The Kosher Food & Wine Experience (KFWE) began a new phase on February 26. This year’s event was not open to the public and was the first of a new cycle in which the guests will only be allowed to buy tickets in alternating years.
It’s been a chaotic few cycles for one of the marquee events on the kosher calendar. KFWE was canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 version was held in the ballroom at the Hilton Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and had limited tickets available and a slightly scaled-down format. That left a real appetite for KFWE 2023, and the event returned to its usual home of Chelsea Piers in Manhattan to massive crowds last year.
However, it seems that the proprietors (Royal Wine Corp.) wanted to bring the focus of the event back to the wines and the industry itself. They decided to return to the Hilton Meadowlands in 2024 and allow only those in the trade (and the media) to attend. The plan is for KFWE 2025 to again be open to the public. The anticipation for the affair has likely already begun and the demand will surely be through the roof.
Obviously, without the public to (literally) cater to this year, the food options were reduced. But with that said, even those in the industry can’t drink on empty stomachs. So if you weren’t allowed in the door, here’s a rundown of some of the best bites from KFWE 2024.
- Sweet Chipotle Beef Jerky—Old Williamsburg (Bayonne, New Jersey)
Beef jerky has been an item on the rise for quite a while now. It just seems to be everywhere these days, and KFWE was no exception.
The Old Williamsburg brand is one owned by Kayco, the giant kosher conglomerate that makes and distributes products all over the world. Old Williamsburg makes a few other products you might recognize, such as a handful of types of lox.
The jerky setup was essentially a large grazing table with five different flavors of jerky laid out in massive quantities to which people could help themselves. It was a simple offering, but it was still a big hit.
I chose the Sweet Chipotle flavor for its nice balance of heat and sugar. Sweet jerky is fairly popular—one of the other flavors available was Cherry Cola—but I find that the best flavors are often ones that don’t focus entirely on one type of taste bud.
- Chocolate Dipped Pineapple—Fruits by Pesha (Brooklyn)
I know. It’s just a slice of pineapple dipped in chocolate. I know.
Even so, it was really great pineapple dipped very generously in really great chocolate. I’d venture to say that if you can’t get your kid to eat fruit, this right here should be your next move. It might not be a long-term solution, but you have to start somewhere.
Owners Rachel and Hezi Yazdi will show up to any event. They’ll have fruit delivered fresh and they can have their dehydrated products shipped anywhere. “Considering that everything we make is pareve, it’s really easy for us to adapt to any kind of event,” Hezi said.
The sweetness and rich nature of the chocolate went great with the acidic punch of the pineapple. It was certainly more chocolate than your average dipped fruit, but have you ever heard anybody complain that the chocolate coating was too thick? That’s what I thought.
This just proves that less is more. This was simple, yet amazing. Though I guess more is also more in the sense that the thicker than usual chocolate coating is really what sealed the deal.
- Yamato Roll — Sushi Tokyo (Brooklyn)
Sushi Tokyo is a real staple of KFWE. In fact, they are the only food vendor who has been present at every single event.
“I guess we must be doing something right if they keep asking us to come back,” said owner Chaim Lipsitz with a laugh. “Even in a year like this one, we showed up ready to roll.”
And roll they did. About 1,000 rolls of sushi… and they were gone well before the event was over. As much as people joke that Jews love their sushi, it’s no joke if you are the sushi chefs trying to keep up with all the hungry people at KFWE. Their station was right by the door as people came in and everybody was grabbing a spot in the line.
The Yamato Roll features spicy salmon, spicy kani, lemon and crunch, wrapped with black pepper tuna and avocado, then drizzled with spicy mayo and sweet sauce. It’s certainly not for those without a tolerance for heat, but if you can take it, the Yamato is an interesting bit. You’ve got all the spicy elements working together. But the key is the hints of different flavors throughout. You get some bite from the lemon, some creaminess from the avocado, and some sweetness from the sauce.
Sushi Tokyo has four locations that operate year-round and a fifth upstate in the summer.
- Shawarma Hors D’oeuvre — West Wing (Woodmere, New York)
Unless you live in the Five Towns, you might be confused to see the name “West Wing” in this space. Yes, their space burned down some time ago. But if you thought that was going to stop them, you were wrong.
“We were doing catering even before we opened the original location in the Five Towns,” said Mimi Levy, manager of everything West Wing. “After the fire, we put effort into increasing the catering branch of our business and we thought KFWE would be a good place to show that to everybody.”
West Wing brought a plethora of different items, but the highlight for me was a mini-shawarma. It came on a crispy pita round and was topped with chicken shawarma, pickled red onions and amba. The tastes and textures worked well together and eating one of these might make you wish that there was a crunchier element to your standard shawarma in a laffa experience.
If you’re looking to find West Wing, you’re in luck. Their new location in Flatbush should be open shortly and they plan on reopening in the Five Towns in 2025.
- Short Rib Pizza — Sizzle & Spice (Lakewood, New Jersey)
The biggest hit of the night was clearly the meat pizzas from Sizzle & Spice. A division of Tessler Catering in Lakewood, this portable pizza party provider will basically show up anywhere and do anything you can think of.
“We are a true A-Z party planning company,” said Yossi Endzweig, one of the managers for Tessler. “Our goal is for the host to tell us what he wants so that we can take care of everything and he comes and goes like a regular guest.”
Sizzle & Spice brought seven types of meat pies, but they want you to know that they also do dairy pizzas. They went through around 500 pies (impressive for an event with around the same number of people) at KFWE, but they said it was worth it to really get their name out there.
Having been around for only one year, Sizzle & Spice is making a name for itself as a valuable part of the Tessler portfolio. The portable nature of their business is great for Tessler’s mission to provide whatever is needed, wherever it’s needed (anywhere in the USA).
Made in just a few minutes using an oven that runs hotter than what sits in your kitchen, the Short Rib Pizza had peppers and onions with an optional drizzle of garlic mayo. The method led to a true crispy bottom and deliciousness on top.
Unsurprisingly, it was virtually impossible for the team behind the counter to put pizzas out faster than the crowd could eat them. Yet people were still willing to stand and wait for pizza to come out of the oven and cool for a minute before getting to taste the next flavor.
