Popular Israeli Bakery Opening at the JCC

Bring on the babkas and rugelach—Michaeli Bakery is coming to the Marlene Meyerson JCC at 334 Amsterdam Avenue and West 76th Street. Taking over the space previously occupied by Chef’s Table in the community center’s lobby, Michaeli Bakery is led by Chef Adir Michaeli, who creates sweet treats that are IKC Shomer Shabbos certified.

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The opening will mark Michaeli’s third location. They first set up shop on the Lower East Side in 2019, followed by the opening of an Upper East Side location in 2022. Just last summer, Adir Michaeli was featured in the Wall Street Journal for preserving bourekas traditions—an iconic Israeli pastry that originated in Turkey and is traditionally eaten during holidays, celebrations, and family gatherings—while putting his own unique spin on the savory stuffed pastry with an assortment of fillings.

“Alongside the tempting babkas, rugelach, and, for four-legged customers, dog-elach, Michaeli serves trays of the classic bourekas you’d find in the shuk—cheese, spinach, potato, mushroom, and pizza—all encased in a light and buttery puff pastry,” WSJ wrote. “More recently, Michaeli, who is of Iraqi and Yemeni origin, created the galil, a pastry spiral stuffed with goat cheese and the spice blend za’atar, topped with honey, more za’atar, and a generous coating of sesame seeds.”

Before opening his own bakery, Michaeli worked at the famed Lehamim Bakery in Tel Aviv, where he led the pastry department before moving to New York in 2013 to join the opening team at Bread’s Bakery.

If you’re salivating, we have more great news: they’re doing a soft opening on Thursday. Opening at 7 a.m., visitors can expect delicious coffee and pastries until they sell out. We’ve also been told that this will be the only location to offer additional café items in the future.

The soft opening will have a limited menu, but if you’d like a peek at what they’re capable of, take a look at their Instagram page, which is loaded with challah, Purim galette with marzipan cream and fresh plum, croissants, and an assortment of sufganiyot.

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