Linda out front at Belinda's, checking to see that the customers are happy.

Belinda's is a dairy and fish restaurant that seats about 30 people inside and many more outside on the sidewalk. The food is good and fresh and made on the premises. Linda Asher explains that when she moved her sandwich bar from a smaller location on Hillel Street to this larger spot, "I had more space, so was able to add more items like soups, quiche, lasagna and schmalz herring to the menu." The sandwiches themselves are unusual and tasty. Blue cheese with walnuts, and feta cheese with roast vegetables, are two examples. The homemade chutney and cheese sandwich is one of Linda's favorites.

Linda is not a vegetarian, though she prefers cooking milchike (dairy). Like many of her clientele, Linda sees the importance of healthy cooking, and a definite increase of people's awareness of healthy eating in Jerusalem. Customers ask if the soup was made with soup powder (which it isn't, only fresh ingredients), or if the flour in the chocolate chip cookies is white or brown (both are available). The number of health-food shops in Jerusalem is growing. The clientele seem to include people from all backgrounds; religious and non- religious, olim and vatikim. Belinda's offers outside catering in the line of sandwich platters for office parties or similar functions, "where there is a growing demand for healthy food. This growing health consciousness" Linda explains, "extends beyond only a healthier diet. People take yoga classes and turn to alternate and preventative medicine more than before."

There was never doubt of Linda's coming to Israel. Coming from a modern Orthodox family, she attended a Jewish Day School in Manchester; excelled in her 11+ placement exam, and therefore went on to a non-Jewish high school. This was complemented by ' heder ' and Bnei Akiva. Linda's culinary career started early, Management at the Hollings Hotel and Catering School in Manchester and the Corden Bleu in London. When she came to Jerusalem in 1982 it was to the Laromme Hotel where she worked for a number of years. Linda tells of how she has tried periodically to escape from the food business. A stint in import and export of raw materials for cosmetics and as an executive secretary are two examples, but the intensive, demanding world of cooking and catering has kept on drawing her back.

Why Belinda? "Well, in Hebrew it is Ba-Linda . (At Linda's)" A more homey version of chez or the Hebrew direct translation, " etzel ." A homey name for a nice homey spot.

by Frank Zabow