Kitchen Search

News Editor

IV

anted: a good home for
two kosher restaurants,
preferably in West
Bloomfield.
Location, say two local chefs, is the
only obstacle between them and their
highly-anticipated kosher ventures.
Both already have the blessing of the
Council of Orthodox Rabbis for
kosher certification and supervision.
Matt Prentice of Unique Restaurant
Corporation and Paul Kohn of Quali-
ty Kosher Catering still Oar% to•open
.milchig, or dairy, eateries next summer,
but both have been stymied by their
failure to find the space they're look-
ing for.
Prentice says he has "a few things in
the fire," but he wouldn't disclose any
potential locations: He also noted that
he may find an ideal spot by default.
"Typically, in January, if restaurants
are on the edge, that's the time they
go down," he says. "I would go north
of 14, south of Pontiac Trail, and it's
got to be on Orchard Lake. Those _are
the criteria. There are an awful lot of
restaurants and lease spaces there that
I should be able to tap into." Prentice
says he's got a few brokers working on
the project.
Kohn, a gourmand who is consid-
ered the premier kosher caterer in
town, said he may be forced to push
back the opening ofhis Italian restau-
rant if he can't find a good place for it.
"On the one hand, I don't necessar-
ily need an on-the-street location —
we expect to be a 'destination.' On the
other hand, I'd like to be in West
Bloomfield or in that neighborhood.
Plus, a kosher restaurant that's going
to succeed and be "competitive can't be
in a very high-rent district," Kohn
said.
Runior had it that Prentice planned
to open a kosher restaurant at the cor-
ner of Maple and Orchard Lake roads,
the former site of an upscale barbecue
joint called Memphis Smoke. And
while he did buy the space, he plans
to reincarnate it as the Flying Fish
Tavern early this year.
"I looked at it at first for the kosher
restaurant, but it doesn't have enough
kitchen space and the amount I
would've had to spend would have
been tremendous," he says. Prentice

1/9
1998

8

needs room for a full-service bakery
and a catering business.
Memphis Smoke, he laughs, took a
risk in the location by hanging a sign of
a dancing pig above its door. But, he
adds more seriously, he doesn't think its
past would have prevented him from
opening a kosher place there.
The metro area lost its last sit-down
kosher restaurant when Classic Coney
Island closed about a year ago. Owner
Steve Rabinowitz blamed its demise
on the lack of regulars to the diner.
That is a consideration for Kohn,
whose restaurant, he hopes, will
appeal to the larger, non-kosher-keep-
ing community.
"I don't think the kosher-eating
Jewish community that eats nothing
but kosher -- meaning they won't eat

liteSy or Matt rr

JULIE EDGAR

Two chefs are eager to open
kosher restaurants
as soon as they find
the right location

Top: Matt
Prentice of
Unique
Restaurant
Corporation.

Top Right:
The old sign
at Memphis
Smoke.
A kosher
restaurant
will not be
locating here.

Above: Paul Kohn of Quality Kosher Catering.

out unless it's absolutely kosher — is
large enough to support a restaurant.
There've been numerous kosher
restaurants that have opened and
closed. I think you need to be broad- -
based enough to attract more than
those people.
"You don't have to be Jewish and
you don't have to be kosher to eat at
our restaurant. It'll maintain the high-
est standard of kashrut, of course,"
Kohn says.
Other kosher establishments in
the area include Taste of Israel,
Ramatari, Unique Kosher Carry Out,
Zeman's Bakery, One Stop Kosher
grocery store and Jerusalem Pizza.
With the exception of the bakery
and grocery store, all feature limited
seating.

❑

