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S.F.'s Favorite Jewish Deli Is Doing A Brunch Pop-Up At Genghis Cohen This Saturday
On Saturday, the dreams of all my ancestors will finally be realized amid the perennially cool booths of L.A.'s most authentic New York-style Chinese food restaurant, when San Francisco's Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen heads south for a one-day brunch pop-up at Genghis Cohen on Fairfax. Because what could be more Jewish than lox and nostalgia-inflected American Chinese food?
Genghis Cohen, for the rare Angeleno who isn't already familiar, is an L.A. classic. Opened by a record exec in 1983, Genghis has been home to countless live shows, late night Hollywood tête-à-têtes, and groovy hang outs ever since. Med Abrous and Marc Rose (The Spare Room, Winsome) took over the Fairfax stalwart last year, and although the food quality has noticeably improved since, the pair have also taken great pains not to alter any of the menu's classic dishes.
Abrous and Rose organized the pop up with Evan Bloom and his brother Ari Bloom of Wise Sons, building off both restaurants' Jewish roots and commitment to high quality ingredients. The brunch menu on hand this weekend will solely be Wise Sons fare, save for one item collaborated on by both kitchens: a special breakfast fried rice with pastrami and caramelized onions. Genghis Cohen’s bar director Yael Vengroff created the drink menu, which includes the Cel-Raymos with housemade cel-ray soda.
Seatings start at 9 a.m. (reservations are available on OpenTable), and brunch is $40 a person, not including cocktails. There will be plenty to share (Bubbe’s chopped liver and shmaltz toast, a seasonal veggie plate with smoked trout salad and bagel chips, and a Chinese chicken salad "homage to L.A."), as well as entree options that include Wise Sons' house-smoked pastrami reuben on rye, a winter vegetable hash with pepita pesto, poached eggs and za’atar spice, and the aforementioned breakfast fried rice, among others. There will obviously be chocolate babka to finish.
“We’ve been friends with the Wise Sons guys for a long time, and it’s been awesome to see them do such great things in San Francisco," Abrous told LAist. "This collaboration came about because we thought it would be a great excuse to spend time with good friends and would be a fun thing to do that highlights both of our restaurants."
He added that, "The Fairfax District has an incredible history, between Canter’s Deli and Schwartz Bakery, and we thought it was a natural fit for the neighborhood. It’s fun to do something unexpected for a Chinese restaurant, and this brunch embraces Genghis Cohen’s Jewish roots."
It would be a shondeh to miss it.
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Genghis Cohen is located at 740 N Fairfax Avenue in the Sneaker District.* (323) 653-0640
*Much debate in the LAist office about the proper name for this neighborhood... Feel free to offer suggestions in the comments!
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