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What may be the Americas’ best New York-style Jewish deli is in Mexico City
This story was originally published on The Nosher.
(JTA) — In February 2023, Mendl’s Delicatessen opened on a leafy-green street in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City. Condesa is an area that’s been home to Jewish families for 100 years, and is currently extremely trendy, so the fit was right. The New York-style, full-service deli has a walk-up take out window, shaded outdoor tables and two bright and airy dining rooms inside. There’s also pretty much always a wait to get a seat because the place is a vibe, but don’t worry, it never seems to take long to get in, and lounging on the sidewalk benches is a charming part of the experience.
The idea behind the deli was simple: to boil and bake bagels like those of the East Coast of the U.S., and offer Mexico City diners elevated versions of Ashkenazi cuisine heavy hitters.
According to the young and energetic Chef Montserrat Garza Garduño (a Sephardic Jew from Andalusia, Spain), “The idea of the restaurant is to serve traditional American/New York Jewish food.”
Her near obsession to open the spot began with years of extensive research, fueled by a love of Jewish cooking maven Claudia Roden’s books and the drive to get everything just so. The goal was to make the restaurant a love letter to Jewish dining.
Mendl’s takeout window, on a leafy-green street in the Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City. (Rachael Narins)
It didn’t happen without overcoming some hurdles, though. For one thing, popular Mexican flavor profiles and the old world pantries of the shtetl don’t overlap much.
“Our biggest challenge was finding a good meat purveyor, the right kinds of fish, and things like dill, rye and poppyseeds,” said Garduño, noting that the typical herbs and spices of Eastern Europe are not at all common in Mexico. Much of what she uses has to be imported or is grown by farmers she’s developed relationships with.
She needed those specific items because almost everything that’s served is thoughtfully made in-house.That attention to authenticity makes the spot appealing to expats, world travelers, tourists, Jews, gentiles and all the locals craving or curious about Chef Garduño’s food. While not kosher, the restaurant serves the expected hits, alongside less familiar staples like smoked whitefish, borscht and kreplach.
“We have to educate a lot of people about some of the dishes, but once they try, they’re excited. I send things to my friends to eat and then they will talk about it and order it,” said Garduño.
Mendl’s whole smoked trout. (Rachael Narins)
Part of what also makes this spot a treasure is that it’s just no easy feat to make what they serve. The elevation in Mexico City is more than 7,000 feet, and baking at that altitude is a challenge, though they make it seem effortless. The black and white cookie is a flashback to a childhood dream and the enormously popular bagels that come in all the classic varieties are dense and chewy, with a slight hint of malt (another atypical imported ingredient) and have a bright, shiny exterior. The 48-hour cured lox is a vibrant coral color, beautiful and silky. They cure it plain, with dill and, in a nod to the local love of heat, chile spiced.
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the half- and full-sour pickles, which I believe will rival any you’ve ever had. They pack a garlicky punch.
The deep pink pastrami with it’s dark, nubbly and highly spiced exterior is cured for two weeks before going into their rooftop smoker (that also accommodates the exceptional smoked fish) has proven to be a menu favorite as well.
“Mexicans love meat and they love our pastrami. At first we tried to slice it thin, but now do it thick and it’s a bestseller,” said Garduño.
Four and a half ounces of the meat is served on thick pieces of fragrant rye, making it a hefty sandwich. Paired with a house-made cream soda it’s a perfect lunch.
The secret to Mendl’s matzah ball soup is hen stock. “It’s higher in fat and gives more flavor,”says Chef Montserrat Garza Garduño. (Rachael Narins)
Is there matzah ball soup? Oh yes. The matzah ball itself is about the size of a croquet ball and hovers the fine line between airy and dense. The light broth has carrots and fresh dill and is all flavor — bright yellow and clear as a bell. The heady secret, according to Chef Garduño, is that “We use hen stock. It’s higher in fat and gives more flavor.”
This is the of-the-moment restaurant for anyone who wants a top-notch, homey and coquettishly photogenic brunch. The food is just what you’re expecting but somehow a bit better, and they will soon add a natural wine bar serving Sephardi foods to the upstairs area, which will draw in the evening crowds.
