Written by: Daisy Waldman

We all have different stories about the way we love, and the way we do Friday night. These couples share with us how they’ve made it their own.

Couples Who Bake Together, Stay Together

Remember Kate and Jason? They were in one of OneTable’s videos last year, and still cooking up a storm with everything we’re craving.

“Funny enough, we met at a Shabbat dinner! People kept telling me to ‘go talk to Jason, he’s in architecture,” and telling Jason to “go talk to Kate, she’s in architecture.’ One of the first times we hosted Shabbat dinner, we prepared an Italian themed meal. Homemade pasta, homemade sauce, homemade chocolate truffles (not sure if the latter is particularly Italian; maybe it was just a Kate’s-Favorite-Foods themed dinner). We made an absolute mess of the kitchen with the pasta maker—flour everywhere—but when you’re sharing with lots of friends, it’s worth the mess. On Friday night the real YOU gets to come out. Stressed out, professional, busy you is put aside. One time, the ‘real us’ was actually us in costume as Bob and Linda Blecher from Bob’s Burgers at a themed Friday night dinner we hosted. The ‘Home for the Challah Days’ burger resulted in me baking challah until midnight the night before. I made something like 24 challah buns, in addition to a few full-sized loaves. THAT is love.”

[Kate and Jason G]

Unlikely Encounters and Exotic Foods

Lonnie and Yuval are foodies who like to be adventurous in menus and themes, and even – guests.

“We met like every other couple meets these days – at a piano bar singing show tunes. On Fridays, we get back home from work, usually have a drink together and then hopefully take a nap. Shabbat dinner with friends follows. We’re all about the food. We go to the Union Square Greenmarket, to the discount cheese shop, to the coffee roasters, pay a visit to the co-op for bulk foods. If we’re feeling adventurous we’ll explore Chinatown markets or other parts of the city that we don’t know. Then go home and cook for ourselves and our friends. For the Oscars, we’re all going to be bedazzling clothing garments on Friday night. For Halloween we did a pumpkin carving Shabbat. We had a pizza and Transparent season two binge party. One time, due to a glitch in the system, someone who we didn’t know was confirmed for dinner and given our address. She knocked on the doors and there was a second of bewilderment all around. I thought she was Lonnie’s friend, and he thought she was mine. She ended up staying for dinner and it was a lot of fun. Now she’s our roommate! Just kidding.”

[Lonnie G & Yuval M]

Love, Loss, and Community

Ilana loved Shabbat customs with her husband Nathan. Starting over with the help of community, she gets a little help from her friends. 

“Nathan and I hit it off at his 20^th birthday party at Washington University in St. Louis. We grew up Jewishly, but differently. Together, we developed Shabbat traditions that worked for us. Sometimes it was eating gefilte fish with my Orthodox cousins, other times it was hosting a 14-person friends potluck with the community we built for ourselves. Often, we’d spend Friday night just the two of us eating takeout at our coffee table, reflecting on our week and planning our weekend. But we’d always start by lighting Shabbat candles. For our wedding we registered for a set of candlesticks and ended up with six or seven pairs – so we created a candlestick rotation! When Nathan died unexpectedly, I couldn’t bring myself to light candles in my own space, knowing that one candle was for someone who was no longer with me. Finding a community [at OneTable] helped add some sweetness back into what had become a bittersweet ritual.”

[Ilana & Nathan O]