Bringing More To The Table

The kosher chicken case at the new Whole Foods market on the Upper West Side. courtesy Whole foods

The kosher chicken case at the new Whole Foods market on the Upper West Side. courtesy Whole foods

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

Just in time for the Jewish new year, local food vendors are pumping up their kosher offerings.
Two weeks ago, Whole Foods Market opened a new Upper West Side location, where staff members pay added attention to the needs of the largely observant local Jewish community. Meanwhile, the owners of Kosher.com have re-launched their Web site, spruced up with blogs, recipes and cooking shows in addition to the food orders. And in Midtown, several new kosher restaurants have just opened, including Schnitzel Express, Lunchbox and a revamped Mr. Broadway now acceptable to the Health Department.
At the new Whole Foods, located on the corner of Columbus Avenue and 97th Street, Andrew Roberts, the grocery’s regional prepared foods coordinator, is diverging from the Whole Foods norm.

Unlike at the other stores, where kosher products are mostly mixed among others, Roberts has sectioned off an area for kosher prepared foods only, next to the store’s regular dairy section.
“We’ve consolidated all the kosher products,” Roberts said. “I’m also taking a look at opening this up a bit more to vendors suggested by people in the neighborhood.”
Thus far, the prepared foods are dominated by two brands — Foremost Fresh Caterers and Zayda’s — and include a variety of Mediterranean salads, as well as ratatouille and traditional Ashkenazi foods like kugel and mushroom barley soup.
As with other Whole Foods, the new store adheres to specific ethical standards, such as the Animal Compassion Act. Spices can’t be irradiated, eggs have to be cage-free, vegetables have to be pesticide-free and flours must be un-bromated, according to Whole Foods codes. This location is the first Whole Foods home to Kosher Valley Chicken, glatt kosher poultry certified by Rabbi Yechiel Babad and the Orthodox Union.
“We try to create an environment for the animal that creates the least stress for it,” said Roberts, who thinks that most other regional Whole Foods will soon have the Kosher Valley Chicken.
Next to the new grocery store is a separate Whole Foods wine store, which stocks 28 varieties of kosher wine.
“Kosher selections were so well-represented in the neighborhood, so we went with the idea that we’d find kosher wines that are not readily available in New York City,” said Melanie Mann, wine buyer.
For Rosh HaShanah and the post-Yom Kippur break-fast, Whole Foods offers an extensive catering menu of kosher-style prepared foods, like brisket, rotisserie chicken and kugel — but only the challah is actually kosher.
For those who want a huge variety of strictly kosher items, three-year-old Kosher.com has revamped its online grocery store, now offering over 15,000 items including fresh baked goods, according to Jamie Geller, the site’s “Chief Foodie Officer” and vice president of marketing and content.
Kosher.com, like Internet supermarket giant Fresh Direct, delivers to the New York metro area, and it also offers both FedEx and private carrier shipping options to those who live outside the region. And Geller guarantees that prices are competitive with those at local grocery stores — but as far as convenience, she says, there’s no competition.
“If you have 10 kids or you’re working 10-hour days people want the convenience to be able to click and get their food,” Geller said. “And here the content really enhances the shopping experience.”
The new site includes blog posts, links to the Kosher.com Twitter account and Geller’s own regular cooking show called “Quick & Kosher with Jamie Geller.” Within the month, writers will launch a column called “Eating Kosher on a Budget,” aimed specifically at helping with planning events like a break-fast, Geller said.
Customers will also be able to contribute their own, user-generated content in a manner similar to the setup on AllRecipes.com, she explained. By becoming members of the Web site, customers will have the opportunity to suggest new ideas, comment and review products and upload their own recipes.
“Your grandma’s brisket, put it up there,” Geller said. “We’re really creating that type of community for the kosher consumer.”