I was wrong. Keep reading.

There's an Italian pizza place on Pico Blvd (is it Brooklyn Pizza – across from Young Israel of Century City) that was kosher for a while. It was supervised by the RCC. The owner felt like the RCC was shaking him down for money and went treif (stopped his kosher supervision and stopped trying to abide by the dietary laws of Judaism).

Noah's Bagels was kosher under Rabbi Bukspan then the RCC shoved him out of the way and took over the kosher certification, claiming they'd bring in more customers. That did not work out. Noah's Bagels tired of dealing with the RCC and decided it would be easier to skip kosher certification.

From the YICC.com mailing list:

Dear Members,
Rabbi Muskin requested that the following two items be brought to your attention:
1 – The Brooklyn Water Bagels restaurant on Beverly Drive is no longer kosher. The
restaurant is now completely treif and no food should be purchased from this store.
2 – There is a new popular shoe called TOMS. The non-vegan style has a leather inner
sole and may not be worn on Yom Kippur.

Sam* emails: Dear Mr. Ford,

Since you seem to have a good ear for rumors in the Pico-Rob area, I was wondering if you heard anything about what really went on with Brooklyn Water Bagel becoming kosher and then quickly becoming not kosher again. It seems they got kashered, put out press releases, made a menu (you can still find it on google), and opened for business as a kosher place on Erev Rosh Hashana. Next thing you know, Rosh Hashana is over and they went back to being not-kosher. Is it possible they expected to have Orthodox Jews come in on Rosh Hashana and then panicked without realizing why no one was coming in? The whole thing makes no sense to me.

…1) EarthKosher is listed on Rabbi Eidlitz's website as a recommended Kashrus certification (http://www.kosherquest.org/symbols.php Its listed under the New Jersey certifications), so I think that most observant Jews would abide by it (although being minor and on the East Coast they may not have head of it offhand). If observant Jews didn't abide by it, Rabbi Muskin would not need to say that it is "no longer kosher."
2) I am friendly with the owner of Brooklyn Pizza (Real Valera). He told me that the reason that he was no longer kosher certified (or under the RCC) is that the Mashgiach they appointed for him was stealing from him and that the RCC refused to replace him with someone else. I think that he even caught him on camera.
3) I think its unfair to blame the RCC for Noah's Bagels on Pico not being kosher anymore. Noah's bagels at one point had dozens of kosher locations, most of which were not under the RCC. They all lost their certification over time (except one place in Seattle) as a business decision by the company who bought the chain from the original Noah. Most of them were not under RCC. The company ended up in bankruptcy and closed a bunch of locations. Im fairly certain that the Pico location was one of those locations that had closed because of financial troubles. I dont remember if it was still under certification when it closed.

HERE IS A REPORT FROM SEPT. 28, 2011:

“By making the Beverly Hills location an all-dairy-kosher restaurant, we’re simply responding to the local community, most of which already loves our food. Now we’re expanding our reach so those who follow kosher principles can enjoy a Brooklyn water bagel,” says Steven M. Fassberg, president and chief executive officer of The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. “We will still have the best bagels in the Los Angeles area; they just happen to be kosher.”

The restaurant will be adding more smoked fish options to its menu, including smoked salmon and white fish flown in from Brooklyn. A new salad bar will allow guests to make their own salad, choosing their favorite fresh, locally grown, organic vegetables, cheeses, and dressings. The menu will also include new soups such as lentil, mushroom barley, and split pea.

“We’re not only offering delicious meal options for guests who are kosher, but a wonderful alternative for the large vegetarian community in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles,” says Chef Allen. “Going kosher makes The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. a natural choice for vegetarians groups and the many Jewish organizations in the area when they’re catering their next event.”

The restaurant meets the strictest standards of and is kosher certified by EarthKosher, which provides kosher certification to businesses around the world.

The main dishes run around $12. The portions are big and the food is good.

There's a kosher vegetarian restaurant just up the street — Pizza Station. I love it.

I just had breakfast this morning at Nana. I had the Greek omelette with orange juice and coffee and salad. It's Israeli-type food. It gets the job done.

Last night, I celebrated my friend's 50th birthday there. I got a vegie burrito with mozarella cheese, avocado, and tomato. They include a green salad on the side. It was all delicious. I love this place. The food is excellent. The service is prompt and friendly.

Rabbi Rabbs: "As if the first seven of them within walking distance of that corner and went out of business weren't a sign that this is not a business to go into. They've been working on this building (on Alcott and Robertson, near Pico Blvd) to remodel it and they just put up a sign for a kosher frozen yogurt store."

Will a kosher wine store make a go of it in Pico-Robertson?

The profit margins on wine are tiny, about 10%.

Report:

Pico Blvd. is now home to an all-Kosher wineshop, opened last week, which offers myriad non-Manischewitz options for your Passover dining needs.

The Cask
8616 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
310-205-9008
http://www.thecaskla.com

The Persian Elat market next door to Glatt Mart also has inexpensive produce. It is a dirtier older version of Glatt Mart. The aisles are crammed and there are more Persians and more pushing.

