Shalom Shomer in the
Milk & Honey kitchen

Restaurant...Since

preparation, he was promoted to line
cook.
Shomer also was attending Oakland
Community College, taking prerequisites
he needed to start a physician's assistant
program.
When he told his boss he was leav-
ing to continue his education, Milk &
Honey promoted him to his current
position. He hasn't looked back.

From our ovens
to your chilia!

$120m Serves 6-8 People!

One 10.14 pound turkey, perfectly seasoned & fully roasted.
• 2'/z lbs green beans ala Mario
2'h lbs Chef Guy's holiday stuffing
2 1 /2 lbs candied yams
•2 lbs mashed potatoes
•1 qt turkey gravy
1 qt cranberry relish
Large bowl of mixed green salad
•12 dinner rolls
•1 whole pie: pumpkin or pecan

11 1

Gourmet Turducken

Thanksgiving Meal
$16000 Serves 6-8 People!

qv, c:Butfillioaly
.01
c
c

(olit I lam to,pil

Guardian Of Good Food

Former emergency medical technician
follows his interest in food preparation.

I

Barbara Lewis

Contributing Writer

W

ith a last name that means
"guardian:' it seems almost
beshert — meant to be —
that Shalom Shomer's career would
involve kashrut supervision.
As director of kosher operations for
Milk & Honey and its subsidiary, Epic
Kosher Catering, Shomer ensures that
everything served conforms with Jewish
dietary laws.
But he does much more than that.
In the company hierarchy, Shomer
ranks just below Executive Chef Darren
Wendel. The two work side-by-side
developing recipes, creating menus and
preparing the food served by the two
catering operations.
Milk & Honey, based at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield,
caters dairy meals, while Epic Kosher
Catering, based at Adat Shalom

Synagogue in Farmington Hills, handles
the meat catering.
Shomer, 28, comes from Toronto. He
was working as an emergency medical
technician while finishing rabbinical
school in New York when he met his
wife, the former Molli Spalter.
They moved to Michigan soon after
they married almost eight years ago, and
now live in Molli's hometown of West
Bloomfield. They have a 6-year-old son.
Shomer says he was "always drawn to
food." While in high school, he worked
as a kashrut supervisor, and later
worked in hotels that offered kosher
Passover packages.
He was hired as a kashrut supervisor
when Milk & Honey still operated a res-
taurant at the JCC.
"I like to learn, watch and take in
everything; said Shomer, who started
pitching in with food preparation and
then trying out new recipes. As he
became more involved with the food

Chanukah Dinner
On Dec. 1, Epic Kosher Catering will put
on a Chanukah Feast at Adat Shalom
(see sidebar). Shomer hopes to do sev-
eral similar feasts every year.
"We don't have any kosher fine dining
in Detroit:' he said. "These feasts are a
good opportunity for people to bring
their family and have a nice meal out."
The company is keeping busy. Shomer
looks forward to catering the JCC
Maccabi Games & ArtFest next year,
where they'll feed more than 2,000
people for a week. They'll also handle
the kosher catering at the new Allure
hotel in Troy (formerly the Met), which
Milk & Honey's parent company, the
Epicurean Group, recently purchased.
Shomer hopes to cater more large
events at the recently renovated Adat
Shalom, which can seat more than 1,000
people.
One of Shomer's favorite dishes is
Milk & Honey's beurre blanc sauce,
made with butter, cream, apple cider
vinegar, chardonnay wine, shallots and
lemon juice. "We use it on a lot of foods,
including salmon:' he said. "It's so good,
I almost want to drink it.
"We're always trying to raise the bar
on quality and to impress our guests
with new items."
At home, Shomer leaves most of the
cooking to his wife. "She's a very good
cook:' he said. "I learn a lot from her."

❑

Area caterers offer specials for Thanksgiving, Chanukah

• Chef Can Kosher Catering, based at Congregation B'nai
Moshe in West Bloomfield, offers a complete Thanksgiving
dinner for 10 to 12 persons for $179. The meal includes a
whole (carved) turkey with stuffing and gravy, mashed or
sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls and
a pie. Reservations: cari@chefcari.com or (248) 440-6521.

www.MariosDetroit.com
4222 Second

N. of Mack in Detroit

313-832-1616

48

November 21 • 2013

• Epic Kosher Catering is preparing a buffet, Celebrate the
Chanukah Feast, from 4:30 to 7 p.m. (by reservation) on
Sunday, Dec. 1, at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills.
Reservations are $29.95 for adults, with every sixth person free,
and $15.95 for children ages 4-12 (no charge for children ages
3 and under), not including tax and tip. Epic also has a takeout
Chanukah menu that includes pumpkin soup, stuffed turkey,
potato, zucchini and sweet potato latkes, pumpkin pie and
more. For reservations or orders, call (248) 661-2327.

• Quality Kosher Caterers, based at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in Southfield, has a large a la carte holiday menu.
Sample offerings are a whole roast turkey for $89.95; side

dishes, including sweet potatoes, broccoli au gratin and veg-
etable succotash, for $8.95; butternut squash soup for $12.95
and pumpkin pie for $14.95. Quality also offers potato latkes
for $18.95. To order, call (248) 352-7758, fax (248) 352-9118 or
email info@qualitykosher.com .

• Before Unique Kosher Caterers in Oak Park closes at the end
of this month, they are offering complete Thanksgiving dinners
with turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed or sweet
potatoes, green beans, a roll and Dutch apple or pumpkin pie for
$18.99 per person. Call (248) 967-1161 or fax (248) 967-1605.

• Bloom's Jewish Cuisine in Farmington Hills is selling latkes
for $2.49 apiece or $27.99 a dozen and mini latkes for $19.99/
dozen. Owner Shirlee Bloom uses kosher products, but her
operation is not kosher-certified. She is offering free latkes and
coffee cake with dairy trays, which range in price from $16.99
to $22.99 per person. For Thanksgiving, Bloom has a complete
turkey dinner for $18.99 per person, along with many items a
la carte. Call (248) 855-9463 or fax (248) 626-8468 to order.

❑