Conference taveng::bagels

    There are only four kosher restaurants in the Boston Metro area.
    			Rubins  Harvard Steet, Brookline
    			Cafe Shalom  Harvard Street, Brookline
    			Milk Street Cafe  Milk Street, Boston
    			Milk Street Cafe  Kendall Square, Cambridge
    
    Only Rubins serves meat. The rest are vegetarian/dairy.
    
    I believe that there is a Kosher Chinese takeout place in Worchester
    but I'm not familiar with it.
    
    Check some of the earlier notes in this file.
    
    Cooking kosher is not that difficult, it's the setting up of a kosher
    kitchen and the maintanence of kosher standards that are time
    consuming.  How about going to your friend's kosher kitchen and
    helping cook there.  It will be easier.
    
    
    __Av

1 - Note 4 (with about 50 replies) has alot of info
    about kosher restaurants.

2 - Only your friend can tell you what keeping kosher means to her.
    People who note in this file could speculate for pages, but if
    you want to know something useful to you in your situation, you are
    going to have to ask her what her personal level of observance is.

3 - The 'difficulty' of learning to cook kosher depends entirely on
    the answer to the question in # 2 above.  If you ascertain that
    (as  you believe) she doesn't care what dishes you use to cook and
    serve the food, then at least you know you won't have to spend money
    on pots and dishes. 

Oh yes, you asked specifically about 'good' kosher restaurants.
There ARE only 3 kosher restaurants in Mass.  Rubin's, in Brookline,
is OK but not gourmet.  They are basically a full-line deli.
Cafe Shalom, in Brookline, used to be the pits but has had a 180 degree
turnaround and now serve some really good food - fairly yuppie - but
they don't serve ANY meat products (they do serve fish, which is not
considered meat for purposes of kosher-keeping).  Ruthie's kitchen,
in Worcester, is not a sit-down place.  She sells Oriental and
deli-like food for takeout.  I personally do not find her stuff to
be high-quality, but it certainly is edible. That's it in Mass.  
There's nothing at all in N.H., Vt, Maine or R.I., about one restaurant 
in Conn., and millions (relatively speaking) in N.Y. and N.J.

Whoops, Av (.1) got his reply in before me.  I forgot about Milk
Street Cafe (probably because I've never been there, probably because
they never seem to be open during the evenings).

    The Milk Street Cafe(s) are only open for "lunch" which means they
    start at about 10 am and end at 3pm. During the "three weeks" they
    often open for dinners.
    
    My wife gets there for her business lunches.  It's also very "yuppie".
    Quiche, soup, and ferns abound.  They opened the one in Kendall
    Square about a year and a half ago.  I wish it were there when I
    was at MIT.  It would have been nice to have a place for a hot bowl
    of soup and salad during the cold, dank winters.
    
    __Av 

    It's topic 3, not 4, that has the list, but thanks very much for
    your help.
    
    Tim

    Another place you might want to check out is MI-VAMI at Coolidge
    Corner in Brookline.  I don't know if it's 100% Kosher, but it's
    a great place to enjoy wonderful Israeli style food.  Don't be turned
    off by it's appearence, though.
    
    Note: It's located on Pleasant ST around the corner from Pelham
    Drugs.  They're also in the Greater Boston Coupon Book.
    

 RE .6

    Alan,

    Mi Vami is not kosher.  However, Ami (the owner) does cook the felafel
    separate from the meat dishes and keeps the salads and veggie stuff
    separated too.

    So, depending on your friends requirements, you might go there for
    felafel, baba ganough, homos, pita and salad.

    Shalom,
    Gavriel

    Thanks for reminding me about Mi Vami! I went there once, and the
    food was very good! The atmosphere is very "funky" and all kinds
    of people were eating there!
    
    Elisabeth