In a small, packed room in Los Feliz, young Jewish writers, artists and hipsters with beards, Buddy Holly glasses and a fair amount of flannel sit down to Shabbat dinner.

It's the last Friday in January, and about 30 self-proclaimed "East Side Jews" are putting an urban spin on the Jewish day of rest. Instead of spending it with their families at home, they have crowded into a homey restaurant with friends, old and new.

There is no lace tablecloth here, none of the fancy candlesticks or special tapers associated with a traditional Shabbat meal.

The fundamentals of the ancient ritual mix with newfangled flourishes: A woman recites three traditional prayers over two tiny tea lights; the prayers are traditional, the tea lights are not. The small Kiddush cup filled with wine and the sesame Challah bread? Traditional. The very humble brown bag that looks like it was snagged from a Vons deli holding the bread? Not a chance.

One man wears a kippah, while another explains that he doesn't believe in God. A waiter places a not-so-kosher BLT sandwich on one of the tables, while others mix dairy and meat a very un-kosher move.

Outside, in the drizzling rain, others wait in the cold. Soon they are sent packing to the rain-soaked patio, like churchgoers told that the House of God is sold out tonight.

Some lean against the white doorway, crossing their arms and rolling their eyes, noticeably annoyed that they sat in traffic for two hours or dragged their conservative parents through the downpour just to eat outside.

"We came all the way from Torrance and we can't get a seat," a bearded man grumbles while he waits.

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They call themselves East Side Jews, a nondenominational collective that welcomes people of all faiths and seeks to explore spirituality in unconventional ways.

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