New to Hungry Onion with plans to launch a floating restaurant

Culture, Media, General Culture, Chains, General Discussions
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Marketing and a business plan. Right now the plan seems quite diffuse and a bit confused. (I’m still trying to get more of a menu sense beyond what RiverDee offered which is too little for a restaurant. And the boat appeal? Why?Also if we go with Jewish cuisine in terms of recognising the global culture of Jewry, that’s great-- fostering shticks around religious practice is not so much.)

And given how some are reacting, what’s going to draw non-Jews-- especially since a lot of Ashkenazi can be in part covered by Polish shops if one has no interest in Kosher dishes and no knowledge of what the distinctions might be).

And even so, what’s going to draw Jews who might already have their places (especially in London)?

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I think Dee said, upthread, that the intent isnt to draw Jews but, rather, the wider population. Food is going to be kosher-ish, so may actually deter Jews.

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I’m not Jewish. I will call myself Jewish adjacent. Through marriage. So I have many Jewish relatives now and have a fair share of home cooked Jewish meals. Previously I had minimal knowledge of Jewish culture or food. So with that background I find the OP’s proposal mildly discomforting for a couple of very different reasons.

First is this supposed to be a business or a hobby? If a business I am concerned that as the OP has stated that s/he is not a professional, this idea has serious challenges to success. I manage a large business for a multinational firm. I have also made private investments in other businesses including restaurants. Having reviewed many business proposals and seeing the failure rate of new businesses especially of undercapitalized businesses, there are so many concerns I have without even seeing a pitch book. Like why a floating restaurant? Logistical challenges on top of a limited number of customers that can be served. People can’t come and go or drop in for a quick meal. Difficult to see now the numbers would work unless you are charging a heavy tariff but then as a non food personality without a following who would pay? So many questions. If an avocation and the OP has money to burn, fine.

As others have raised I don’t see the link to Shabbat being helpful and in fact it’s what creates some of my discomfort. Even as a non-Jew. Jewish food is a thing here in NYC. You can serve it without bringing in religious overtones if the goal is to attract the non-observant. An unfocused restaurant serving Jewish food would likely not attract a lot of non-Jews. The places that have a tight focus like delis and appetizing shops have their adherents among the gentiles including me. The kosher places are more likely to draw the observant. Based on what little I have read about the potential menu I fear that this may go the way of the old Kutsher’s in Tribeca. Gefilte fish at the center of a restaurant would sound like a set up for bad borscht belt joke in NYC. Don’t get me started on Tzimmes. Unless you were raised on it, most people I think find it way too sweet and cloying. Hard pass for me. Chopped liver on the other hand I can eat all day. I think the most successful cross over Jewish restaurant in NYC for many years was Sammys Roumanian. Meh food but lots of vodka in a frozen block of ice for large groups in a party atmosphere. What’s your shtick for the concept?

But if the OP has the desire and means to press on, good luck.

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That’s fine, but what is the draw then? (And I’d recommend you not speak for Jews, Harters. As a Jew, I don’t even dare.)

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Her The Book of Jewish Food is one of my favorites to read. I’m sorry it’s not available on Kindle, so I can have it with me anywhere.

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I see your point, but I have almost a diametrically opposed POV. Until something new piques my interest, I don’t care much to learn anything about it. I mean, I’m not WILLFULLY ignorant, and sometimes all it takes to get me started down a rabbit hole is hearing a story on National Public Radio, for example. I tend, however, to want to know more about things with which I already have some familiarity, vs things that are almost completely foreign to me. WRT Jewish food, I haven’t gotten to that tipping point yet. Hence the need for the marketing/PR to hook me.

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There are kosher brands of gelatin made from kosher beef sources, fish, or agar-sgat.

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Thank you all for taking the time to respond. Its extremely helpful to get to see all the different viewpoints.

Its seems that some were offended by the idea, which I don’t quite understand why. If I offended anyone in the process, I truly apologise.

There is so much of our food that is not available for wider population, as @hyperbowler said, these home dishes are not at deli’s or bagel place. Indeed so.

As said previously its not at all about selling religion or giving the chance to gawk at, its about giving people that ARE INTERESTED in different cuisines to taste something different that is not readily available and its totally not a restaurant based on religion.

The Shabbat Dinner idea is part of the business venture and the reason I posted the question is to hear if people would be interested in tasting this unique cuisine.

@Sasha, Maybe I didn’t write it clearly but it was never intended for it NOT to be for observant Jews, all are welcome, again; its for those interested in tasting something new and thats precisely what I wanted to find out, the interest rate!

As well, It will be kosher; prepared according to kosher law, using kosher ingredients but just not the certification (which doesn’t make it unkosher, its a guarantee) like for example if someone were to sell gluten-free bread but not have it certified under NSF, does that make it not gluten-free?

