A Culinary Renaissance is Expanding Kosher Food’s Definition

The kosher restaurants of 2021 are attracting far more than just an Orthodox Jewish clientele. Young crowds of non-Jews, eager to try innovative dishes are packing these places alongside those who dine there for religious purposes. From the gourmet Mexicali-style meat restaurant Lenny’s Casita in Los Angeles, to the French-inspired Barnea Bistro in Manhattan, to Baltimore’s African-inspired Serengeti, culturally-diverse and innovative new kosher restaurants can be found all across the United States. Leonard Nourafchan of Lenny’s Casita said, “People are willing to value and appreciate traditional, authentic new food in a way that I don’t think kosher Jews were interested in, in the past. All that combines together to support a market that’s allowing creative people like me to do my stuff.” Serengeti’s co-owner Lara Franks says, “There’s no need to feel that if you keep kosher, you should automatically feel that you are somehow hardened or disadvantaged because you can’t fully experience a particular dish or kinds of cuisine. Almost anything can have a kosher translation.” Read more here.

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