Mendl gets it. If you can’t be there in person, send someone in to pick up some of their super cute merch, like a tote bag or t-shirt, to mail to you, or gather some of their assorted jarred goods including halva, preserved lemon and salsas. And start planning your trip to Mexico City for some of the best deli food in North America.
Mendl Delicatessen is located at Citlaltépetl 9, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City.
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The post What may be the Americas’ best New York-style Jewish deli is in Mexico City appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UN Data: Nearly 90 Percent of Gaza Aid ‘Intercepted’ Before Reaching Intended Recipients
Palestinians collect aid supplies from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
The vast majority of humanitarian aid entering Gaza is intercepted before reaching its intended civilian recipients, newly released data from the United Nations shows, fueling growing concerns among Israeli officials and international observers about systemic aid diversion by armed groups in the enclave.
According to figures tracking humanitarian assistance for Gaza from May 19 to Aug. 1 of this year, out of the 2,010 UN trucks (carrying 27,434 tons of aid) collected from any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter, only 260 trucks (4,111 tons) reached their intended destination. That equates to a staggering 87 percent of all trucks and 85 percent of all tonnage of aid being stolen and not getting into the hands of civilians at the intended destination.
The UN’s own data, posted on the website of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as part of the “UN2720 Monitoring & Tracking Dashboard,” reveals that almost all the aid — 1,753 trucks (23,353 tons) — has been “intercepted, either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors” while being transported inside Gaza over the past few months.
No breakdown is provided of how much aid has been seized by armed groups versus civilians.
The data also shows that much of the UN aid offloaded at any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter has not been collected to enter the war-torn enclave during this period. Out of 40,012 tons of aid (2,134 trucks) being delivered to the crossings, just 27,434 tons (2010 trucks) have been picked up. It’s unclear what exactly led to this discrepancy, with issues such as poor internal coordination and security concerns potentially delaying aid shipments.
The UN2720 mechanism, created earlier this year, was intended to boost transparency by verifying and tracking aid shipments via QR codes at key checkpoints. The system monitors each pallet from offloading to delivery and flags any discrepancies in a centralized database.
Israel has facilitated the entry of thousands of aid trucks into Gaza, with Israeli officials condemning the UN and other international aid agencies for their alleged failure to distribute supplies, noting much of the humanitarian assistance has been stalled at border crossings or stolen by the ruling Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Sunday, Israel announced a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and new aid corridors as Arab and European countries began airdropping supplies into the enclave.
However, the UN and several Western governments have increased pressure on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, blaming the Jewish state for what they described as a hunger crisis and insufficient amounts of aid reaching civilians.
Israeli officials have said that claims of mass starvation in Gaza are false and being amplified by not only Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, but also international humanitarian organizations and media organizations to manipulate global opinion.
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Dutch Nurse Under Police Investigation for Alleged Threats Against Israeli Patients
Pro-Hamas demonstrators march in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. Photo: Reuters/Romy Arroyo Fernandez
A Muslim nurse in the Netherlands is under police investigation after allegedly threatening to administer lethal injections to Israeli patients — an incident that has sparked public outrage and intensified fears over rising antisemitism and patient safety in Europe’s health-care systems.
The comments were widely circulated by Israeli influencer Max Veifer, who also exposed a recent case in Australia where two nurses were suspended for two years over antisemitic threats and remarks.
In a video shared on social media, Veifer denounced Dutch-Muslim nurse Batisma Chayat Sa’id’s remarks as a serious violation of medical ethics.
“Someone like that should be prosecuted and barred from treating patients. Imagine your grandparents being cared for by someone so hateful,” the Israeli influencer said.
Zorgwekkende dreiging op Instagram: Nederlandse verpleegkundige is bereid om “zionisten een extra spuitje te geven” en bereid “zionisten te laten sterven binnen de gezondheidszorg.” pic.twitter.com/xTnXNi1wH5
— CIDI
(@CIDI_nieuws) July 29, 2025
The incident was sparked when an Israeli-Dutch woman living in the Netherlands commented on a social media post by far-right politician Geert Wilders, who cautioned about what he called the country’s looming radical Islamization by 2050.