Heshy writes on FrumSatire.net:

On Friday, my friend a fellow blogger Eliyahu Fink took me to Pizza Maven in Hancock Park, the frummy side of town. I wass marveling at the sites as I drove to the place. There were women in sheitles walking dozens of children all dressed in the same outfits, men in hats with peyos behind their ears and teams of high school girls drinking slurpies. I was getting my frum on, I felt almost exactly the same exact feelings I used to have when I would take a drive from Rochester to New York once every few months – it was the same 5 hour drive and it brought me to a whole new world. I remember thinking how fun NY was and always looking forward to getting the hell out of there. LA is the same way, I love the frummies, I love eating the food and looking at all the super cutties (LA is home to the best pritzus in America) but I thank God that I don’t live there. LA, like New York, is way too urban for me.

So Pizza Maven wasn’t too great, it’s good to eat pizza and look at frummies and the place was too clean to be a New York pizza store in a frum neighborhood. The guy behind the counter was a friendly older Boro Parker who shot the shit with everyone who ordered anything, but the pizza was a bit lame – too much dough, not enough cheese and no crunch. The mozerella sticks were lame – they seemed like they were from the package and ridiculously overpriced for what they were – I still maintain that the best kosher cheese sticks are made in Jerusalem Pizza in Detroit.

Heshy writes on FrumSatire.net:

I got to LA at about 10pm on Thursday night and was desperate to eat milchigs, something really cheesy, I work at a very meat intensive restaurant and the big impetus for coming to LA was to eat some pizza and maybe some pasta – both of which I can’t get in the Bay Area. So I met my buddy at Cafe Nana, one of the few places open that late and I was crushed by the terrible menu, regardless we got an eggplant parm, fettucini alfredo and mozerella sticks – I wasn’t expecting anything too great so I wasn’t disappointed by the taste of the food as much I normally would be.

The problem with becoming a cook at a good restaurant, coupled with living in the pretentious foodie capitol of the US, is that I have to be careful not to expect too much. Cafe Nana is a low level restaurant with low level food catering to frum people. I could tell the clientele by just looking at the fish offerings – they have the 4 frummy fishes – talapia, salmon, tuna and chilean sea bass and everything seemed to be generic stuff. Admittedly the eggplant was decent, but it was $12 for a slice of eggplant with cheese on it. When my friend ordered a glass of wine they damned near filled the thing to the top.

For desert my friend took me to Toppings, one of the strangest kosher ice cream shops I have ever been in. The place was immaculate, the colors were cool and there was a line of self serve frozen yogurt machines, the man behind the topping counter gave us samples and I started saying to no one in particular that such a system would never work in New York, I myself just tried some samples and didn’t need to buy anything.

* Rabbi Marvin Hier Great conversation, fascinating guests
* Rabbi Ari Hier Charming erudite host
* Rabbi Elazar Muskin Great food, great Torah, a great long seder
* Rabbi Kalman Topp Understated rabbi who allows room for others
* Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky Gracious, stimulating
* Rabbi Robert Wexler Erudite, gracious, hospitable
* Rabbi Mimi Feigelson Great food, fascinating conversation
* Rabbi Dov Heller Great food, masters of hospitality
* Rabbi Nachum Braverman Understated empathic rabbi
* Rabbi Moshe Cohen Learned, funny
* Rabbi Boruch Sufrin Smart, funny
* Morey Levovitz Accomplished, generous
* Rabbi Yaacov Pinto
* Richard Horowitz Masters of hospitality, stimulating conversation
* Marc Firestone Masters of hospitality, low key, interested in others
* Peter Lowy – rich, generous, Australian
* David Sacks Funny, smart, unexpected
* Stuart & Enny Wax The gold standard for hospitality
* Sam Glaser Not your typical Orthodox home, this one is a lot of fun!
* David Suissa
* Monica Osborne
* Selwyn & Glynis Gerber Good Israeli wine, good food, Glynis owned Serravalle – the original gourmet Kosher meat restaurant in town
* Rabbi Marc Mandel
* Rabbi Uri Pilichowski
* Rabbi Lisbon (Chabad Bais Bezalel)
* Chazzan Netanel Baram
* Rabbi Sharon Brous
* Rabbi Bradley Shavit-Artson
* Don Etra
* Mark & Debbie Goldenberg
* Robert J. Avrech
* Mitch Julis
* Professor Aryeh Cohen
* Bob & Judy Millman
* Rabbi Aryeh Markman
* Rabbi Yitz Jacobs
* Rabbi Motti Shenker
* Fred and Susie Toczek
* Harold and Brenda Walt (Catering by Brenda!)
* Billie & Jenny Gelb
* Larry and Andrea Gill
* Jeff Fishman
* Richard Kellner
* David Nimmer
* Etan Cohen
* Steve Tabak
* David Nagel
* Ian & Lisa Tofler
* Steve & Daisy Cohn: Healthy food, hearty conversation

I simply posted this list because my soul is so in love with truth. Who knew that it would score me invites? I am not worthy. I just want to cover myself in dust and ashes, sit at the feet of the sages, and blog all day (except for Shabbos and holidays).