Kosher Blog

Aruba’s First Glatt Kosher Restaurant

This week’s “Kosher Today” newsletter reports that a glatt kosher restaurant has opened in Aruba, Kineret Aruba Glatt Kosher Deli:

Kineret Aruba Glatt Kosher Deli opened on December 30 th at the Playa Linda Beach Resort, amidst the high-rise resort hotels. Carlos Sommerstein, owner of a bagel factory and several bagel stores on the island, said he opened the restaurant after receiving many requests from tourists for kosher food. “I just felt bad to see so many people looking for kosher foods and then decided it was an opportunity as well,” he said. Sommerstein told Kosher Today that the initial response has been “extraordinary.” Kineret opens at 11 for tourists who wish to catch a brunch and stays open until 11 p.m. While he imports most of the kosher foods from the US, including Rubashkin’s and Meal Mart glatt kosher meats, Sommerstein bakes his own bread and bagels. Kineret Aruba also has a take-out department for those tourists who wish to dine in their rooms or want food for the Shabbat. The restaurateur said that he initially had difficulty finding a mashgiach (supervising rabbi) but that he has now retained a rabbi from Buenos Aires and that he was concluding negotiations with the OK Certification to certify his restaurants which has some 40 tables on a magnificent outdoor veranda. “I hope that Aruba will now be a major destination for kosher tourists,” Sommerstein says enthusiastically about his latest venture, which he hopes will be open year-round. He thanked kosher consultant Joshua Shuchatowitz for his help in setting up the venture.

It’s nice to see a kosher establishment take hold in the Carribbean, where flying in pre-made meals from Miami is, as far as I know, the best any hotel can do.

Update: They didn’t receive OK certification.

Claire’s Corner Copia, New Haven, CT (dairy)

Conveniently located between Boston and New York, Claire’s Corner Copia is a vegetarian gem that Yalies, I’m certain, are content in keeping to themselves. On the corner of Chapel and College Streets in New Haven, Claire’s has been dishing out vegetarian cuisine since 1975. It’s easily accessible for a brief stop off of Interstates 91 and 95, but the nearby environs — a mix of boutiques and Yale facilities — certainly warrant a slightly more extended visit, should you have the time. We’ve visited twice in the past several months, most recently during a wintry visit to the New Haven IKEA.

Claire’s completely milchig menu, which spans a giant chalkboard behind the counter, features Italian, Tex-Mex, Middle Eastern, and American dishes. Such a variety of choices makes ordering a daunting task, and newcomers are easily spotted as they gawk in uncertainty (as we did). Hopefully our experiences will make your visit more effective. The Tex-Mex selections are simple reconfigurations of the genre’s basic ingredients (vegetables, cheese, beans, guacamole, rice, and tortillas), plus soy-based “meats” are available for inclusion in your nachos, burritos, quesadillas, etc. Something to note: though we did enjoy our enchiladas and burritos, Claire’s takes its “vegetarian” moniker to an unnecessary level by putting ill-suited vegetables (zucchini, carrot) into their Mexican selections. Pita Sandwiches offer hefty portions of whatever you choose; our falafel was handily shared between two people. The mushroom veggie burger was tasty, if a little dry; adding some mayonaisse helped. Claire’s pizzas are a little different, each made with a large, whole-wheat flatbread, which wasn’t the best at handling sloppy toppings. The BBQ Chicken pizza (with soy chicken chunks, barbecue sauce, red onions, and a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheese) was delicious, but a heftier crust would have made it excellent. Another note: Claire’s uses raw vegetables on their pizza, so avoid the pizza if that’s not to your taste.

Whatever you choose as an entree, be sure to save plenty of room for dessert. Claire’s cakes are phenominal. During our last visit, we treated ourselves to two slices of cake. Their decadent Lithuanian coffee cake is strewn with struesel and covered with delicious butter frosting. The apple cake is very moist with great chunks of apple throughout.

It’s not fancy (counter service), but Claire’s quality food, warm and comfortable atmosphere, and commitment to community (not to mention outstanding desserts) make for a restaurant we’ll return to again and again. It’s certainly the type of place that’s missing in Boston, and a facsimile would doubtlessly do well in a vegetarian-laden college town like ours.

