Bringing More To The Table

The kosher chicken case at the new Whole Foods market on the Upper West Side. courtesy Whole foods

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

Just in time for the Jewish new year, local food vendors are pumping up their kosher offerings.

Two weeks ago, Whole Foods Market opened a new Upper West Side location, where staff members pay added attention to the needs of the largely observant local Jewish community. Meanwhile, the owners of Kosher.com have re-launched their Web site, spruced up with blogs, recipes and cooking shows in addition to the food orders. And in Midtown, several new kosher restaurants have just opened, including Schnitzel Express, Lunchbox and a revamped Mr. Broadway now acceptable to the Health Department.
At the new Whole Foods, located on the corner of Columbus Avenue and 97th Street, Andrew Roberts, the grocery’s regional prepared foods coordinator, is diverging from the Whole Foods norm. Unlike at the other stores, where kosher products are mostly mixed among others, Roberts has sectioned off an area for kosher prepared foods only, next to the store’s regular dairy section.

“We’ve consolidated all the kosher products,” Roberts said. “I’m also taking a look at opening this up a bit more to vendors suggested by people in the neighborhood.”
Thus far, the prepared foods are dominated by two brands — Foremost Fresh Caterers and Zayda’s — and include a variety of Mediterranean salads, as well as ratatouille and traditional Ashkenazi foods like kugel and mushroom barley soup. 

As with other Whole Foods, the new store adheres to specific ethical standards, such as the Animal Compassion Act.  Continue reading…