@Bkeats, I don’t see where you got that Gefilta Fish will be at the centre of the restaurant as this is incorrect, this will be one of the foods served.
There is more to food then ‘dropping in for a quick meal’ at a NYC Burger place.
Is a relaxing experience on a canal boat enough of a ‘shtick’ for you?

I posted the question to see the interest in one aspect of the venture which is to serve a Shabbat Dinner Meal and it will not consist of only 3 dishes @Hunterwali.

For all those curious on the strawberry flan cake. Its made with non-dairy whip and from non-dairy kosher jello , can you believe that is actually available? :wink:

Indeed I don’t have the experience of opening a restaurant but I have experience in cooking, especially for large groups. As mentioned I will be taking a culinary course prior to launch.

Finally I must thank @Harters, Your perspective is refreshing, your ability to recall what has been have written and referring to it in its right times is impressive. And you didn’t necessarily poll this as a ‘‘Yes-go for it’’ which is fair.
One always needs thick skin to start new ventures but you asked the right questions, understood my point and then based your reply on that.

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There’s been a surge in “Israeli” restaurants in NYC in the past several years. Air quotes because the food is significantly overlapping to many other mediterranean / Levantine restaurants that do not have chefs of Israeli origin.

How do folks who have reacted negatively here to Jewish culture being on display / exploited feel about a restaurant being labeled Israeli, rather than Jewish? (Of course there’s been a lot of Ashkenazi mentions upthread not Sephardic, and that was interesting to me in and of itself as the bent.)

For that matter, if the food culture aspects are what’s being focused on, not the religion, where is the line drawn for other cultures? I would never have eaten Ethiopian food off a giant shared plate if restaurants didn’t offer that food culture experience. No one who isn’t indian or close to an indian family would eat a Thali unless restaurants offered it as a “unique” meal experience. And so on, and so forth.

There’s always some caricaturization involved in offering to share a culture and its food beyond its own people, from the POV of its own people.

So, when does it matter what the culture being shared thinks of others partaking of it, and when does it not? Separating religion from this — because there are religious rules that underline food preparation in many cultures.

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If they are made from Kosher beef sources they may not be served with dairy products.

The original poster specifically stated that the cake contained Jello which does not use Kosher gelatin.

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The original poster is stating that these will be Shabbat dinners, not simply Eastern European Jewish cuisine.

There are rules to Shabbat including, no exchange of money and no labor including cooking. There are also rules about the order in which one eats, when and how the prayers are said, etc. Also, I’ve never met an observant Jew who would take someone’s word that the food was Kosher.

Restaurants that serve Israeli cuisine don’t attach a religious connotation to their menu.

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Why are you so insistent on “Shabbat Dinner” as a theme? Could you explain this?
And yes, if you’re making more than three dishes, why can’t you share a proposed menu to give everyone more of a grasp on what your USP will be?

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But it is available on Apple Books.

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Just looked. Couldn’t find it. Her other books are there- the same ones that I have on my kindle. :frowning:

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@Saregama Awesome; well-articulated! Thank you. :+1:
@Hunterwali thats the answer to your question. @Saregama has written it better.

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I am happy to share the menu but why are you so insistent on seeing it, since you’re so against the idea anyway?
Is it to give you more opportunities to critique?

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Maybe it is regional. I am in the UK, which is effectively Roden’s home territory as she has lived in North London for pretty the last five decades. Screenshot from Apple Books:

Screenshot 2023-06-18 at 12.58.05
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further screenshot of all Roden’s books available via Apple Books in the UK.
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I note that her Picnics books, which is on my bookshelves, is not available electronically.

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I think you are correct about the regional availability.
And she got a CBE last year …
ETA - yes it’s regional at least for Kindle. I went to Amazon.co.uk and it’s available for kindle, I wasn’t allowed to buy it. Unless I switched my region. I think I did that once for a French book, but there’s some hitch I’ll have to remember. And it’s not switching my VPN :joy:

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I don’t mean to get into an argument but I will note that the former describes a place and the latter a religion. So an Israeli restaurant will have things on the menu that an observant Jew could not eat. It’s common to find seafood items on Israeli restaurant menus that are not kosher. So an Israeli restaurant in my experience would be quite different than what the OP has described.

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Describing it as a “kosher-style Israeli restaurant” might work, although I admit it does sound as though one is trying to avoid the word “Jewish”. However, none of these words (Jewish, Israeli, or Shabbat) seem to really describe what is being served, and I’ll admit even after reading this whole thread, I still don’t know if the meal is going to be all Ashkenazic, all Sephardic, a mix of the two, or something else entirely.

And I agree that no truly observant Jew would eat at an uncertified restaurant. Then again, they know what a Shabbat meal is like, so they’re probably not the target group. The problem is that is one is going to promote something as a Jewish Shabbat meal, one is, I believe, obligated to follow all the rules–buying only kosher meat, kashering the meat as required, not having any dairy if you’re serving meat, etc.–even if one doesn’t apply for certification.

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