Comments on: Milk Street Cafe kosher again

By: Ari

Ari — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:30:21 +0000

I agree it would be very unusual for a proprietor to suddenly fire his kashrut certifier on a Friday morning without first having lined up a replacement. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the ORC dropped Milk Street for kashrut violations. It could be that the ORC dropped Milk Street for non-kashrut related violations (e.g., intolerable working conditions for the mashgichim, lack of a working relationship between the parties, etc., not to imply that either of those was the case). It could also be that Milk Street wanted to line up another hashgacha, but perhaps no one would talk to them as long as they were under another agency. Or, it could be that the mashgiach (or one of the mashgichim) got fed up with Milk Street for some reason at the last minute and just walked off the job; since Milk Street is required by its lease to be open every business day, they may have decided to stay open and fire the ORC for that reason.

Again, I don’t mean to imply that I know anything about the situation (indeed, I don’t know anything about what happened aside from what has been reported here). I’m just saying that the mere fact that the relationship ended on a Friday morning does NOT necessarily imply that the ORC dropped Milk Street for kashrut violations. I have merely provided a few alternative scenarios to illustrate my point.

By: c

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:01:15 +0000

Why all the speculation? It can’t be that difficult to get Rabbi Civiyak’s number. He’s a pretty direct fellow and probably won’t beat around the bush.

I tried talking to his son Mayer, but he wasn’t eager to discuss what happened. But he did NOT tell me that he was dropped, or that the relationship ended by mutual agreement. And I don’t believe that Milk Street Cafe dropped them at 4 in the morning on a Friday with no fallback hechsher lined up. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

By: a

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:11:27 +0000

I think you aren’t choosing your words very carefully. Thats an accusation with ZERO evidence. I am almost 100% sure that they were dropped.

By: B

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:16:28 +0000

Of course they were dropped. What kosher restaurant drops a hashgacha without securing a new one first? They were clearly dropped for kashrut violations.

By: a

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:00:03 +0000

The ORC didn’t drop them. The proprietor decided to change.

By: B

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:28:20 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. Although most people only saw 1 mashgiach (the guy out front), there were in fact 3 of them working.

In addition, do we know anything about the specific kashrut issues that caused the ORC to drop them and how R’ Gewirtz is addressing them?

By: Roger

Roger — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:31:23 +0000

Milk Street is a very complicated kashrut operation because there is milk, meat (for corporate catering) and pareve all in one location. This is one case where there is a clear need for a mashgiach temidi. Does anyone know if Rabbi G. has someone on-site?

Also, did Rabbi G. feel the need to kasher the entire place after there was no kashrut supervision for a day or two, or did he rely on the say-so of the owner that everything was A-ok for the meanwhile?

By: sally hymm

sally hymm — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:54:02 +0000

thank god!!! i love that place

By: B

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:07:39 +0000

Anyone have any more details on in what manner R’ Gewirtz is providing supervision? I don’t imagine he is on site all day like the ORC mashgiach was. What processes has he put in place to ensure compliance? Is there any actual supervision going on or is this simply a personal approval of the restaurant owner?

As a side note, the Milk St manager told me that he is hoping to be under the KVH within a few days.

By: Jewish Boston

Jewish Boston — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:05:18 +0000

Rabbi Gewirtz of Young Israel in Brookline is providing hashgacha temporarily – see http://groups.google.com/group/jewish-boston/browse_thread/thread/7bc7f666f5538223