To Life!

ciPir)1TUAL

A World
Of Food

Kosher caterer Chef Cari
creates a global
eating experience.

Shelli Liebman Dorfman

Staff Writer

W

hen Itty Shemtov
began to plan the
cuisine component
of a recent Jewish unity dinner,
she immediately contacted Cari
Herskovitz, aka Chef Cari.
"We were thinking about an
international menu and Chef
Cari came to mind because
of her versatile options," said
Shemtov, who, with her husband,
Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov, directs
the Shul-Chabad Lubavitch in
West Bloomfield where the July
21 dinner took place.
"Our eclectic menu was a
fusion of foods from various
walks of Jewish life," she said of
the Shabbat meal served to a
group who also viewed perfor-
mances depicting Jews from dif-
ferent cultures.
And the food fit right in.
It included sushi, served
with Japanese cucumber salad,

Moroccan chicken couscous,
Sephardic kebabs, Mediterranean
zucchini and rice pilaf.
"And fresh Florida key lime pie
with whipped cream and ber-
ries," said Shemtov. "To represent
all the Jewish people in Florida."
Said Chef Cari: "My niche
is being able to recreate very
authentic international cuisine,
so when Itty said she wanted an
international menu, I was there.
Normally, I use one type of cui-
sine per meal; but since that's
what they wanted, I knew I could
do it; and it was fun. All of my
cooking is from scratch anyway
with a lot of thought going into it,
so any type of menu will work."
A native Detroiter now liv-
ing in Ferndale, Chef Cari has
a background in fine dining
and restaurant cooking and has
worked in the local food business
as everything from a personal
chef to a pastry chef.
"Even during all the time I
worked in restaurants, I still

Chef Cari Herskowitz

Just one side dish in a meal prepared by Chef Carl for the

Shut's dinner.

catered when I could:' she said.
For the last year and a half,
though, she has veered her pro-
fessional course, leaving restau-
rant cooking, becoming not only
a full-time caterer, but a kosher
caterer.
A certified chef, having gradu-
ated from culinary school in
New York, Chef Cari began what
she calls her "full-scale catering
career" shortly after leaving a
unique position as a kosher sushi
chef at Grille 173 in Royal Oak
(now Grille 173 Express in Oak
Park).

Kitchen To Kitchen
Until recently, Chef Cari did
her cooking at the sites of the
functions she was catering.
"At Keter Torah [Synagogue in
West Bloomfield], I've made full

Julie Dotan, her son Ari, 5, and

daughter, Ella, 6 months, of

Rochester Hills get ready for a

meal prepared by Chef Cari.

Middle Eastern meals," she said.
"Or I would cook at my client's
homes."
She also spent many hours
"in my rabbi's kitchen:' she said
of Rabbi Schneor Greenberg
of the Chabad Jewish Center of
Commerce. She said her connec-
tion with the rabbi and his wife,
Estie, "really helped me to get
started in kosher catering."
Their relationship also helped
her to become more religious.
She called him six months after
meeting him during a family
shivah.
"He was still making an
impression on me, so I called
him. My family is Conservative
— on the traditional end — and
I didn't know what Chabad was
about at the time. But, after
spending every Shabbos and
holiday with the Greenbergs and
learning with them, I have had
a very personal growing experi-
ence:' said Chef Cari, who, her-
self, keeps kosher.

iN

"When I first got started in
kosher catering, I used their
kitchen for more than a year,
even when Estie was busy using
it herself — like before the holi-
days."
Since mid-May, Chef Cari
has been preparing her catered
foods in space she uses at Unique
Kosher Carryout in Oak Park,
where her aunt, Rita Jerome, is
co-owner. While Chef Cari isn't
an employee of the restaurant,
which is supervised by the
Council of Orthodox Rabbis (the
Vaad), she is occasionally hired
to make specific foods for them.
"And some of the clients are
now using me for their high-
end events:' she said. Chef Cari
caters events for up to 200 guests
from political fundraisers to bar
mitzvahs and weddings — and
Shabbat dinners, like the one
hosted by the Shemtovs.
"Cari was fun to work with
and everyone was excited about
the tasty food:' Itty Shemtov said.
"She even made Japanese food."
"It was fun to be able to work
on such a variety of foods for
one meal:' Chef Can said. "It's
not often you get to make Israeli
couscous, sushi and key lime pie
for the same meal." ❑

August 17 • 2006

39

