FULL OF FLAVORS
Kosher kitchen opens at Palm Beach Hotel

By MICHELE DARGAN Daily News Staff Writer

 Thursday, July 12, 2007

Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of the Palm Beach Synagogue has long thought about having a kosher catering business or restaurant come to the island. When Sumner Kaye, one of his congregants, bought the ballroom of the Palm Beach Hotel, Scheiner broached the subject with him. "I thought it was a great idea," Kaye said. Scheiner put Kaye together with Rami Attias and Lital Azran, the chef and manager of the Glatt Kosher catering business Teamim. The name means "flavors" in Hebrew. The catering company officially opened for business June 29, catering the Kiddush lunch for the Palm Beach Synagogue. "Thank God Sumner was open to the idea," Scheiner said. "It's something we were sorely lacking for the community and it was something that, unfortunately, we were not able to provide. It's wonderful to have a local kosher establishment. Now we don't have to get food from Boca or Fort Lauderdale." Kaye and business partner Steve Schwendemann offer kosher and non-kosher catering in the ballroom. "The Jewish population on the island has increased," Kaye said. "There are three rabbis with synagogues on the island. It would require that those who follow kosher have a facility for it. "We are focusing on life-cycle events like weddings and bar mitzvahs, as well as renting it out to nonprofit agencies. There are a lot of organizations that come here for fundraising purposes — places like Yeshiva University and Bar Ilan University. I think it's a good niche for us." There are two kitchens: one for kosher cooking and the other for non-kosher. The kosher side has all new utensils and appliances. The pantries, appliances, utensils, spices and food are locked up to ensure that nothing is contaminated with non-kosher items. When not in use, metal covers are placed over the stove, the oven and the fryer. And to make sure that everything stays kosher, Arthur Bitterman oversees things from start to finish as the mashgich, or supervisor. "I come in and unlock all the coolers and pantries and then mostly I supervise," Bitterman said. "I wash lettuce, parsley . . . anything that might have bugs in it. I help out otherwise with whatever has to be done." Azran added, "We can't step foot in the kitchen without him because he has to make sure everything is washed right and that no meat that is not kosher comes into this kitchen. He even has to break the egg for us. We can't do it without him. These are the rules to have a kosher business." Among those rules: No mixing dairy and meat products. There are other rules regarding what animals may or may not be eaten and that utensils that have touched non-kosher products may not be used for kosher products. "We're talking about the oldest diet in the world — God's diet as described in the Book of Leviticus, chapter 11," Scheiner said. "There's a lot of care involved in the preparation. It's a process to make sure what you're eating is as God prescribed in the Bible." Attias owned two restaurants in Israel. He started working in the business at age 14, helping his mother with her catering business in Israel. "She is a great chef," Attias said of his mother. "She taught me everything. She's the best." Scheiner said he is "overjoyed" that a kosher catering facility is now on the island and hopes that a kosher restaurant will be next. "The Jewish community has grown and there's a demand for this," Scheiner said. "As a rabbi trying to promote kosher, it makes things a lot easier now that it's available."