SHALOM Y’ALL!

May 28, 2004 at 6:38:16p.m.

Greetings from sunny, hot and humid Austin, Texas! UTJ cyber rebbe, Alex Herrera and his wife Andrea, are celebrating their younger son’s bar mitzvah (IY”H) this coming Monday. We flew in this morning on the very early flight(image my shock when I had to stand on a long line at the airport at 5:00AM!), and now we are basking in the glow of a long Texas afternoon.

On our way in from the airport, we stopped at a local H E B store. This particular store has a store within the store- The Kosher Store (brilliant name- it says it all!). We were here a few years back when the Kosher Store was just about to open. It is good to see that the store has prospered over the years. Inside the Kosher Store is a small sit-down restaurant. It is a place where kosher food meets Southern style and California style (pastrami and alfalfa on sourdough!!) The prices are very fair, and the sandwiches are super. We had the “Reuben sandwhich” sans bread: one half pound of hot pastrami and sauerkraut served with thousand island dressing. Taam Gan Eyden- and all for under $8.00!

The store itself stocks an amazing array of goods, some of it stuff that has yet to make its way to New York! Many of the items reflect a West Coast sensibility much more than an East Coast one. All in all, a wonderful oasis.

A hearty mazal tov to my co-blogger, Deborah Wenger, who is in Atlanta this weekend for her son’s wedding: b’shaah tova u’mutzlachat!

Shabbat shalom from Austin. More to follow…

(RJR)