In praise of Bloom's - and all Ashkenazi eateries

Is it just me, or does anyone else dream of proper salt beef sandwiches from days gone by? Next year, it will be ten years since the last of the famous Bloom’s restaurants closed its doors for the final time. I was only eleven then, but I’m still mourning the loss of Britain’s greatest kosher culinary experience. 

I have fond memories of my grandparents taking me there for treats, where my grandfather would tell me  how much he used to enjoy going as a small boy for a true Bloom’s Vienna sausage. There is something sad about an age-old institution like Bloom’s, which opened in 1920 and is so important to the London Jewish community’s heritage, completely disappearing.

Future generations will never know the excitement of unwrapping a steaming hot takeaway sandwich stuffed to the brim with tender meat from the white paper. It was like opening all your Chanukah presents at once! Nor will they ever bite into a delicious Bloom’s latke.

This is why I reach out to the surviving members of the Bloom family to bring back their cherished restaurant and their original salt beef recipe — not the spicy version that replaced it in the restaurant's last days. It is just what we Jews of London need right now to help cheer us up from that dreaded business with the Labour Party.