A social media account belonging to the Muslim nurse also commented on the post, claiming it would happen by 2027, to which the Israeli woman responded, “Your dream is our nightmare. But people wake up from nightmares. Our Netherlands, our Israel.”
“Nothing belongs to you! My grandparents built the Netherlands. I was born and raised here, and I will do everything in my power to help this country get rid of the Zionist cancer,” the nurse further replied.
“You know what I’m doing with Zionists — giving an extra injection as a nurse specialist. Letting them go to heaven!” Sa’id continued.
When the Israeli woman threatened to report her, Sa’id replied: “Haha, try your best! I don’t have a boss — I’m the boss! All Zionists can die, inside healthcare and beyond, and I’m happy to help with that!”
Shortly after her posts gained widespread attention, Sa’id deleted all her social media accounts, insisting that her identity had been stolen and that she was not responsible for such comments.
On Wednesday, local police detained Sa’id for questioning, but she denied the allegations, asserting that someone had impersonated her online.
“It seems someone is pretending to be me, posting false and defamatory statements,” the nurse said. “I want to make it clear — I hold no hatred toward Jews or any people, race, religion, or identity.”
Even after announcing plans to file an identity theft complaint, she faces skepticism from authorities, who have assigned a digital forensics expert to scrutinize her online accounts.
Last year, an account under her name also posted threatening messages aimed at Jewish people, including “Your time will come — don’t spare anyone,” and another in which she described the burial of Israelis in Gaza as “a dream come true.”
Earlier this year, two Australian nurses — Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh — gained international attention after they were seen in an online video posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements during a night-shift conversation with Veifer.
The widely circulated footage, which sparked international outrage and condemnation, showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.
Following the incident, New South Wales authorities in Australia suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide.
They were also charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass. If convicted, they face up to 22 years in prison.
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French Authorities Halt Gaza Evacuations After Palestinian Student Expelled Over Viral Antisemitic Posts
Anti-Israel demonstration supporting the BDS movement, Paris France, June 8, 2024. Photo: Claire Serie / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect
French authorities have halted evacuations from Gaza after a Palestinian student was expelled from the prestigious Sciences Po Lille and placed under investigation, following the viral circulation of hundreds of antisemitic posts praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and calling for the murder of Jews.
The incident drew widespread condemnation and public outrage, prompting French ministers to demand answers and call for an investigation into how the Gazan student was allowed into the country in the first place.
On Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that all further evacuations from Gaza would be suspended pending the completion of the investigation into the student’s background.
After receiving a scholarship, 25-year-old Nour Atalla, a Palestinian from Gaza, arrived in the country in early July to begin her master’s degree in law and communications this fall at the Institute of Political Science in Lille, northern France.
Barrot confirmed that discussions are ongoing about the student’s possible return to Gaza, making clear that she must leave the country pending the investigation’s outcome.
“She has no place at Sciences Po, nor in France,” the top French diplomat said.
On Thursday, local authorities reported that a criminal investigation is underway into Atalla, with the public prosecutor in Lille confirming the case was opened for “apology of terrorism, apology of crimes against humanity using an online public communication service.”
Barrot admitted lapses in the screening process that allowed her entry and has mandated a comprehensive review of everyone evacuated from Gaza to France.
“The security checks, carried out by the French services and Israeli authorities, did not detect the antisemitic content,” the French diplomat said.
Atalla is one of 292 Gazans admitted to the country following a court ruling that opened the door for Gazans to seek refugee status based on their nationality.
She was offered a place at Sciences Po Lille University based on “academic excellence” and following a recommendation by the French consulate in Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, the university announced it had revoked Atalla’s enrollment after hundreds of her past antisemitic and violent social media posts went viral, sparking widespread condemnation from political leaders and members of the local Jewish community.
In several of these posts, she glorified Hitler, praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, called for the execution of Israeli hostages and the killing of Jews, and expressed support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
In one post, Atalla shared a video of Hitler giving a speech about Jews, writing, “Kill their young and their old. Show them no mercy … And kill them everywhere.”
In another post shared on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, she wrote, “We must do everything we can to match the bloodshed — as much as possible.”