Canon Fodder

Max & David's wants you to think differently about kosher cuisine.


	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Oct 16, 2007

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Steven Katz is well-dressed and well-groomed, with salt-and-pepper hair and a beaming disposition. When I walk into his new restaurant, Max & David's, he excuses himself from a conversation, offers me a seat and slides into his own as if I'd just stumbled into his living room. He jumps up only once to wish some friends a good night as they exit, all the while flashing smile after big, toothy smile.

The cynic would say that Katz is a salesman, but there's no reason to label his optimism as insincere: A shopping complex in suburban Elkins Park is probably the last place you'd expect to find international fine dining, but Max & David's hopes to change that for good.

Mention that the food at Katz's 48-seat spot is 100 percent kosher, though, and you move back into familiar territory — the Montgomery County neighborhood boasts a sizable Jewish population. (In accordance with ancient Hebrew law, kosher foodstuffs must be prepared in accordance with strict dietary guidelines that govern everything from cleanliness to the slaughter of animals.)

But while Katz, who co-owns the restaurant with wife Robin, hopes the distinction will draw in the faithful, he stresses that the restaurant's far-reaching multicultural approach is of equal importance. "We are marketing 'kosher' as a learning experience rather than [a] default option," says Katz of his eatery, which opened earlier this month. "A lot of people's choice in a restaurant is predicated entirely on the fact that it is kosher — not because of the cuisine."

To ensure that the food is the focus, Katz brought in award-winning local chef and food writer Aliza Green (pictured, left) to construct the menu, overseen by chefs Jared Cohen, Tommy McDonough and Adam Sklar. Yes, there are traditional Israeli dishes, but there are also choices like Szechuan duck spring rolls, Turkish meatballs, Moroccan carrot confit and Australian meringue with berries — even a Philly steak sandwich on the lunch menu. (Sorry, no Whiz — the mixing of meats and dairy is forbidden.)

Running a kosher restaurant was a dream of Katz's father, David, one of the two men honored by the restaurant's name. Katz's unyielding enthusiasm comes from Katz's grandfather, Max, a Polish immigrant. Before M&D's, Katz learned the business as part-owner of his brother Robert's West Avenue Grille in Jenkintown; prior to getting into the hospitality business, Katz spent his days working with Premier Brokerage Services, a life insurance company he still owns today. It was during this period that he coined his current title, "Chief Optimist." The sunny business moniker, Katz says, is a tribute to the philosophies he inherited from the men who preceded him.

Katz and Co. are serious about striking a balance between ancient customs and contemporary comforts. He employs two full-time mashgichim, or kosher food inspectors. "Each piece of lettuce is washed three times, checked and rechecked, under a special lamp," says Katz, providing just one example of the exhaustive quality-assurance process. "The food is physically watched, from factory to fork, by a supervisor."

Robin, who designed the interior, has produced an ultra-clean atmosphere that jives with the kitchen's high dietary standards. A wall is devoted to the works of Judaica artist Mordechai Rosenstein, who also designed the restaurant's logo. The focal point of the dining room is a hand-blown glass chandelier from the Greek island of Santorini.

But no amount of tradition or adornment — or positive thinking, for that matter — can supersede what always ends up being a restaurateur's primary pain: ruthless competition. Fortunate for Katz, then, that he believes he doesn't have much. "In [Philadelphia], there's kosher Chinese and Israeli, but nothing, as I see it, sets them apart [as] sit-down banquet facilities," he explains. "This is the first time — in a long time — that such a restaurant has existed near the city."

Now there's something worth smiling about.

(luke.sirinides@citypaper.net)

Max & David's International Kosher Cuisine, 8120 Old York Road, Elkins Park, 215-885-2400, www.maxanddavids.com.