Technodrone

2018-10-22

Keeping Kosher at re:Invent 2018

So we are a little more than a month away from the yearly ascent to all things AWS - re:Invent 2018.

Last year one of my most useful posts was the Kosher perspective on the event Keeping Kosher at re:Invent 2017.

So this year - nothing much has changed - there is still no kosher food.. #boo

(This is not last years graphic but taken from the current site)

So again - no Kosher food throughout the day.

Last year, I went on Sunday to one of the Kosher supermarkets, and did some shopping. Every morning I made myself lunch for every day. Better than standing in lines or going out looking for food.

Hot and cold drinks throughout the day are available at the various venues, sometimes there are fresh fruit - and some snacks here and there that have a Kosher certification (OU, OK, Star-K, and many more - depending on what are comfortable with eating)

The Supermarkets were great and they had a wonderful selection of Kosher food

Smith's Food and Drug Store (2211 N. Rampart Blvd.) 25 Minute drive from the Venetian
Albertson's Market (2550 S. Fort Apache). 25 Minute drive from the Venetian.

There is The Jewish Visitor's Guide to Las Vegas guide (downloadable here) which has accurate information as of June 2018.

Here is a list of the Kosher restaurants as of today (please check the sites for up to date information before you go)

Ace of Steaks (5825 W Sahara Ave Unit M. - +1 702-899-4223). Open till 23.00 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 17 minute drive from the Venetian
Anise Tapas and Grill (3100 S Durango Dr. - +1 702-586-4088). Open till 22.00 Sun-.Thurs.
It is about a 20 minute drive from the Venetian

Last year a group of us sat down for a late dinner - the restaurant was empty - but the food was good
King Solomon’s Table (4561 W Flamingo Rd. - +1 725-244-4034). Open till 22.00 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 10 minute drive from the Venetian
Haifa Restaurant (900 E Karen Ave # H102 - +1 702-940-8000). Open till 21.00 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 11 minute drive from the Venetian

Place is in the middle of nowhere - was practically empty - and the food was nothing special
Jerusalem Grill & Bar (4825 W Flamingo Rd. Suite 10 - +1 702-341-5555).
Open till 22.30 Sun.-Thurs. It is about a 11 minute drive from the Venetian.

I had dinner there (twice) - and the food was really good!
Sababa Grille & Restaurant (3220 South Durango Dr. - +1 702-547-5556).
It is about a 20 minute drive from the Venetian
Shawarma Vegas (2521 S Fort Apache Rd. - +1 702-703-7700). Open till 21.00 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 25 minute drive from the Venetian

Shawarma Place - Fast food - was great for a quick meal
Simon & Joe’s (3720 W Tropicana Ave. - +1 702-759-0333). Open till 21.30 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 10 minute drive from the Venetian.

If you are looking for a list of Kosher products - the list from the Ahavas Torah Center has a substantial amount of information.

Shabbat

The conference ends on Friday at around 12:00 which means for most of us that are visiting from outside of the States - that you either leave early - to get back home on time, or fly to family / friends somewhere else in America, or you stay in Vegas for Shabbat.

The Strip is of course not a Shabbat-friendly atmosphere - and there are a number of Jewish Orthodox (I am sure there are other denominations as well - I will only list the ones that I would go to) communities in the area.

If you so wish - many of them have some option of Shabbat hospitality as well

(I have personally spent a Shabbat in at the Young Israel community a good number of years ago) There is a hotel that is quite Shabbat friendly - literally 200 meters from the shul La Quinta Inn - not the best of hotels - but OK for Shabbat, and the community was very nice to invite me for meals.

Last but not least - there is also an Eiruv - http://www.lasvegaskollel.org/las-vegas-west-side-eruv

As we did last year - we have a WhatsApp group with those who are interested in meeting up for meals after a long day, or perhaps organizing a Minyan for Mincha - or just even to say hello.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/IR8hAlhj9vKKG3pWN2SWJQ

Currently there are about 20 people (mostly Israelis - open to all!)

Looking forward to see some old faces and new ones as well next month!

2017-11-22

Keeping Kosher at re:Invent 2017

I hardly mix my professional and personal life here on this blog. I will every now and again throw in some thoughts and feelings from my personal beliefs into my blog posts, when appropriate.

The last time I did a Jewish perspective on a technical conference was VMworld 2014 in San Francisco - VMworld - from a Religious Jewish Orthodox Perspective. It was really interesting to see the comments in the blog post and also the feedback I received on Twitter - which lead me to realization that people are completely unaware of the challenges others face because of the their religious beliefs and faith, and explaining these in a public forum - goes a really long way to help them understand

I was quite surprised that when I reached out the re:Invent team to ask about Kosher food at the event - the answer was that there was none. When I was at VMworld in Vegas (a good number of years ago) there was kosher food as one of the options (I don’t really understand why this was not a possibility at this event). It was actually quite amazing to see some of the looks from the people when I walked past all the lines straight to the “special meals” section without having to wait in line, and more than once.

Sometimes eating Kosher does have its perks.

Back to re:Invent (from the FAQ)

Basically - that means no kosher food throughout the day, which kind of sucks. The good thing about food in the US is that a good portion of the larger product manufacturers already are certified kosher - the most common being the OU. So I assume that some snacks and most of the drinks will not a problem.

So that means for me - bringing my own lunch. Dinner will be in one of the Kosher restaurants in the surrounding neighborhoods. I have never eaten at any of these so I cannot vouch for the quality of their food or their service.

There is also a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at the Venetian / Palazzo that might have a few kosher items during the day, personally I would not bet on it being a good option for lunch.

Here is a list of Kosher restaurants in Las Vegas (and information I took from Google Maps)

Ace of Steaks (5825 W Sahara Ave Unit M. - +1 702-899-4223). Open till 23.00 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 17 minute drive from the Venetian
Anise Tapas and Grill (3100 S Durango Dr. - +1 702-586-4088). Open till 22.00 Sun-.Thurs.
It is about a 20 minute drive from the Venetian
King Solomon’s Table (4561 W Flamingo Rd. - +1 725-244-4034). Open till 22.00 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 10 minute drive from the Venetian
Haifa Restaurant (900 E Karen Ave # H102 - +1 702-940-8000). Open till 21.00 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 11 minute drive from the Venetian
Jerusalem Grill & Bar (4825 W Flamingo Rd. Suite 10 - +1 702-341-5555).
Open till 22.30 Sun.-Thurs. It is about a 11 minute drive from the Venetian.
Sababa Grille & Restaurant (3220 South Durango Dr. - +1 702-547-5556). Op
It is about a 20 minute drive from the Venetian
Shawarma Vegas (2521 S Fort Apache Rd. - +1 702-703-7700). Open till 21.00 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 25 minute drive from the Venetian
Simon & Joe’s (3720 W Tropicana Ave. - +1 702-759-0333). Open till 21.30 Sun.-Thurs.
It is about a 10 minute drive from the Venetian.

Kosher Supermarkets (these are much further out - but have a good Kosher selection)

Albertson's Market (2550 S. Fort Apache). 25 Minute drive from the Venetian.
Smith's Food and Drug Store (2211 N. Rampart Blvd.) 25 Minute drive from the Venetian

Last but not least.

Eating alone sucks - it really does. I know for a fact that there will be a good number of people who eat only Kosher at re:Invent - but no real way to contact one another while at the event.

I have opened up a WhatsApp group - where you can feel free to ask if someone would like to go out for a kosher dinner on one of the evenings.

Please feel free to join in and share this information with whomever you feel it might useful.

Click on the link below to join the group and join someone for dinner.

See you all in Vegas next week!!