Forward: The ‘Kosher Bachelor’ Finds Fun at Food Fest

Here’s Steven Weiss’s take on KosherFest, published today in the Forward.

More Kosherfest Observations

Large Wheels of Brie
Anderson International Foods, producers of Les Petites Fermieres, Monsey Dairy, and Natural & Kosher brands, offers a full-size wheel of brie (in addition to the more prevalent small 4-inch wheels) under the Petites Fermieres label.

English Cheeses
Atalanta Corp., importer of such kosher cheeses as Barkanit and Danablu, now has a line of kosher English cheeses, including Cheddar, Double Gloucester, and Leicester.

Jeff Nathan
Abigael’s chef Jeff Nathan was at Kosherfest. I’d seen him in print and on TV before, but this is the first time I’ve seen him in person. Despite his stature in the gourmet kosher world, he can’t be more than five feet tall!

Kosher Wines
If you’re an afficionado of kosher wines and spirits, Kosherfest is a great event to visit. Several major winemakers, importers, and distributors were there (Abarbanel, International Kosher, Pribokaar, Roberto Cohen, Tishbi Estate, etc.) offering tastes of their latest and greatest wines and an opportunity to discuss the finer points of oenology.

Fred’s Organic Soups
Not only were these guys friendly, but their soups were delicious. We tried their mushroom barley soup, which tasted very fresh and flavorful, as well as their cold strawberry soup, which would be a great meal starter on a hot summer day. All varieties are vegetarian and organic, but that should preclude you from adding your own meat — perhaps chunks of lamb in the bean/barley, or cooked smokey sausage meat to the split pea — to make a hearty entree.

Predictable Israeli Cheese
I carried all my pamphlets and other materials in a large bag given to me by the Israel Dairy Board, labeled “Israel’s Dairy Delicacies.” The bag pictured several delicious looking cheeses. The Israeli companies exhibiting at Kosherfest, however, seemed to focus almost entirely on feta. Note for next year, guys — we have feta covered here in America. Try something innovative.

Man-o-man … a-missing?
It was a bit strange that Manischewitz didn’t have even a token presence at Kosherfest… not that I would expect them to introduce new products that I’d actually buy. They’d probably offer stuff like “Low-Carb Extra Heavy Malaga,” or cheddar-chipotle gefilte fish. Maybe we’re better off in their absence!

The Story of Decks

This summer, my family and I went up to Tiberias, mostly to go to Decks. Decks is a world famous restaurant with a tremendous reputation for service, quality, and excellence. They have a beautiful spot on the Kineret Sea, with patrons actually sitting on a deck overlooking the lake and the beautiful mountain range. Their specialties include rare mullard (moullard, not mallard, a rare species of duck), Adriatic Sea lamb ribs, cast-iron fillet, and a variety of other delicacies.

When we were seated, the woman mentioned that she would have to give us Hebrew menus and personally translate because there had not yet been English versions translated. I quickly remarked, “Why not? I’ll do it.” The woman almost lost her duck supper. “What?! Are you kidding?” I knew how to take this one. “Of course I will. Plus, I have a degree from an American university, I am an expert in both languages, it’s no problem.” She was ecstactic. “This would take us months, it would be so expensive, I cannot believe this.”

She brought us free drinks. She brought out the most beautiful appetizers. Tasty! Delectable. Unique. Diversity of flavor. It was fantastic. Then, she brought out four different entrees; we shared them among us, and we were all incredibly impressed with the meal. She kept shmoozing with us, complimenting us, she was loving it even more than we were. Mind you, we still had not done anything for her. “But you are all so kind,” she said.

In the middle of the meal, all the lights went dark, a ship came in from the sea with lights flashing and fireworks, and the announcer blasted, “Welcome to the Loike family from New York.” We were having a blast.

After dessert, we asked for the bill, and she said “It’s on the house.” Now we’re talking over $200 for four people. We said at least we need to tip the waitress. “No,” she said, “I’ve done that for you.”

We stayed up until 1 AM, translating the exact style and flavor of the menu into English, making sure to maintain the fine level of the menu, matching the language with the culinary experience.

