Kashrus
Who supervises us, what each standard means, and what the mashgiach does at your event.
Written for a family deciding, and for a rav being asked to approve. If your standard is not on this page, ask — and if we do not hold it, we will refer you on.
| Hashgacha (certification) | K-ID 4308228 |
|---|---|
| Meat | GLATT ONLY |
| Dairy | CHOLOV YISROEL |
| Baked goods | PAS YISROEL |
| Yoshon | Israel import only |
| Fish | ANISAKIS-CHECKED |
| Bishul | BISHUL YISROEL — PILOT LIGHTS LIT BY THE MASHGIACH |
| Supervision | KOSHER MIAMI (KM) |
| Menu type | FLEISHIG / MILCHIG / PAREVE |
Your rav or shul may accept some standards and not others. Send us the standard you need and we will confirm in writing whether we hold it.
Who supervises us
Our kitchen at 100 NE 8th Ave, Gainesville, FL 32601 is certified by K-ID (cert. 4308228), and every event is staffed by a mashgiach temidi — a supervisor present throughout, not visiting. The rav hamachshir responsible for us is Rabbi Moshe Feldman, reachable through the agency; your own rav is welcome to call him. Our owner is Yakov Rosen and our head chef is Eli Katz.
Glatt
Literally "smooth". Meat from an animal whose lungs were found free of adhesions on inspection — a stricter check than the basic requirement. All our meat is glatt, with no exceptions for volume events.
Cholov Yisroel
Milk supervised by a Jew from milking onward. Every dairy item we use — milk, cream, cheese, butter, chocolate — is Cholov Yisroel, in our kitchen and at your event.
Pas Yisroel
Bread and baked goods where a Jew participated in the baking. Our bread, rolls, challah and pastry are Pas Yisroel, from Shloimies Kosher Bakery or baked in-house.
Yoshon
Grain harvested before last Pesach. Because availability changes through the year, we state our Yoshon status separately on every menu rather than claiming it permanently. Current status: Israel import only.
Bishul Yisroel
Cooking done or initiated by a Jew. In practice, our mashgiach lights the pilot lights and ovens, and no cooking starts before he does. This applies in our kitchen and in any venue kitchen we work in.
Mashgiach temidi
Constant supervision: a mashgiach on site for the whole of preparation and the whole of the event, not an inspection visit. Named on your certification card and available to any guest who asks.
What the mashgiach actually does
Preparation for a large simcha can begin up to three days before the event, and the mashgiach is there for it. This is the working sequence, not a description of an ideal.
- D-3Prep opens. Deliveries checked against their hechsherim (certifications) before anything is unpacked; anything unmarked is rejected.
- D-3Lettuce, herbs and greens checked leaf by leaf for insects. Fish checked for anisakis.
- D-2Pilot lights and ovens lit by the mashgiach for Bishul Yisroel. Cooking begins only after that.
- D-1Where the event falls on Shabbos, the mashgiach reviews a prohibited-activities checklist with the kitchen beforehand, so nothing is decided under pressure on the day.
- D-DAYVenue kitchen checked and, where needed, kashered. Certification cards signed, dated and placed on the tables.
- SERVICEMashgiach present throughout, keeping fleishig, milchig and pareve service separate, and answering any guest who asks.
Catering at a non-kosher venue
Most hotels and many halls have no kosher kitchen. We bring one. The venue's kitchen is either kashered — cleaned, left unused for twenty-four hours, then purged with heat or boiling water under the mashgiach's direction — or we install our own equipment and work from it.
Once kashered, the kosher kitchen remains under the mashgiach's lock and key for the duration of the event. This is the OU's stated policy for hotel catering, and it is ours: nobody else holds a key, and no venue staff enter unaccompanied.
Venue drinks, venue bread and venue garnish are not served. Everything on the table comes from us or from a supplier under our hashgacha. If a venue will not accept those terms, we will tell you before you sign with them.
Ask the mashgiach anything
You have the right to know the standards. Ask, at the event, in front of us.
The OU tells guests they should never hesitate to question the mashgiach, and that it is their right to know the standards under which food is served. We agree, and we print it here so no guest has to wonder whether asking is rude. The mashgiach's name is on the certification card on your table.
Fair questions
- Which agency certifies this affair, and may I see the card?
- Is the dairy Cholov Yisroel? Are the rolls Pas Yisroel?
- Is the food Yoshon this month?
- Who lit the ovens?
- Were you here for the whole of preparation?
Venues, shuls and Vaad coordination
Working at your venue
Most families book the hall first and the caterer second. We work in venues we have never used before, most weeks. Here is what we need from a room:
- A kitchen we can kasher, or space for our own equipment
- Refrigeration and a place to hold food at temperature
- Access from the afternoon before, where the event is on Shabbos or yom tov
- Somewhere the mashgiach can secure the kitchen — for events at non-kosher venues the kosher kitchen stays under his lock and key, which is the OU's own stated policy for hotels
- Loading access and a service route that does not cross the room
Send us the venue and we will tell you within a day whether it works, what kashering it needs, and what that adds. If it doesn't work, we'll say so before you sign anything.
Catering in your shul
Every shul sets its own rules, and they are not always the same as ours.
- Which hashgachos your shul accepts
- Whether it requires Pas Yisroel, or Yoshon, or both
- Whether it has its own kiddush committee, its own mashgiach, or a Vaad arrangement we coordinate with
- Whether outside food is permitted at all, and under what conditions
Ask your shul office those four questions and send us the answers. We'll tell you straight away whether we can meet them.
Venue or committee enquiries: use the shul and venue form.