Dessert eased physical and psychic pain — homemade vanilla bean ice cream on banana bread pudding (as good as his mum's, David said, $6). A delicious dish of crème brûlée infused with chai ($7). A so-so chocolate cheesecake ($8) and a mousse-like carrot cake with its cream-cheese frosting dotted in little islands around it, with pistachio crunch ice cream ($9). These arrived with six spoons and six forks lovingly arranged to look like silvery waves... or aggressively racing sperm...
We looked around and evaluated the décor. Very college cafeteria: molded chairs, glass-topped tables, three too many TV screens. There was barely a pliable or inviting surface, acoustics like an echo chamber. And the special treat we'd been so looking forward to, a "side dish" of intellectual chat with Dr. Marla Reis (a session at Emunah is "a casual conversation with a professional source," Reis had been quoted as saying), wasn't available — Reis was there only during the day, it turned out, and the deal was really more like psychotherapy than a spiritual rap session.
I hear that Reis and Lipszyc want to franchise the Emunah concept. No doubt investors are already lining up, waving their applications. Look forward to a line of mystical Emunah home accessories, books on tape, DVDs — just about everything you'll need to be fully outfitted for your spiritual journey. A spoonful of craven business savvy really rounds out the flavor profile of your quest for enlightenment, doesn't it? That's a Secret I'm happy to pass along for free.