We also made sure to add in our family’s famous Loike Salad. “A colorful salad with croutons and a pleasant kick,” was the tagline. We decided 36 shekel was a fair price. (The Loike Salad is famous, you’ll know if you’ve tried it.)

So, we told her we included the salad, and she had her executive chef buy all the ingredients. We went into the kitchen, showed them the secrets, and together with the Muslim chefs (who could not taste it because of the balsamic vinegar), we prepared enough salad for the entire restaurant.

That afternoon, when we dropped off the menu, the manager said, “What are you doing tonight?” We said we’re going next door to Pagoda, the famous fine Chinese restaurant, to try that out.

“I OWN Pagoda,” she replied. “You cannot. Come here. Decks is better.” So we did. We came back, and had everything on the menu that we did not try the first night, except the moullard, which we had to have again.

Once again, she would not let us pay, insisting that what we did for her was invaluable. In fact, that night, they were already using our menus. We went up to one of the customers and said, “Excuse me, pardon for asking, but what do you think about the menu?”

“It’s very good,” they said, “Clearly it was not written by an Israeli.”

So that was how we got two free meals from a world-class restaurant. And it why we send people there whenever they go to Israel, insisting that they request the Loike Salad.

Kosherfest Product Reviews

Old Brick English Cider (OU supervision)
I’m not a beer drinker; I’ve never enjoyed its characteristic hoppy bitterness. In college, I took to the alternative malted beverages (Smirnoff Ice, Skyy Blue, etc.) and hard ciders. Cider Jack was the most typical cider available, but after graduating, I began to discover other brands — Magner’s from Ireland, Strongbow from England, and Woodchuck from Vermont. Strongbow’s my favorite, but I’ve never been certain about the kashrut issues surrounding cider beverages. Fortunately, Old Brick English Cider is not only kosher, but kosher for Passover. It’s tasty, too, despite having a label that looks like it was printed up on a personal computer.

Mirsa Smoked Salmon (OK supervision)
Thanks to what they calls the “neo-classical” way of smoking salmon, Mirsa, Inc. offers perhaps the best salmon products I’ve ever tasted. The fish was moist, tender, and flavorful, lightly smoked and not “fishy” at all. Keith Regan, Director of Sales, explained that most smoked salmon producers use a lower quality of fish, which they make up for by using an overkill smoking process. Mirsa, on the other hand, chooses only the finest Atlantic salmon and adds only enough spice and smoke to bring out its inner flavor. Not only have they mastered plain salmon, but they offer a line of innovatively (but naturally) flavored salmons as well — tri-peppered vodka; tequila, jalapeno, and cilantro; honey whiskey; pastrami; ginger; and pesto, to name a few.

Elegant Desserts by Metro (Central Rabbinical Congress supervision)
These guys have mastered pareve desserts so completely, you wouldn’t know they were non-dairy unless you were told twice. We just sampled their “ice cream” — the peanut butter & jelly flavor was a trip — but their displays of cakes, sorbet-filled fruit, chocolates, and pastries looked like delicious ends to any elegant fleishig meal. With any luck, they’ll be available retail soon… maybe in Boston?

Allied Food Products Soup Bases (OU supervision)
If you’ve read this year’s wish list, you know I’m dying to find kosher beef and fish stocks. These guys are exclusively in the industrial sector, producing premium, regular, and low-sodium soup bases (chicken, beef, fish, vegetable, mushroom) under the brands “Concert” and “E&S” — but maybe through my casual urging, they’ll spring into retail.

Cinnabon Cinnapretzel
Bavarian Brothers Gorumet Foods has licensed the Cinnabon concept and introduced a tasty amalgamation of a cinnamon bun and a pretzel — the cinnapretzel. I wasn’t amazed by the product — it was a faint glimmer of the true (treyf) Cinnabon. It’s too bad they’re not just marketing a kosherized Cinnabon cinnamon roll with all the buttery badness of the original. If Cinnabon’s ingredients were kosher, there could be a good franchise opportunity available.

