At the start of the month, the COR-Kashruth Council of Canada announced it would be continuing an initiative once attempted in 2013: Kosher Restaurant Month during the month of May. For the year 2016, the Council enlisted twenty-three kosher restaurants from around the Greater Toronto Area to take part, all of which are offering patrons a ten per cent discount this month.
Participating restaurants include Ba-Li Laffa, Tov Li, Pantry Foods, King David Pizza, Bistro Grande, Howie T’s Burger, Golden Chopsticks and more. For a full list, click here.
“We wanted to come up with a way to promote the city’s kosher restaurants and increase the amount of people visiting them, and we thought this would be the perfect way to do that,” said Richard Rabkin, the Council’s managing director. “We are encouraging Torontonians of all stripes to dine and support their local kosher eateries, Jewish or not Jewish.”
According to Rabkin, Toronto is the only city in North America that hosts a month-long kosher restaurant event.
Miriam Epstein, owner of two Tov-Li restaurants (both on Bathurst Street) said, “I have been serving quality kosher food in the GTA for over 15 years and am proud of our long standing partnership with kosher community and COR. I invite Canadians of all backgrounds to my restaurants for Kosher Restaurant Month in May – and throughout the year.”
“Kosher restaurants are an important part of making a Jewish community viable, so we want to do our part to encourage people to visit their local kosher restaurants,” Rabkin adds. “The more people who visit, the more viable they will be, and ultimately, the more kosher restaurants we will have to enjoy.”
Eran Marom, a founder of Mobius Culinary Labs, an R&D centre that develops new methods in cooking, says kosher food is on the rise throughout the city, a sentiment repeated by executive chef at Savours Fresh Market kosher grocery David Blum. “Kosher consumers are more educated now, allowing companies to introduce new lines of different foods,” says Blum.
Stay tuned for our cover story on kosher foodies in Toronto and Montreal – coming later this week.