With
ramen and
tacos now considered haute cuisine, oft-disparaged Jewish classics—from gefilte fish to matzo ball soup—are getting a revival of their own. A new generation of foodies in New York City is fine-tuning the foods
bubbe once made, giving progressive diners new reasons to declare “L’chayim!”
Kutsher’s Tribeca: Kutsher’s Tribeca, the latest venture from Jeffrey Chodorow (Asia de Cuba), puts a high-end spin on deli classics. Instead of kasha dotting the varnishkes, there’s quinoa; celery soda is
made in-house rather than coming from a can; roast chicken is brined in a soy sauce marinade; and the gefilte fish is actually wild halibut. The space reflects this straddling of time and place—it’s part ’60s retro, part sleek Scandinavian—but it seems that eaters
don’t mind the update. Despite its downtown address, the restaurant isn’t serving matzo ball soup with a spoonful of irony—the restaurant is owned by Zach Kutsher, whose family runs the
iconic eponymous Catskills resort.
Zucker Bakery: With its shabby-chic couches, mounted deer head, and Stumptown coffee,
Zucker Bakery could be confused with any of the trendy bakeries that dot the East Village. But instead of baguettes and croissants, its display case is stocked with the chocolate babka, challah, and rugelach enjoyed by chef owner Zohar Zohar during her
Israeli childhood. Not all desserts are strictly traditional, however. The honey cake typically served to celebrate Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) is reinterpreted as a cookie. While many recipes have been passed down through several generations, the Love Loaf (thick slices of a dried fruit and nut paste) actually comes from the oven of Zohar’s mother.
The Gefilteria: Now that food trucks have staked their claim on gourmet eating,
The Gefilteria hopes pushcarts are next. The Eastern European-influenced artisan food startup aims to “bring our foods out of the jar and back to the street.” That includes small batches of all-beet borscht, black-and-white cookie sticks (“because the perfect bite is always the middle”), ginger kvass, and, of course, gefilte fish. Just in time for next month’s holiday, the Brooklyn outfit’s
DIY Passover Kit includes sustainably sourced fish and a few other ingredients to make the perfect Seder loaf. New Yorkers can look forward to more noshing this summer, when Gefilteria will appear
at Smorgasburg and Hester Street Fair.
