Kosher in Vancouver

The information in this post is provided courtesy of the Kosher Vancouver Blog - check it out!

Nestled on the shore in British Columbia, Canada�s �Gateway to the Pacific,' the city of Vancouver is blessed with one of the most beautiful backdrops in the world. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and snow-capped mountains, Vancouver was recently voted the "Best City in the Americas" at Cond� Nast Traveler Magazine's annual Readers' Choice Awards, beating out Victoria and Quebec City. Vancouver enjoys a temperate climate with mild, wet winters and warm summers ensuring that the city is green throughout the year. Famous for its laid-back attitude, Vancouver also offers a wide range of outdoor activities from sea kayaking, whale watching, in-line skating, and mountain biking to snowboarding, skiing, and winter camping. Thanks to a growing Jewish community, the Kosher traveler shouldn't hesitate to visit this beautiful city. A variety of kosher foods are available including Chinese, pizza, deli and Bistro-style.

The big news in town is Sabra's new Chinese menu, making them the only kosher Chinese meat restaurant in the Pacific Northwest. Having recently hired a Chinese chef, Sabra's now offers such authentic dishes as kung pao chicken, honey beef, and egg rolls. Sabras also features Middle Eastern and Canadian-style cuisine.
3844 Oak Street. Tel: 604.733.4912; hours: Sun-Tue til 7pm, Wed-Thu til 8pm, Fri til 4pm

Omnitsky's is the place for good old-fashioned kosher deli. Featuring a wide range of deli sandwiches, hot dogs, soups and salads. The back section of the store is devoted to kosher groceries and fresh meats. Omnitsky's also carries kosher breads from Garden City Bakery.
5866 Cambie Street. Tel: 604.321.1818; closing is between 6pm and 8pm, Sun-Thu, depending on the season

Pini's Pizza Cafe features delicious cholov Yisroel pizzas and other dairy dishes. They're also a great spot for breakfast with omelettes, bagels and kosher coffees, cappuccinos and latt�s. Their latest addition is cholov Yisroel soft-serve ice cream, a big hit with the community. In the grocery section, Pini's features a wide variety of kosher snacks and candies from all over the world, and his freezer is stocked with Chai kosher meats and poultry, pizzas, vegetarian meals, fish and a wide selection of kosher cheeses.
729 West 16th Avenue. Tel: 604.879.7100; hours: Mon-Thu 8am-9pm, Fri 8am-2pm, Sat 1 hour after Shabbat ends, Sun 11am-9pm

Nava's Creative Cuisine, located inside the Jewish Community Centre, offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bistro dishes include quesadillas, burritos, pizza, wraps, soups and the best sandwiches in town with ingredients like roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes, spinach and goat cheese.
950 West 41st Avenue. 604.263.7507; hours: Mon-Thu 8am to 8pm, Fri 8am til 2 hours before the JCC closes for Shabbat, Sun 9:30am-6pm

Garden City Bakery makes breads (including several types of challah), pastries, cookies, pies, knishes and the best poppy seed ring in Canada. All products are pareve. Take out only.
#360-9100 Blundell Road, Richmond. 604.244.7888

Mt. Royal Bagel Factory arguably makes the best bagels in the region. They're available at the bakery and around town. They also make a fantastic granola cereal. (dairy, non Cholov Yisroel)
701 Queensbury Avenue, North Vancouver. 604.904.1116

Kosher Food Warehouse is worth a stop if you're staying for awhile and need groceries. KFW features a wide selection of grain fed poultry, beef, lamb and veal and an extensive line of cheese, salads and groceries and Israeli products.
612 Kingsway. 604.709.9889.

Dan-D Markets has two locations in Vancouver. Although not Jewish-owned, the stores feature a good range of hechshered products, which are indicated with "kosher" tags below each item. The Oak Street location also carries Omnitsky sausages, hot dogs, and kosher cheddar and Mozzarella cheese.
8307 Oak Street, 604.261.4050. 2696 West Broadway, 604.738.0326

BC Liquor Store's 39th and Cambie location carries a very limited number of kosher wines. If you're near another location, call first.
5555 Cambie Street. 604.660.9463

Kosher Food and Restaurant Mapper

Ari Engel the creator of PilotYid software for PDA's, has created a fantastic new website combining the data from the Shamash Restaurant Database with Google Maps. The Kosher Food and Restaurant Mapper allows you to search for kosher establishments and then plots them onto a Google map. Using Google Map's features you can customize and print maps of displaying all of the kosher establishments at your destination.

