Gefilte is Good

A few weeks ago, the Orthofamily packed up to spend Shabbos at the home of old friends who have settled in another neighborhood, let's call it neighborhood X. In many ways, the neighborhood was similar to mine: overpriced homes inhabited by hordes of young professionals and their children and a shul on every other block with masses of strollers parked out front. In other ways, it was very different: In my neighborhood, there is a dumpster in front of a house on almost every block - there were very few in neighborhood X. In my neighborhood, SUVs outnumber minivans as the car of choice among the well-heeled. In neighborhood X, almost every driveway held a minivan. In my neighborhood, the strollers parked out front olf the shuls are tricked-out luxury models, competing with the fully-loaded aforementioned SUVs. In neighborhood X, women came to shul dressed in Shabbos finery, but they as a whole did not look over the top. In my neighborhood, people-watching the getups at the shul kiddush rivals sitting front-row at Fashion Week.

And though I love my neighborhood, and would not give up the positives that I get from living here, part of me was wistful at the fact that neighborhood X was just so much more...low-key.

I would love, just once, to show up at a neighborhood friend's house, and be served simply, without all of the bells and whistles that lunch in the Five Towns has come to mean. I mean, who doesn't love a plate of salmon all gussied up with a puff-pastry shell, topped with mushroom-spinach sauce, and artistically laid out on a bed of (pre-checked) mixed greens? But I have to tell you, it was refreshing to have my neighborhood X friend's version of a fish appetizer - a slice of gefilte fish topped with a carrot and a side of horseradish.