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. ❑