It doesn’t make sense. Hardly seems possible. But here in the land of gourmet cooking, obscure cuisines and strange diets, anything can happen.
Even a seafood restaurant can go kosher.
It sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s true.
The banquet facilities at Scott’s Seafood Restaurants at Jack London Square in Oakland and in Walnut Creek now are able to prepare and serve fully kosher meals.
“We’re not making the lobster kosher,” said Ben-Tzion Welton, emphasizing that the restaurant itself isn’t kosher — just the banquet facilities. Welton, who works for the Vaad HaKashrus of Northern California, a kosher-certification agency, was assigned to coordinate with Scott’s.
The Vaad works with the catering staff whenever there is a kosher event, overseeing the kashering of the kitchen, purchasing of ingredients and preparation of the food. “It’s a lot of work on everyone’s part.”
The Vaad HaKashrus heralds the addition of Scott’s to East Bay facilities that are able to serve Jews who observe the laws of kashrut. Other than synagogues, the options are limited and Scott’s offers a scenic location — on the Oakland waterfront — and has a reputation for fine cooking and excellent service.
The idea to go kosher came from director of catering Michelle Israel.
“We were getting more clients requesting [kosher meals] and I decided to go that route,” she said. “I pushed for it. It was something I really felt I wanted to do.”
Although Israel isn’t Jewish, her in-laws are and she has experience catering kosher-style meals at the restaurant. The chef, Cesar Calderon, used to work at Saul’s Restaurant and Delicatessen in Berkeley, where he picked up some basic rules about kosher cooking.
Israel is excited about having a new challenge in the kitchen, although the process is anything but simple.
Ingredients have to be purchased from special suppliers. Food has to be prepared according to the laws of kashrut. Dishes and other food preparation equipment have to be either bought, rented or kashered. And the kitchen itself has to be kashered.
In order to accomplish that, part of the kitchen is cordoned off for kashering by Welton or another representative of the Vaad. The process is often misunderstood, according to Welton.
“In the non-Jewish world, people think the rabbi comes in and gives a blessing,” he said. But his supplies are not a prayerbook and tallit. “We come in with huge blow torches — like a bazooka. You need that kind of a flame to kasher. Don’t try this at home.”
He uses the blowtorch to kasher surfaces. Pots that are used exclusively for boiling are made kosher by boiling them in water.
But plastic is another story. It can’t be kashered. Pans and baking dishes in which the flame directly touches the food also can’t be made kosher because the process would ruin them.
So the restaurant makes accommodations.
Scott’s “rents huge grills and kosher equipment,” said Welton, who remains on site throughout the entire preparation and cooking process. “They do as much of the cooking as possible outside the kitchen and they’ve bought some new equipment.”
But for the time being, Scott’s rents plates and silverware.
Probably the biggest change has been in the timing of the food preparation. None of it can be done on Shabbat. Most of the work has to be done on Thursday and Friday before sundown.
“Timing — that was the test of patience for them,” said Welton, recalling a Saturday night event that was taking place in a tent Scott’s sometimes uses. “They had a security guard from Friday to Saturday night making sure no one went in and violated [the space].”
That also means that if the band arrives early to set up, it won’t be admitted until a representative of the Vaad arrives.
In spite of the inconveniences, Welton says the staff at Scott’s is very cooperative and willing to make all the necessary accommodations.
“We do so many events for the Jewish community,” Israel said. “They’re great clients. I enjoy working and planning these events. [There’s a lot of] positive energy.”