The Bloom’s Story, 1920–2010

Noshtalgia
Fox, Pam

We who dined there will always remember our favourite dishes and perhaps even more so, those waiters who always had the last word about everything. But, at its heart are our roots. This is a remarkable tale which, significantly, is deeply entwined in the wider story of the Jewish East End experience – and beyond. Pam Fox has collected wonderful personal testimonies and meticulously explored written archives, but perhaps even more to my taste – this book offers up an almost tangible memory of the classic heimische food , and the legendary wit of the Bloom’s staff, and its customers!
Alan Dein, historian and prize-winning broadcaster

This book tells the ninety-year history of Blooms, both its internationally renowned restaurants and its factory, which initially supplied traditional kosher butchers and delicatessens across the capital and later stocked supermarket shelves up and down the country with kosher products. The book captures the iconic atmosphere of Bloom’s Aldgate restaurant, the self-styled ‘Most Famous Kosher Restaurant in Great Britain,’ and reveals the inner workings of one of the country’s foremost manufacturers of kosher meat products, still in demand today.

The book charts the chronological evolution of Blooms from its beginnings in 1920 in Brick Lane, to the eventual closure of the Golders Green restaurant in 2010. It also explores the different aspects of the Bloom’s enterprise: its staff, including the legendary waiters who have a chapter of their own, the customers and the food, and sheds light on the fascinating dynamics of a family-run business. The rich history of the firm unfolds against the backdrop of social, economic and technological changes.

The book concludes with a detailed analysis of Bloom’s historical significance – the part it played in supporting assimilation, the reasons for the rise and demise of the firm, why it was a very British phenomenon – before examining Bloom’s many legacies and the future of heimische food, for which Bloom’s flew the flag for so many years.

260 pages 117  black and white and 13 colour illustrations  paperback

Copyright: 30/04/2242