Whether you’re keeping things kosher or just want some festival flavours, there are plenty of ways to celebrate the Jewish new year in London. We’ve rounded up some of our favourite foodie gifts and dining opportunities, to get 5785 started as you mean to go on.

Lilienblum: (not kosher)

Although you’ll need to wait until the third day of the new year, the celebrations at Eyal Shani’s grownup London restaurant promise to be delicious. Expect home baked challah with apples and honey served at long tables followed by a sharing feast of Shani’s signature dishes which obviously include his whole roasted cauliflower, his version of Israeli classic, sabich and a whole roasted sea bass. Tickets are £75 per person, including food, a pomegranate spritz and service. Book here. 

In the club: Honey & Co's Rosh Hashanah event Photo: Patricia Niven

Honey & Co Daily: (not kosher)

Another of my favourite restaurants offering a fun, festive dining experience is Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer’s newest outlet. Their Rosh Hashanah supper club is set to run on October 3 and 4 but the latter is already a sell out, so you’ll need to be quick to score a ticket.

On the £45 three-course sharing menu includes a mezze starter with dishes like baba ganoush with seeded lavoush crackers and beetroot sabzi with herbs and pomegranate; main course slow-cooked chicken thighs braised in pomegranate molasses onion and currants (sub in aubergine for the non-meat option) and baklava filled with spiced apple, nuts and honey syrup. They are also offering a home delivery menu full of figs, pomegranates and other fruity flavours.  

Celebrate the festive season with new fruits Photo: Getty Images

Chabad – various locations (kosher)

A number of Chabad centres are offering kosher community feasts. Pick from various centres including Chabad Notting Hill’s Rosh Hashanah dinner, which promises ‘tastes and traditions of this special holiday along with great food, song, and meaningful holiday nuggets’ with a Rosh Hashanah service before the meal. Book in here. Prices (discounted until September 25) are £38 for adults; £20 for children and under-5-s are free.

Other Chabad houses offering Rosh Hashanah meals (at various prices) include Battersea; Islington and Golders Green.

Sweet delivery: Apple strudel on the menu at 1070

At home: 

1070: (kosher) 

This kosher caterer can deliver the full celebration meal to your door. On the menu is the full monty — round challah loaves studdded with juicy raisins or with a showstopper honey and apple centre; chicken or butternut soup; roast chicken; Moroccan style spicy fish chraime; beef goulash; lamb shanks and a huge list of salads, plus kugels and tsimmes. Desserts include chocolate mousse, apple and honey strudel and pear and chocolate crumble. More info here. Last orders are on Wednesday 25^th September.

Fress Bagelry and Delicatessen: (not kosher)
For a more casual spread, Radlett delicatessen, Fress, has a full menu of deli staples including fish balls, gefilte fish, salmon rissoles, herring and a range of salads plus babkas, bagels and the all-important round challahs. Their fabulous honey cake was one of our winners in last hear’s honey cake taste-off, owner Martin’s personal recipe. More information here. 

Best bakers:

Karma Bread: (not kosher)

Hampstead’s self-proclaimed challah queen, Tami Isaacs, has a mouthwatering range of goodies available to order for your celebrations. The range of challahs includes her apple topped premium centrepiece loaf decorated with apple slices and with room to stow a ramekin for your honey plus an apple pecan honey; cinnamon raisin and round seeded or unseeded loaves.

She also bakes honey cake and, for the less traditional but no less delicious option, a mean babka (chocolate or cinnamon) and offers vegan challahs and babkas.

More info and order form here.

Charlotte’s Sourdough (kosher):

My favourite kosher baker (with SKA hescher) also has a range of foodie gifts on offer. Pomegranate-shaped rolls, sourdough spelt honey cake; chocolate and hazelnut wholegrain sourough cookies; sourdough babkas with fillings including date, almond and rose petal; apple and cinnamon and halva pistachio and rose petals as well as focaccia with toppings including za’atar, olive and red onion; rosemary and garlic and halva, pistachio and rose petals. 

Her sourdough challahs will include apple and cinnamon; date, silan and sesame seed and chocolate flavours. 

The gifts can be packed in her regular paper bags or a natural jute shopper both with gift tags and both for an additional charge. 
Further information here. 

Cake Street (kosher) 

This family-run bakery has a range of KLBD heschered bakes including honey cakes – large and mini – mini loaf cakes; shana tova biscuits; honey cupcakes; cookies and brownies. Order BY END OF September 26 for the full range or pick up mini honey cakes; mini vanilla loaf cakes or Rosh Hashanah biscuits from branches of Kosher Deli in Temple Fortune, Hendon or Edgware.   

Matty’s Kitchen (not kosher)
Matty’s light and tender honey cake contains no less than five different spices and was super popular in the JC’s taste test last year. He only started offering it in his Bushey bakery in 2022 but it has been so popular it is now being stocked at a further three north west London locations — Doppio Coffee’s Kentish Town and Muswell Hill branches and (from September 27) at Brew and Blow in Mill Hill.
Choose from regular and mini loaf-shaped cakes as well as round challahs – regular and XXL for a crowd plus a delicious-sounding apple and biscoff crumble. Order ahead to collect for Rosh Hashanah. Order via info@matty’skitchen.co.uk of his Instagram.     

Gifts and hampers:

Panzer’s Deli food hampers (kosher and non kosher)

St John’s Wood’s fine food emporium with the fanciest fruit display in town has a range of kosher and non kosher hampers for delivery. The Shmoozeing hamper includes a Parkway honey cake; Firetree chocolate bar; bottle of Peraj Petitia Capcanes 2019 (kosher wine) and a jar of Panzer’s Spring honey. (£59 plus delivery).The basic Rosh Hashanah food hamper includes a jar of their Spring honey, Parkway honey cake plus Firetree chocolate thins and a dried fruit selection (£69 plus delivery) Click here for other kosher and non-kosher hamper options. 

Kisharon Langdon: (kosher) 
You can always rely on the good folk at Kisharon Langdon to come up with tasteful and tasty gifts at this time of year. They have mini (£2 for 42g) (and larger £5 for 227g) jars of English honey that can be personalised — click here to order.  

Also on their website and in their Equal store in Temple Fortune are  As well as cute packages of dried apple rings, cashews nuts with honey toppings, apple and honey popcorn and honey marshmallows  starting from £3. There are also gorgeous dishes can be loaded up with their sweet treats plus other bits and pieces like gorgeous pomegranate decorated napkins and honey dippers. All sold to raise money for a great cause. Available to purchase online or in person from their store in Temple Fortune, NW11. All prices are on their website.