Happenings in the H d The D c with + Early Bird Catches the Boureka

After seven days of being in Israel and eating all of the incredible delicacies that one could eat, from shawarma to solika (hint hint for our next article), habuerkah to pizza, steak to duck liver, I was done! I couldn’t think about food for at least a month.

So as soon as I landed in L.A. at 6:00 AM on the EL AL direct flight from Tel Aviv, I jumped into the car with my compadre and headed back over the hill to Sherman Oaks to Bo.re.kas Sephardic Pastries. Okay, well, first I showered and changed, then we jumped on the 405, and with no traffic, we were there in 12 minutes. This was key because if you don’t get to Bo.re. kas by 11:00 AM, there is a good chance ing is classic Israeli… milk crates and plastic 99-cent store tables.

As you have come to expect, we ordered the entire menu, but, contrary to our other reviews here, we absolutely recommend you do the same. Within minutes, we were presented with a pizza box loaded with all four of the bourekas on the menu paired with their homemade Israeli pickles, perfectly hard-boiled eggs, tomato sauce, and schug.

Here are our hacks: grab a “table,” rotate the milk crate 90 degrees if you are not vertically challenged, and eat the bourekas right there on the spot. Mix the schug with the tomato sauce if you like things a little spicier. And lastly, if you have a few oth- they will run out and they are not shy about it. They have a sign in front resembling a sign you would see on a Golani base that emphatically states: “Hours: Sunday-Friday 9:00 AM - Sellout.”

We have heard about the hype and we had to go check it out. This place has been trending on social media for weeks. Israeli actress Gal Gadot has also been posting about the hottest kosher spot in L.A.

When we arrived, we pulled up to a classic 1980s construction San Fernando Valley strip mall. A nice line had already formed in front of a bank-teller-style window and all we could think about was whether there would be enough bourekas remaining. There were about five people ahead of us, but the line moved rather quickly. We got a glimpse of the menu as we approached the primitive sliding glass window. Don’t be surprised to discover there is no actual walk-in store; the menu only has bourekas and coffee, and the seat- ers with you, ask for the secret menu which features a special surprise sandwich.

As for the bourekas themselves, they are amazingly delicious. The four options are cheese and zaatar, mushroom and onion truffle, potato and brown butter, and spinach and cheese. Each one is tastier than the next. The dough is buttery soft, perfectly moist, and precisely flaky.

Bo.re.kas Sephardic Pastries is something special and well worth the trip. I dare say that it was equally as good as anything I had in Israel and made me feel like I never came back home. There is a good reason why they call the valley “Little Israel.”

This establishment is certified kosher by the OK.