Friday, May 31, 2013

Kashrut is Good Business

We've been seeing this phenomenon in Israel for decades.  Some of the most unlikely places have been getting kosher certification, like Leftist secular kibbutzim and the Ikea stores restaurants

Harrods department store.
Photo: Wikipedia.
Now the very upper-crust, British Harrods, which is owned by the Qatari royal family has its catering for wedding kosher, too.


Being kosher in Israel is relatively easy, especially in the Jerusalem area.  Sports bars & grills like HaGov are shomrei Shabbat with full certification.

If you have more examples, please add them in the comments, thanks.

4 comments:

Tzivia said...

Oooh, I can't wait to eat in an Ikea restaurant!!! Never tried one here...
As for kosher venues, I've been covering catering halls (not great writing, but it brings in $) for years and am often impressed that most of the high-end venues here - like the brand-new Trump tower and Four Seasons - have a kosher simchah option, often with packages etc.
For those that don't have an onsite (locked, mashgichim hold the keys) kosher kitchen, the super-high-end kosher caterers will (for a price) bring all their equipment to the site.
But I always feel like the kind of lavish materialism in these high-end luxe venues is highly antithetical to the idea of true, Torah-based simchah.
Of course, that's just here. Nothing to do with kibbutzim and sports bars. :-)
Still, looking at some of the menus in these "upper-crust" places is a solid reminder that the term "apikoros" is rooted in the greek Epicurus, whose philosophy has come to be synonymous with hedonistic and shallow physical pleasure.

Batya said...

Our super wealthy relatives davka did traif in NY just bringing us prepared trays of kosher food. I prefer that the fancy places offer fancy kosher and that consumers order it.

Leora said...

Wish the restaurants in the northern Galil that cater to healthy eaters would get certification. We were on a moshav(?) briefly that had an Indian restaurant and another one as well (it also had Chinese medicine and yoga and herbal remedies), but my friend said they were not certified kosher.

Batya said...

Leora, we have to keep making it clear in public, on the internet, blogging etc that there are many of us who will only eat in a place that has a recognized Shomer mitzvoth/Shabbat Teudah certificate.