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New York Times names this Jewish dessert as one of NYC’s best dishes of 2023
(New York Jewish Week) — It’s the most wonderful time of the year — and I don’t mean Christmas. Rather, it’s the season of “best-ofs,” when publications across the boroughs and from coast-to-coast share their selections for the year’s best books, music, restaurants and more.
Last week, the New York Times food critic Pete Wells published a list of the “most memorable” things he ate in the city this year, “Top 8 New York City Dishes of 2023.” They include just one dessert: the Black-and-White Seven-Layer Cake from Gertrude’s, a Jewish bistro that opened this summer in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
“Many liberties have been taken since Hungarian Jews carried the recipe for Dobos torte across the Atlantic,” Wells writes. “Gertrude’s monumental version, almost as dense and moist as pudding cake, alternates chocolate and yellow layers like piano keys.”
The delicious concoction is a mashup of two popular Jewish desserts: black and white cookies and seven-layer cake.
Black and white cookies are about to hit the mainstream in January, when Oreo releases a new version channeling the Jewish New York classic. But at Gertrude’s, the Black-and-White Seven-Layer Cake is one of three desserts on a highly curated menu designed to “push the Ashkenazi tradition,” as co-owner Nate Adler told us in August.
Other inventive, Ashkenazi-inspired items on offer include a burger that can be ordered “Reuben-style” (a beef patty topped with melted Swiss cheese, Russian dressing and sauerkraut on a challah roll), latkes and a Nicoise salad made with smoked sable.
Gertrude’s is run by the same folks behind Williamsburg’s popular Jewish diner, Gertie. Both restaurants are named after Adler’s maternal grandmother, Gertrude Aronow, a Jewish woman whom Adler describes as “a really colorful and eccentric human being who was the life of the party.”
As it happens, in September, the New York Jewish Week published its very own roundup of top Jewish dishes to eat in the city, “25 Jewish Dishes to Eat in NYC Right Now.” Gertrude’s also made our list — but not for its dessert. Rather, we selected the bistro’s Seder Plate Margarita, a unique, refreshing beverage made with Passover flavors like bitter orange, parsley and salt water, plus lime and mezcal.
Other must-try items on the New York Jewish Week’s list include a cheddar jalapeno knish from Yonah Schimmel’s and jachnun from 12 Chairs Cafe. And if you’re looking for something sweet, there’s malawach churros from Balaboosta and New York-style cheesecake from the S&S Cheesecake, a Bronx institution founded by Holocaust survivor Fred Schuster in 1960.
Wells has touted Jewish eateries in the city before: In April, he named two Jewish delis (Flatiron’s S&P Lunch and legacy Upper West Side appetizing shop Barney Greengrass) and a tiny, Israeli-owned falafel joint, Midwood’s Tanami Falafel, as three of the 100 best restaurants in the city in 2023.
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The post New York Times names this Jewish dessert as one of NYC’s best dishes of 2023 appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.