Kosher at Ballparks

While it is not surprising that sports venues such as Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium in New York offer glatt kosher food stands (operated by Strikly Kosher), these concessions are not limited to New York or the major leagues. The minor league New Haven County Cutters in Connecticut have added a kosher food stand with a fairly extensive menu. Of course, New York's, Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees offer glatt kosher food concessions as well. In the big leagues, Cleveland's Jacobs Field, Baltimore's Camden Yards and the Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix all have glatt kosher stands. Football fans will be able to find kosher food at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Tennis aficionados will not have to sacrifice as Kosher Sports (operator of some of the above concessions) will once again be offering kosher food at home of the U.S. Open, the National Tennis Center in Queens.

Update:Zaler's Kosher Foods will man a kosher kiosk at Invesco Field, the home of the Denver Broncos. Zaler�s is owned by Arnie Zaler of Denver and the food will be supplied by Auerbach's Kosher Foods, owned by Jeff Auerbach. The kiosk is located opposite the Broncos retail store and will offer kosher hot dogs and kosher Chinese fare. If you have any questions please contact Jeff Auerbach at 303-289-4521. (Kosher Today)

Shabbos in Atlantic City

In addition to the well received Shari's Steakhouse, Atlantic City now has an option for Shabbos meals. The Chabad of Atlantic City now hosts the Atlantic City Shabbos Dining Hall which offers both Friday night and Shabbos day meals in a local Shul, the Chelsea Hebrew Congregation. The Shul is said to be a five minute walk from the hotels. Minyanim precede both meals.

Shabbos in Lancaster, PA

For a number of years, visitors to Pennsylvania Dutch Country have been able to find kosher food at both Hershey Park and Dutch Wonderland. Now the operators of Central PA's Kosher Mart, which has a stand in each park, are offering Shabbos lodging and dining in their home. Three accommodation options are provided with two of the options accommodating up to six people. Located about one-half mile from Congregation Degel Israel, the Shabbos package even includes Sunday breakfast.

New Allentown Kosher Restaurant a No Go

The anticipated new Allentown, PA eatery, Maccabee's will sadly not come to pass. Plans for the restaurant which would have been a welcome addition for both Lehigh Valley locals as well as visitors to nearby Dorney Park have been scrapped due to changes in the Pennsylvania building code.

Eli's Opening Adds Option in DC

A new fleishig restaurant has opened in DC. Eli's is a New York style deli located in the Dupont Circle area. Eli's joins the cafe in the JCC as the only kosher establishments in DC. For a review of Eli's check out the Kosher Critic a blog dedicated to "Professional, unbiased reviews of all kosher restaurants located in the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia."

The Berkshires

Michael Rogovin provided the following information on the Berkshires:

The Berkshires offers beautiful country for hiking, walking, biking, fishing, boating, and golf (plus skating and skiing in the winter). It is also one of the most art & culture saturated areas of the country, with numerous theatre, music, dance, opera and museums, along with more ceramic, glass, craft and antique shops in all price categories than one could visit in a lifetime. There are many activities for children, both cultural and recreational. In addition to many specialty shops featuring locally produced items, there are more conventional shopping centers and malls, including several outlet malls with major bargains.

There are many options for the kosher traveler. Accommodations range from motels to resorts, plus many fine inns and B&Bs. However, we chose to stay at the Ponds at Foxhollow. The Ponds offers 1 bedroom condos that sleep up to 4 and 2 bedrooms sleeping up to 8, with deck and fireplace and a full electric kitchen in each unit. It is located right on Route 7 near Lenox. When we arrived, the oven was still warm from the self clean cycle--ready to use as kosher! There is no eruv, but the rooms and clubhouse were spacious and we were able to enjoy a peaceful and active Shabbat. Ponds units rent by the weekend, or week (Fri-Fri) or day during off season.

The nearby Super Stop and Shop on Dan Fox Drive stocks fresh chicken and glatt beef, along with a large selection of cheese, frozen prepared foods and everything you could possibly need to cook or reheat meals--no need to shlep food with you. Price Chopper also has a good selection of foods. The Berkshires do not have an orthodox community, although a Chabad House just opened in Pittsfield.