Cari Herskovitz, kosher catering and pop-up Israeli fare

KOSHER OUTSIDE THE BOX
Trained in New York at the Natural
Gourmet Institute, an all-vegetarian,
health-supported culinary school, Chef
Cari Herkovitz has worked as a private
chef to celebrities including Ralph Lauren
and Lenny Kravitz. Running her own show
in Detroit for the past nine years, Cari has
created her own niche as a full-service
catering business specializing in health-
conscious cuisine with international flair,
all certified Glatt Kosher under the super-
vision of the Council of Orthodox Rabbis
of Greater Detroit.
“It’s all about fresh,” she maintains.
“Everything’s made from scratch. Nothing
canned, nothing frozen.”
These days, with her husband and busi-
ness partner, Rabbi Israel Rosenbloom, she
also can be found serving up Israeli-style
falafel and fries at a pop-up food stand
at the corner of Woodward and Cadillac
Square.
“Our food is a huge bridge,” Rosenbloom
says. “We have Muslim customers,
Lebanese, Egyptian, Yemenites — Middle
Eastern guests who love to tell us how dif-
ferent our food is from their mom’s. But
they love it.”
Beyond falafels, Herkovitz has plans
to expand from her catering business to
a new restaurant at a location soon to be
announced. Stay tuned.

ROOTS IN ROYAL OAK
A licensed real estate agent in Michigan
and graduate of the Barney Business
School at the University of Hartford with
a laser focus on success, Aaron F. Belen
says he gravitated to commercial real

Daniel Kohn,
center, of Kravings
and Quality Kosher
Catering

Aaron Belen of Bistro 82 and Sabrage

estate in his senior year at Cranbrook. At
33, he has an impressive list of accolades
to his name including 2014 DBBusiness
Magazine 30 Under 30, 2015 Crain’s
Detroit Business: 40 under 40 and 2015
Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce:
Business Person of the Year.
With his own money on the line, Belen
is the driving force behind the $5 million-
plus investment in Bistro 82 and Sabrage
— a destination restaurant and lounge that
now draws loyal customers from across the
city. By summer’s end, AFB Hospitality plans
to open The Morrie, a marquee property
conceived as an eclectic neighborhood road-
house and named for Aaron’s grandfather,
the late Morrie Fenkell.
“It’s exciting to see others getting onboard
with the growth of Royal Oak,” Belen says.
“We’re very serious about the part we play
in making this city a culinary and nightlife
destination.”

EXEC CHEF MOM HAS SOUL
Born in Israel of Moroccan descent, Hunny
Khodorkovsky grew up in Montreal in an
Orthodox Jewish household where her
mother kept a fastidiously kosher kitchen.
“My mom baked our bread every day,
made everything from scratch. We never ate
in restaurants,” she recalls.
Three years ago, Khodorkovsky moved
from California to Southfield with her
husband and young family. From a stay-
at-home mom with four young children,
she turned into a professional chef, trained
in the culinary school of the Michigan Art
Institute.
“I’ve always enjoyed expressing my cre-
ativity though cooking, setting beautiful

Keith Sirlin of the Golden Chef, a Catering Company

tables and hosting guests,” she says. “And I
absolutely insist on the freshest ingredients
available. In my [kosher dairy] kitchen at the
Soul Cafe, all the breads, pastries and even
the granola bars are fresh-made every day.”
Khodorkovsky takes in the friendly vibe
of the Soul Cafe dining room and observes,
“We truly have a ‘whole neighborhood’ cafe
here — one that reflects the cultural diver-
sity of our open and welcoming community.
And isn’t it amazing how food brings people
together?”

THIRDGENERATION CATERER
Great burgers, sushi, veg-friendly and
gluten-free. What more can you ask of
a kosher dining experience? Consider
the catering for a wedding feast, a family
simchah or holiday gathering. Covering
it all from the kitchens of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills and their
restaurant Kravings in Oak Park, Daniel
Kohn and his mother, Leah, run Quality
Kosher, one of the city’s most established
catering and restaurant enterprises.
“My grandmother Esther (Etta), a refugee
from Hungary, started our catering busi-
ness in 1968,” he says. “My dad, [the late]
Paul, was a chemistry and biology teacher
and started helping her with the business in
1978. It was my father who really took the
company to where it is today. My father’s
passion for great food was something we
shared, and it will always influence our
menu here.”
With kosher delicacies like Beef Carpaccio
and dessert specialties like Hazel Nut Creme
Chocolate Ravioli, Quality Kosher Catering
continues to prove that being a kosher

caterer is a privilege and a great opportunity
to exceed every client’s expectations.

ATTORNEY AND ‘GOLDEN CHEF’
With a fully renovated kitchen in his
Bloomfield Hills home and knife skills the
envy of anyone who cares to watch and
learn, Keith Sirlin loves cooking for family
and friends. He also has a growing waiting
list of requests from his culinary repertoire
that includes specialties like gravlax, home-
cured in his secret blend of fresh-chopped
horseradish root, beets and dill.
Sirlin says his journey of self-discovery
began three years ago in the Culinary Arts
Program at Schoolcraft College. “I was 61;
there was a weeklong introductory class just
to be admitted, and most of the students
had already worked in restaurants,” he says.
“I was not as skilled as the other students
and, as a result, was usually the last one to
complete my practical exams, but I loved
every minute.”
For Sirlin, cooking is not only his passion;
it’s his way of giving back to the community.
Often he can be found in the kitchen at the
Woodward Avenue Shul, preparing meals
for Shabbos luncheons or special events.
He is not quite ready to retire from his law
practice, but his reputation as a professional
chef has grown.
“I get calls now; people hear I’m a great
cook,” he says. “What started as an outlet for
my creativity has grown into a full-fledged
business called the Golden Chef, a Catering
Company, and I am now the Golden
Chef.”

*

Vivian Henoch is editor of myjewishdetroit.org, where
this story first appeared.

Hunny
Khodorkovsky
of Friendship
Circle’s Soul Cafe

September 1 • 2016

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