This central London restaurant is turning kosher for one night only

London’s kosher scene is streets ahead of its 20th century self, but still trails the standard being served Stateside.

Joanna Nissim is all too aware of the US/UK imbalance when it comes to gourmet kashrut: “I'm always blown away when I go to America because I see so many really great restaurants that ‘happen to be kosher’. But in England, we just don't have an expectation that a kosher restaurant's going to be outstanding. It’s great [for us] if they're even good.”

Later this month, the 42-year-old food writer who shares kosher content on Instagram is hoping to change that with a kosher pop up in Spanish fusion fine-dining restaurant Arroz QD. Her intention is to give guests a flavour of the meaty menu that would otherwise be off-limits.
Nissim, did not grow up in a religious household but became more observant and started keeping kosher in her 20’s. At the start of last year she was bemoaning the lack of great kosher venues with a kosher-keeping girlfriend when she had a lightbulb moment. Why not do something herself to increase the amount of inspirational kosher food here?

“I considered founding a Jewish food festival like Gefiltefest [the now defunct food event that ran over a series of summers] but that felt like a massive undertaking.”

Keeping kosher: Arroz's chefs will be supervised by Kehillas Federation[Missing Credit]

Prior to having her children (now ages six and three) the mother-of-two worked in public relations as well as in events management. Having eaten at non-kosher restaurants she felt kashrut-keeping diners are missing out. “It’s not just the food, but also the experience of getting dressed up and going into central London — the whole thing.”

She focussed on finding a critically acclaimed non-kosher restaurant willing to offer her and other observant eaters a flavour of their mainstream menu. Discussions with one of London’s Israeli restaurants tailed off just before Rosh Hashanah and she started to lose belief that it was going to happen. “I was telling a friend over the chagim, how I was struggling with what I was trying to do.”

She discovered that the friend — also religious — worked in the restaurant property world. Three days later he had connected her with fine-dining Spanish restaurant Arroz QD. “I sat down with them on erev Yom Kippur and there was an immediate synergy. I felt a real affinity with the manager.”

At the same time, she had contacted the Federation’s kosher licensing body, Kehillas Federation. “I knew we’d need their support if we were going to make this happen. And I wanted to work with them as I knew their hescher would be accepted by all members of the community. I wanted this to be as inclusive as possible in terms of kashrut.”

She says they were hugely supportive and that the rabbi she has been working with — Rabbi Dendoravic — has taken a very can-do attitude, working with her to enable a restaurant with a menu that’s normally filled with non-kosher dishes to produce a fully approved menu up to its normal culinary standard.

So how does a mainstream meaty restaurant convert its menu (and kitchens) for an observant audience? She admits it has involved more than she had anticipated.

Signature dish: meat rice[Missing Credit]

“The restaurant will be using new pans as well as new crockery and cutlery. The kitchen will be koshered after the restaurant finishes Saturday night service — when Shabbat has gone out. The Rabbi has said they can use the ovens if what is being cooked is double wrapped and he has devised a way of using the fires they cook over if the pans sit on chicken wire.”

Despite the challenges, Arroz QD’s executive chef Eduardo Adrobo says he is excited about the project. “I love the idea for our business and as a way of reaching people who would not usually come to the restaurant.”

It’s been a steep learning curve in kashrut for him and his team: “I’d done kosher events as a private chef, but they weren’t as strict as this — I had no idea how much was involved.”

He and Nissim visited north London supermarket Kosher Kingdom to find approved alternatives to the ingredients he uses ordinarily. Sharing the products via a shared WhatsApp group allowed Rabbi Dendarovic to give the products a thumbs up or down. “I was amazed that even some products sold in a kosher supermarket were not approved for use” says Adrobo.

Nissim's serious about sharing kosher food[Missing Credit]

So how did they choose the menu? “We went through their existing menu — I wanted to keep it as close to their original offer as possible. What I didn't want was for it to be like a kosher catered event in somebody's restaurant. I really wanted people to have the experience of going to the non-kosher restaurant and experiencing the authentic food.”

The main event will be the restaurant’s signature dish — beef rice, which is a meaty paella topped with a Tomahawk steak for larger groups or rib eye for tables of two. It arrives at the table in huge pans to be shared family-style, served with bread and alioli (garlic sauce). Vegetarians will be offered a meat-free option with mushrooms which he is still perfecting with his kosher supplies.

Before that is a choice of either tuna tataki [seared tuna] — the restaurant is also known for its Japanese fusion food; beef carpaccio or a kale salad, with a citrussy tamarillo-based dressing — another signature dish.

Adrobo is still finalising the detail with the approved ingredients and working with kosher wine suppliers on the cava that’s included on arrival and the other (mevushal) wines that will be available to buy on the night.

Meat will be supplied by London kosher butchers Shefa Mehadrin, who will also be cooking the meat stocks essential for the paella. These are ordinarily supplied from their Spanish kitchens. There were also time issues with making them in the restaurant’s kitchen in the time they will have once kashered.

Adrobo says he is used to providing dairy-free/vegan desserts so has not found that the sweet course to be problem. “It’s still being planned but we already do an amazing plant-based pineapple ‘drunk cake’ and coconut sorbet.”

Without having eaten at Arroz, how could Nissim know what she was getting? “Several of my friends have tasted it and spoken very highly of the food there.”

Tickets will be £150 per head including the glass of cava and a five-course meal. Nissim says they are selling well. “More than 100 seats have already been reserved which is amazing and shows there literally is an appetite for this” she smiles. The restaurant’s 155 seats are divided between the downstairs dining room — where there are views of the open fires over which the pans of paella are cooked in the traditional way — plus a more private upstairs area.

If this night is a success Nissim is hopeful that she can repeat it at Arroz and extend it to other venues. “I just think that, as a community, if we want to be encouraging people to become religious and to take their Judaism seriously, then we have to make kosher accessible for people.”

Find more information and booking details here.