Kosher Korner co-owner Michael Cooper behind the counter in West Caldwell. Kosher Korner will be expanding to the West Orange JCC, where food services were formerly provided by Fusion Caterers.
Photo by Abby Meth Kanter
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April 9, 2009
Kosher Korner is taking over all food service operations at the Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC, Ross Family Campus, formerly handled by Fusion Caterers of Newark.
A grand opening celebration will be held at the JCC Cafe at the West Orange facility on Sunday, April 19, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring free latkes, T-shirts, and hats. The cafe offers seating for 55.
At the cafe, Kosher Korner, under the rabbinical supervision of Conservative Rabbi Herman Savitz of West Caldwell, will also provide glatt kosher food from Petak’s, a glatt kosher takeout store and caterer headquartered in Fair Lawn, and Jerusalem Pizza, a glatt kosher restaurant and take-out establishment in Livingston.
The cafe will also arrange for glatt kosher catering from Petak’s and from Chai Cuisine, a glatt kosher caterer located in Saddle Brook. (Multi-purpose catering facilities are available at the JCC.)
The switch to a new provider was made due to “our evaluation of how things were working between us and [Fusion],” said interim JCC chief operating officer Alan Feldman. “We’re really pleased Kosher Korner will be coming. We know they have a good reputation for service in this community.”
Kosher Korner, the West Caldwell deli formerly known as David’s Deco-Tessen, is owned by Craig Betron and Michael Cooper. In 2005, Betron purchased the business from David Grober; in 2007, Betron, who also owns a nonkosher deli in Wayne, brought in Cooper and together they changed the name. Betron and Cooper are both Culinary Institute of America graduates.
After the adoption of the Kosher Korner name, the pair changed the menu slightly and created signature sandwiches. Like its predecessor, Kosher Korner sells fresh and frozen soups and offers catering.
Cooper, who runs the West Caldwell deli, has worked at such high-end restaurants as Windows on the World and Tavern on the Green. But, he said, he feels at home in a Jewish deli.
“I love the interaction, and I love the heritage,” he said in a phone interview.
Cooper said he and Betron view going into the West Orange JCC as an opportunity to expand beyond the Caldwells market, particularly when it comes to catering. Asked whether he worries about expanding in the midst of a sour economy, he said, “Not at all. There’s a need for this kind of mid-level catering. People who in the past would have paid $75 to $100 a head are now coming to us.”
He expects to begin to turn a profit in six months’ time.
In order to serve the entire community, he said, they will have a dedicated refrigerator at the JCC location where they will store products from Jerusalem Pizza and Petak’s, for customers who ask for food certified under glatt kosher standards.
“We want to make sure we provide for everyone’s needs,” said Cooper.
In fact, their enthusiastic embrace of the entire community was a major factor in their being awarded the contract. “They were the most willing vendor prepared to meet our stipulation of having food available to meet the standards of the Orthodox community as well the rest of the community,” said Feldman.
The cafe hours will be Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (even in the winter); and Sunday, 8 a.m. -4 p.m.
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