West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT US
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result
SUPPORT THE RAG

Search the site

No Result
View All Result
Get WSR FREE in your inbox
SUPPORT THE RAG

Here’s the Dish: Silver Moon Bakery’s Challah

September 16, 2023 | 5:00 AM - Updated on September 17, 2023 | 7:17 AM
in COLUMNS, FOOD
3
Photographs by Ava Stryker-Robbins.

By Ava Stryker-Robbins

I have always loved Silver Moon Bakery. From their baguettes to their meringues and cupcakes, every one of their baked delicacies is delicious. But perhaps more than anything else, Silver Moon’s challahs have always been important to me—I grew up eating them on many Shabbat nights, as well as on Rosh Hashanah alongside apples and honey.

This bread is perhaps the very definition of perfection. It is sweet, soft, and has a flakey exterior. It is tasty on its own, but also serves as the perfect complement to any home-cooked meal, especially ones with sauces that the challah can absorb.

Typically, challah is baked in a braid, but during the High Holidays—Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—it is baked in a round shape to symbolize continuity and a completed cycle, as Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish year. However, as Silver Moon’s owner and founder Judith Norell told the West Side Rag in an interview, “You don’t have to be Jewish to love challah!”

Norell, whose mother baked challah and other types of bread with her when she was a child, shares that challah is an essential part of the bakery. “It’s a very important part of our production and of our whole sense of community around here.” During a typical week, the bakery sells between 100 and 200 challahs, but during the High Holidays they sell close to 1,000.

Though the original challah recipe has not changed during the bakery’s 23-year history, Norell has added a number of varieties, including whole wheat, raisin, multiseed, chocolate orange, and a Spanish version made with olive oil, vanilla, and anise seeds.

“We make the best products we can and we don’t skimp on the quality,” she said.

Norell opened Silver Moon after she retired from her career as a professional harpsichordist. Though she said that baking and playing instruments are similar in that you use your hands and have to understand timing, she was also drawn to the differences between the two. “Music is very ephemeral. The sound disappears into the air, so it’s very nice to be able to make something that is earthy and that nourishes people.”

Norell loves experimenting and creating different breads and pastries for different holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Epiphany, Dia de los Muertos, and more. She personally prefers sourdoughs over sweet breads, but admits that both challah and other sweet breads are integral to the bakery.

Though it is too late to pre-order challah for Rosh Hashanah, they might have some available for walk-in customers, and challah can be pre-ordered at least two days in advance for Yom Kippur. During the year, challahs are sold Thursdays through Saturdays.

Shana Tova to those celebrating!

The Dish: Challah
The Restaurant: Silver Moon Bakery (2740 Broadway at 105th Street)

Read all of our Here’s the Dish columns here.

Subscribe to WSR’s free email newsletter here.

Share this article:
SUPPORT THE RAG
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

3 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
AnnieNYC
AnnieNYC
1 year ago

Hadn’t actually tried their challah (which I shall for sure now!) but I can attest to the delicious quality breads in Silver Moon. I cannot pass by without stopping in. And that’s the way it ought to be! Shana Tova to all who celebrate, and many blessings onto everyone, whether they celebrate these holidays or not. May we all break bread together.

3
Reply
Joe Baggadonuts
Joe Baggadonuts
1 year ago

If your travels take you out west, find a way to stop at the Silver Moon cafe in Santa Rosa, NM. On NM’s register of state historical landmarks, they serve the most amazing Mexican food you will ever eat!

1
Reply
Sarah
Sarah
1 year ago

Who doesn’t like Silver Moon?

1
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

Throwback Thursday: Cars, Cabs, and Buses on the UWS in the 1970s and 80s
COLUMNS

Throwback Thursday: Cars, Cabs, and Buses on the UWS in the 1970s and 80s

May 15, 2025 | 8:37 AM
West Side Canvas: Finding a Way Inside an UWS Firehouse
ART

West Side Canvas: Finding a Way Inside an UWS Firehouse

May 15, 2025 | 8:35 AM
Previous Post

West Side Canvas: ‘Out of the Blue,’ by Robert Beck

Next Post

West Side County Fair: Sunday, Sept. 17th, 1-6 PM; Pier i at 70th St.

this week's events image
Next Post
West Side County Fair: Sunday, Sept. 17th, 1-6 PM; Pier i at 70th St.

West Side County Fair: Sunday, Sept. 17th, 1-6 PM; Pier i at 70th St.

Nearly 400 Trees To Be Planted on UWS This Spring 

Nearly 400 Trees To Be Planted on UWS This Spring 

Volunteer Tutoring Opportunities Available in UWS Elementary Schools

Volunteer Tutoring Opportunities Available in UWS Elementary Schools

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2025 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT US
  • WSR SHOP

© 2025 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.