By Jacob Kamaras
SAN DIEGO — Earlier this summer, the new Harissa restaurant at the Lawrence Family JCC answered the burning question of “Where’s the beef?” for San Diego’s meat-starved kosher restaurant-goers. Well, as it turns out, lighting has struck twice for the same customer base.
A mere two days after San Diego Jewish World published its story on Harissa, HaMitbach (The Kitchen) opened shop at Chabad of Downtown. Chabad and The Place Catering announced July 16 on Facebook that they had partnered to “bring you an exciting kosher eating experience.” I finally got around to visiting HaMitbach last Friday, and indeed, it was more exciting than my previous kosher eating experiences in America’s Finest City (not known for the finest kosher dining options).
When you walk into HaMitbach’s pleasant outdoor dining venue, you immediately notice the full Israeli salad bar. Once your meat or falafel is ready, you can tour the salad bar to choose your toppings. Off to the side, fried eggplant and hot peppers are also there for the taking. This is precisely the authentic experience that seasoned kosher consumers would be accustomed to in Israel, New York, or Los Angeles. “Experience” truly is the key word — it’s more than just ordering your meal from the counter.
Of particular appeal is the unique chickpea garnish that you can add to your plate or sandwich — a slow-cooked mixture of chickpeas, parsley, harissa, and paprika; I’ll go ahead and call it “deconstructed hummus.” Preserved lemons present another appealing garnish to help your sandwich pack a punch.
Visiting on a Friday afternoon, I chose the schnitzel on challah. The schnitzel was fresh and crispy. The sandwich was huge and could easily be shared by two people. In retrospect, although challah was a timely selection for Friday, the sandwich probably would’ve been even tastier if I’d opted for the more conventionally Israeli bread choice of a pita or laffa. Next time.
I’ll admit it: I kept putting off my visit to HaMitbach over fear that I wouldn’t find suitable parking downtown. That fear was quickly put to rest when I secured one of the 10 free parking spots that are available next door to Chabad. It seems that if you dine at HaMitbach for lunch, you too should have no problem scoring one of these spots. And let’s face it, that’s no small matter! I can’t yet comment about the parking landscape around dinnertime.
Overall, HaMitbach delivered the appealing kosher dining experience that it had promised. Give it a try from Sunday-Thursday, 12-7 p.m., or 12-3 p.m. on Friday, at Chabad of Downtown, 275 Island Avenue. And seriously, don’t worry about the parking!
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Jacob Kamaras is editor and publisher of San Diego Jewish World.