Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish New Year, will begin at sundown Oct. 2 and end on the evening of Oct. 4. It is the first of the High Holidays, the holiest days of the year in Judaism. Yom Kippur is the next High Holiday, which will be from Oct. 11-12.
On Rosh Hashanah, apples and honey are popular indulgences that signify a sweet new year. Also, people will eat a round or circle challah, instead of the usual oval-shaped bread during the High Holidays because it represents the cyclical nature of each year as it passes.
Whether you are looking for a savory holiday feast or a sweet festive dessert, these restaurants and bakeries have you covered.
Call Your Mother
The Washington, D.C.-based deli and bagel shop, with locations in Bethesda and Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, will offer a special Rosh Hashanah menu for delivery and pick-up. For $68 customers can purchase a barbeque brisket and pastrami sandwich box with eight braided challah rolls, pickle slices and slaw, apple BBQ sauce and several other side dishes.
Call Your Mother will also serve a latke platter with its signature square-shaped potato pancakes, honey apple babka muffins and apple cider cake. The deli also partnered with D.C.-based gelato shop Dolcezza to create a Wildflower Honey Gelato to pair with the apple cake.
Order online at this link and pick up the order at the shop’s Pike & Rose location at 11807 Grand Park Ave.
The Red Bandana Bakery
The 100% gluten-free and celiac-friendly bakery at 8218 Wisconsin Ave. in downtown Bethesda will offer six different Rosh Hashanah baked items and nosh, according to the bakery’s website.
Desserts include spiced honey cake, apple cakes, coconut macaroons and three specialty challahs with sweet glaze and sprinkles, raisin and pumpkin spice flavors. The bakery will also offer lox and bagel platters and loaves of round challah.
Customers should pre-order items at least two business days in advance, according to the bakery, and limited items will be available for walk-in customers after pre-orders close.
Silver and Sons Barbecue
Silver and Sons Barbeque is offering a Rosh Hashanah dinner menu for four that includes 2 quarts of Matzo ball soup, one loaf of challah, one starter, two vegetable dishes, one brisket and one dessert for $180, according to owner Jarrad Silver.
Customers can also order items a la carte with starters and vegetable dishes such as brisket bourekas, harissa-smoked carrots and Israeli salad, according to the menu. Main dishes include smoked brisket, whole chicken and Moroccan fish. For dessert, the barbeque spot will offer apple upside-down cake, pull-apart chocolate babka buns and coconut macaroon pie.
Pre-orders are accepted until Sunday, according to Silver.
Order at this link for pickup at the Silver and Sons Kitchen at 627 Lofstrand Lane in Rockville or at the food truck at 7607 Macarthur Blvd. in Cabin John.
Summer House Santa Monica
The modern American restaurant at 11825 Grand Park Ave. in North Bethesda’s Pike & Rose is offering a prix fixe holiday menu available for dining and take-out on Oct. 2 and 3, according to the restaurant’s website. The menu costs $54.95 for adults and $24.95 for children 12 and younger.
Included in the special menu are challah bread, apples and honey and Matzo ball soup. Main dishes include wood-grilled salmon and slow-braised beef short rib and an apple galette is available for dessert.
Make a reservation at this link or preorder at this link.
Sunflower Bakery
The non-profit bakery based in Rockville is offering round challah (traditional, raisin, honey wheat, almond and vegan) and dessert options such as apple cake, honey cake and honey cookies. There are also new items being offered such as Bubbie’s Apple Bundt (which serves 20) and cookies that say “Shana Tova,” which is Hebrew for “Happy New Year.”
Other baked goods include pomegranate pink fudge cupcakes, granola almond coffee cake, sticky toffee pudding, chocolate rugelach and mandelbread. The menu can be found at this link.
Sunflower Bakery is also a workforce development program for young adults with learning differences, according to the bakery’s website. The baking facility is kosher pareve and peanut-free.
Rosh Hashanah pre-orders are now closed, but customers can still stop by the bakery’s retail locations and buy directly from students, according to the bakery’s website.
Retail locations are at 5951 Halpine Road in Rockville and 6101 Executive Blvd., Suite 115, in North Bethesda.
Sunday Morning Bakehouse
The Pike & Rose bakery and café will offer round challah and apple honey muffins for pre-order and walk-in customers, according to a press release. Pre-ordering is available at this link.
The café is also offering traditional braided challah for Yom Kippur celebrations for preorder starting on Oct. 3 for pickup on Oct. 11. According to the release, limited quantities will be available for walk-in customers.
Tatte
The trendy bakery and café chain will offer special desserts and baked goods for Rosh Hashanah ranging in price from $10 for a round loaf of sesame or walnut raisin challah bread to $40 for double-crusted traditional apple pie, according to the Tatte website.
Other items include an apple babka loaf, honey cake loaf and honey apple cake.
Customers can place an order for the baked goods online until 8 p.m. Sunday for pickup from Oct. 1 to 4, according to the website. Pick-up will be available at Tatte’s Bethesda location at 7276 Wisconsin Ave.
