law of kashrut The Hebrew words for kosher are numerous and accurate. Precept-observant Jews are forbidden to eat the meat of animals that do not have cloven hooves and chew the cud (most obviously pigs, but also hares, horses, and even camels).
Shellfish should not be eaten, and foods containing meat cannot be eaten with dairy products. Observant Jews don’t pile meat on a plate with dairy products. They use two sets of plates and silverware, and two sets of tablecloths.
Converting a non-kosher restaurant to a kosher restaurant takes a tremendous amount of effort. Still, one St. Charles restaurant pulled out all the stops for one night of dinner last week.
Novelas, located at the north end of the Historic Main Street District, is typically open for breakfast and lunch only, and serves drinks and snacks in the evening. The menu features a lot of bacon and sausage, and three cases of bacon are used each week. It also includes other non-kosher items, such as a cheeseburger (mixed with meat and milk) and crab and lobster dip (with two types of shellfish).
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Last Wednesday, we became a kosher restaurant for a good cause.
“I was home alone on Sunday when Hamas was pulling this big prank, and I was lying there crying,” co-owner Bob Afholder said.
“I thought, ‘What should I do? I have to do something.'”
Although the restaurant owner is not Jewish, Afholder grew up in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Creve Coeur and has many Jewish friends and mentors. He decided to collect money for Israel and send it to Kollel Chabad, the country’s charity that feeds the hungry. Now he also feeds the families of those affected by the war.
At Novellas, racks of non-kosher food are covered with plastic wrap while the restaurant prepares for kosher night. Photographed by Daniel Neman on October 24, 2023.
Written by Daniel Neiman
The evening session had two seats and tickets cost $100 each, and sold out in two hours. Donations are also coming in, and Afholder’s Charitable Foundation will match all donations up to a total of $50,000.
After Afholder came up with the idea, he had to convince his two co-owners. They didn’t need much convincing.
“We’re exposed to so much negativity in the world, and now we’re seeing some light,” says his son Brett, one of the co-owners.
“There’s a ripple effect. One person thinks and comes up with an idea. And another person believes it. I tell two people, they tell two people, and then at the end of the tunnel. I see the light,” he says.
“That gives me reason to believe that humanity as a whole is good.”
Joe Ankmon, another co-owner, said he “didn’t hesitate” when Afholder called him.
“This has to happen,” he says. “It was up to me to make it happen.”
To find out what needed to be done, Ankhmon and Afholder met with Rabbi Chaim A. Landa, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Center of St. Charles County, and his wife Bassi. He explained all the steps they needed to take and somehow the entire meal plan came together in just 2 weeks.
“It was quite an effort, but if you put it in the context of why we’re doing it, it doesn’t matter,” Ankmon says.
Last Monday, the restaurant closed at 3pm as usual and then work started. They finished work for the day at 1 a.m., went to work on Tuesday, were able to work because the restaurant was closed that day, and worked into the evening. Dinner was on a Wednesday, and on Thursday morning, the restaurant was open again at regular hours.
Rabbi Itzi Kowalski of Vaad Whale in St. Louis oversaw the process. The oven needed to be thoroughly cleaned and restored to its original condition. To cleanse the stove grate, it was necessary to heat it as high as possible. Pots, knives, and other utensils used had to be thoroughly cleaned. Kowalski used a drill with a wire brush to make them shine.
Dinner was served on high quality paper plates with durable plastic utensils so we didn’t have to bring in new plates or silverware. Kosher meat and other foods were brought in and kept strictly separated from other non-kosher foods in walk-in refrigerators and freezers. The chef also used kosher-certified spices. Kitchen items that were not part of the evening meal (everything from trash bags to shower curtains) were covered in plastic so could not be used.
The menu was limited but ambitious. Appetizers included egg rolls, chopped liver, potato knish, baba ganoush, and hummus. Dessert was a kosher, dairy-free chocolate puff.
Three entrees were served: Roast Ribeye, Serve Aujus Horseradish and Hunter-style green beans (with tomatoes). Dijon-crusted roasted salmon fillet. Vegetarian kosher charcuterie board with baba ganoush, tahini, roasted squash, roasted carrots and pita.
Jeffrey Newton, a former New Jersey chef, says this isn’t the first time he’s cooked kosher in his kitchen.
“It’s a process. It’s like cooking. If you don’t follow the process, you won’t get the end result you’re looking for,” he says.
Landa said the purpose of the night was to show Israelis that they are not alone. All the effort was worth it, he says.
“It’s easy to focus on hate and darkness. It’s uplifting to see beautiful people like the owners of Novelas and the entire St. Charles community supporting projects like this,” he said. say.
Donations to the Novellus fundraiser for Colel Chabad can be made below. Colelchabad.donorsupport.co/page/FUNURVXPSNR.
A storyteller and photographer explain what led them to participate in “Being Jewish in St. Charles,” an ongoing photo exhibit at the Foundry Arts Center.Video by Tracy Jane for Chabad Jewish Center of St. Charles County
People packed into the gymnasium at The J in Creve Coeur to participate in the Israel Solidarity Program hosted by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.
