DAY. I can't stress how happy I was to see that, especially since most bagel places seem to close pretty early, and my bagel cravings always hit at dinner time.

A. devoured her weight in latkes and applesauce and kosher dill pickles and then waved away a slab of birthday cheesecake in  favor of a pile of corned beef from her dad's reuben (which she called "ham," and I didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise). This kid, I can't explain her. But I'm awfully glad she's mine.

I did feel a few pangs of homesickness for the old Jewish Mother location but the new 9,000 foot restaurant does look like a great venue and after checking the calendar, we decided our next visit will probably involve a babysitter for Baby A. But we're glad we got to go with her this time and we know we'll be back as a family sometime soon.