The KosherBord
All in all, this ~$200 collection of six wooden cutting boards is primarily fancy marketing. Anyone can go out, buy six cutting boards, and label each for use in a kosher kitchen. What is nice about KosherBord is the metal rack used to organize them — a well-designed, compact storage solution. I did learn an interesting tidbit, too. Apparently, according to UC Davis microbiologist Dean Cliver, wood cutting boards are actually safer than plastic cutting boards.

Soda Club Home Soda Maker
I’d seen this gadget advertised on Yahoo before, and given my very specific taste for Diet Coke and Tab, I never thought a generic soda machine would do it for me. At Kosherfest, I had a chance to try Soda Club’s homemade soda, and in all honesty, its diet cola was pretty good. With the significant cost savings over commercial soda (plus their use of Splenda over other artificial sweetners), even a diehard diet soda fanatic could consider switching.

EJ’s Chicago Style Deep Dish
So, maybe we didn’t get to try the pizza. And maybe we didn’t even get a pamphlet about the pizza. But this frozen pizza product really looked good, and if it ever makes it to Boston, I’d gladly buy one and compare to my vivid memories of Pizzeria Uno.

Reena’s Indian Meals
Reena “The Curry Queen” and Vinod Pushkarna have become household names in Israel, the most prominent Indian immigrants to Israel since introducing their line of ethnic food to the Jewish state. Their company, Presko Food Industries, has this year signed a contract with the government to provide Indian meals to the IDF. They’re now expanding into the U.S., and their range of products — from samosas to tikka masala — are very appealing, and would be a welcome addition to the kosher “heat and eat” scene.

The Sausage Scene
I refuse to devote a heading to Empire’s new “Gourmet Chicken Sausages”… largely because they stink, but especially because our friends at Neshama Gourmet have a product line leaps and bounds better. The Empire sausages were merely glorified chicken hot dogs… and simply too dry to enjoy. Luckily, Evelyn Baran of Neshama indulged us with her full ranges of sausages. Most exciting was her introduction of a kosher andouille sausage, perfect for jambalaya and other creole applications. I’m trying to arrange (with several other aficionados) a big sausage order with Neshama’s N.Y. distributor, so we can get an ad-hoc supply of these great sausages in Boston. If you’re interested, drop me a line.

The Geek Guide to Kosher Machines

Rajiv writes in to share that Wired Magazine’s current issue (Volume 12, Issue 11) “has an article on an engineer working for the
Star-K [Jonah Ottensoser] and how he works to certify appliances.”

It’s a good article (by Michael Erard), though he liberally uses superfluous godspeak: “… certifying that the movement of every electron in an appliance is sanctioned by God.”

If you’re interested in learning more, Ottensoser has an article published on the Star-K website about the “Sabbath Mode.” The Star-K also has detailed information about Sabbath-sensitive appliances, including purchasing advice.

Off to Kosherfest

Okay, I’m off to Kosherfest. Complete report to follow.

Bruno, Tel Aviv (mediterranean upscale)

I’m going to come out and say it right off the bat: Bruno was our favorite dining experience of all during our trip to Israel, and proved without a doubt that there’s great kosher dining in Tel Aviv.

Bruno is located on the third floor of the mall which makes up the base of the lively Azrieli Center — just take the escalators all the way up. The restaurant itself has two floors, the second of which was filled with a Ministry of Defense dinner (strange trend, eh?). Though we didn’t have a reservation, we got a great table right by the open kitchen where we could watch live grilling action, and fresh loaves emerging from their brick oven.

The hostess caught on that we spoke English, so she sent over Bruno’s best English-speaking waitress — beyond the food, she was a big reason we loved this restaurant. After being seated, she explained the make-up of their prix fixe meal: a wide selection of small appetizer dishes, salad, a sizzling mound of grilled meats, and dessert.

The appetizer selection was quite clever: six individual square dishes, refilled as often as necessary, of such things as roasted peppers, pickled fish, perfectly-done baby asparagus, mushrooms, and a strange Israeli vegetable that was like a thin, extra-long green bean. We were also served hot flat bread (for some reason, they call it foccacia, though it was quite like Indian nan) — excellent — and a mild hummus that I’m certain wasn’t made from chick peas (perhaps cannelini beans?) which was a refreshing change from the typical garlic-ridden varieties typically served in Israel. We had to seriously restrain ourselves from filling up on these delicious starters.

Next came salad and a surprising roasted eggplant dish. I’m not usually into eggplant unless it’s deep-fried and covered with sauce and cheese, but this dish made me an aubergine aficionado. Two petite roasred eggplants, split open, and served with a cool, smooth sauce — wow.

When the meat arrived, we were uncertain how much more we could eat, but, boy, did we. A large butcher-block slab was placed on our table stacked high with roasted potato wedges, roasted chicken, grilled steak, lamb kebabs, and a hunk of prime rib (an optional addition). Though the beef was cooked more than I usually like it, I ate heartily and happily. One thing to be aware of — your meat will be served along with a single fried egg; no idea why.

Dessert was a spectacle in and of itself. Since we were first-timers, and had by now established a good repore with our waitress, she treated us to an assortment of their available desserts: one large plate of molten chocolate souffles, a sorbet assortment (mint, coconut, and melon), and a stewed pear. The only downside to dessert was the pear, which was difficult to cut into with just a spoon.

Not only did our wonderful waitress pack up all the meat we couldn’t finish, she also snuck in four more delicious chocolate souffles, ready to pop into the oven for the Shabbat dinner we would share with our friends that weekend.

I’d say that if you have one restaurant to enjoy in Tel Aviv, make it Bruno, and sit by the kitchen.

L’Alhambra, Jaffa

After reading the reviews on eLuna.com, I thought L’Alhambra in Jaffa would be a splendid spot for us to enjoy our first anniversary dinner. They have an online form for making reservations (doing so is recommended), but we asked the concierge at our hotel to call for us, which was very helpful.

When we arrived after a short taxi ride, we were promptly seated in a cozy table on the tastefully decorated second floor. The restaurant wasn’t crowded, but soon filled up with a larger gathering in the private room and a group that seemed like a Ministry of Defense consulting meeting.

Our meal began with bread and the house pates (eggplant, salmon, and liver). Though the pates were interesting, the rolls were mediocre. Guys, work on your bread: the first thing you serve your guests had better be spectacular — otherwise, don’t bother.

Now, I know we’ve discussed the unfortunate living conditions which provide us with fattened goose liver, but I must admit that I heartily took up the opportunity to try foie gras — just once. For an appetizer, I enjoyed four healthy slices of pate with toast rounds and a delicious apple chutney. The foie gras pate was like butter. Imagine chicken liver but incredibly mild and creamy.

Sarah, taken aback by all the liver-infused appetizer selections, stuck with a simple salad.

I wrestled between choosing lamb or beef for an entree and ultimately chose the beef filet served with mushrooms, sage, and red wine sauce. Each component of the meal was perfectly cooked. Sarah’s choice was the grilled chicken breast in balsamic sauce and hot goose liver, served over eggplant. In her words, the chicken was “ordinary,” but the eggplant and sauce were excellent. She especially liked the large potato pancake served with our meals.

Dessert consisted of creme caramel and peach “pie” (actually a tart), which were fine conclusions to our meals.

After dessert and coffee were served, the piano player started playing “happy birthday” and a dish of ice cream with a sparkler in it emerged from the kitchen. I looked around to find the table it might belong to as it moved in our direction. I gave Sarah a puzzled look as it was placed between us. I responded to the unexpected gesture with a smile and a nod. “A birthday? Yes, yes, sure!”

Sarah theorized that they confused “anniversary” (mentioned in my electronic reservation) with the French “anniversaire,” or “birthday.” In any case, it was very nice.

L’Alhambra gets high marks for good service, quality food, and elegant decor. However, it was a challenge, as we experienced at several Israeli restaurants, to get our bill. Perhaps folks in the holy land like to spend an inordinate amount of time lounging before paying. We also both thought that the lighting would have been more romantic if it was dimmer, something the eLuna reviewers didn’t mind. Another thing to keep in mind when eating out is having cash on hand for tipping. Several establishments either did not include a “tip” line on the credit card slip or, like L’Alhambra, insisted on cash.

(One potentially important thing to note: the ‘glatt’ in ‘glatt kosher’ on the sign outside seems to have been recently removed.)