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Paper:
Houston Chronicle
Date: Wed 02/15/2006 Section: Flavor Page: 1 FILLING A VOID / At Suzie's
Grill it's all kosher, all the time / It took a village to
raise the funds for an eatery that keeps Jewish law. MANY restaurants are born of intensely personal dreams. An ambitious chef yearns for a place of his own to hang his toque; a family of hardworking immigrants reaches for the American dream by opening a takeout shop; an entrepreneur bit by the restaurant bug spies a business opportunity. Suzie's Grill, Houston's only kosher meat restaurant, was
born of a community "Before this restaurant opened, there wasn't even one option," investor Ben Medetsky said. "If a person wanted a good steak, or a good burger, there was nowhere to go." Susan Goldstein, the "Suzie" on the marquee, said it was "community pressure" that led her to open the modest restaurant, which serves a homey menu of Persian, Israeli and American food. A longtime kosher caterer in Houston, a devout Jew and mother of five, Goldstein had no restaurant ambitions when she was approached last summer and asked if she would consider buying the former King David restaurant. She couldn't afford it, she told Rudi Yeroshalmi, the owner of Bridal Connection and the dreamer and shaker behind a kosher meat eatery for Houston. Though he'd never invested in a restaurant before, he put up $20,000 of his own money and persuaded about 45 other families to contribute smaller amounts. "This is what is called a mitzvah (good deed), " Yeroshalmi
said, referring to the uncertain world of restaurant
financing. "It was not a business transaction. Who is
To keep kosher, or kashrut, is to adhere to the dietary laws that tell observant Jews how to eat. At their most basic, these laws instruct Jews to forgo pork and shellfish and to avoid mixing dairy and meat in a single meal, or even on a single set of dishes or pots. The laws of kashrut stem from the Torah, which is what Jews call the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. It's impossible to determine exactly how many of Houston's roughly 50,000 Jews keep kosher. Nine percent of respondents to a 2001 survey conducted by the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston reported that they do "all the time;" another 16 percent answered "usually." In addition to Suzie's Grill, Houston Jews who keep
strictly kosher may eat at the cafe at the Jewish Community
Center; grab a pizza, boureka or falafel (all nonmeat) at
Saba's Kosher Pizza on Fondren or dine at Madras Pavillion on
Kirby "There are a few hundred families in the orthodox community in Houston who really - I cannot say the word `suffered' - but were very much inconvenienced by the lack of a place to go out to eat. That's the truth," said Chabad Rabbi Betzalel Marinovsky, who oversees one of the two organizations that certified Suzie's Grill as kosher. "And she opens a solution. There was a void in the community, and she filled that void." Houston's Jewish community desired a kosher restaurant for other reasons, too. They are, Medetsky says, a "litmus test" of the strength of a city's Jewish community. Moreover, Suzie's Grill accommodates observant out-of-towners in Houston for business or medical treatment and religious Jewish teenagers on dates. It is also a place where Jews from across the spectrum of belief - from Orthodox to Conservative to Reformed - can mingle. Often divided by doctrine, they are united over kebabs and khoresh (Persian stew), schnitzel and salmon. "What is really interesting and heartwarming for me is, you go in there and there are people from the reformed synagogues, and gentiles, sometimes all the way to your ultra-orthodox," Yeroshalmi said. "There are times there is somebody sitting there in a miniskirt on one side and in the table next to them you have an ultra-orthodox family completely covered from the wrist up." The fact that Jews of all stripes eat under one roof, her roof, means a great deal to Goldstein, who said it brings her the feeling of "nachas." "You know what the word `nachas' means?" she asked. "Nachas means such joy, like a mother would see a child walking and get such joy from this child, a 2-year-old just started to walk." At the same time, Goldstein emphasizes that Suzie's Grill
is an ordinary restaurant with good food and fair prices,
where Catholics, Hispanics, African-Americans
Goldstein came to New York City from Iran when she was 13. Soon after, her father was diagnosed with cancer, which eventually killed him. She learned to cook to help her mother, who was by turns at the hospital and minding the family's clothing store. In 1977, Goldstein moved to Texas with her husband, so he could attend law school. For many years, she volunteered making kosher lunches at her children's school. That led to a catering business, Dessert Delights, which she continues to operate. She opened Suzie's Grill on Nov. 27, a date heavy with meaning. It is the birthday of her daughter Erika, who was seriously injured in a car crash earlier last year but was able to return to law school, after many surgeries, in mid-January. A few months into her run as restaurateur, Goldstein is experiencing all the usual headaches and a few extra ones, too. Finding, training and retaining a crew is tough. The pace can be grueling and getting kosher supplies takes extra effort and expense. The day I interviewed her, she was running 40 minutes late, a key employee was ill and some equipment was on the fritz. Goldstein was tired and perhaps a little overwhelmed. But she says she is sustained, in part, by her sense of obligation. When I comment that her investors must have a lot of faith in her, she responds, "That's the whole thing that scares me ... it's a lot of responsibility. You see, if this was on me alone, (then) if I fail, it would be "my "failure. It would be my money. I don't have to answer anyone back but me. But (now) if I fail, I fail everyone else. That's a big undertaking. It's scary to know that all these people have this trust in me." Her investors are members of 10 Houston congregations. Some
of them know each other, or know her; some don't. Families
invested varying amounts - $500, $2,000, $5,000 - for a total
of more than $100,000, Goldstein said, structured as Decisions about running the restaurant are Goldstein's alone. After two years, a period intended to let Suzie's Grill become profitable, the agreement stipulates that Goldstein will begin to pay off the loan. If the restaurant fails - the failure rate in the United States is about 30 percent, according to a recent study by Ohio State University Hospitality Management Professor H.G. Parsa - Goldstein isn't obligated to pay the loan back. Kosher dining options are so important, the investors say, it's a risk they're willing to take. HOUSTON'S KOSHER EATERIES Suzie's Grill: 5925 S. Braeswood Blvd. Source: Houston Kashruth Association KOSHER POLICE The job of mashgiach is one of the odder ones in the food business: PAGE F5. HOW TO TALK KOSHER Kosher: Food prepared according to Jewish dietary laws. The literal meaning is fit, proper or worthy. Americans also use it as slang for anything that's proper or correct. Kashrut: The act of observing Jewish dietary laws. Kosherize or kasher: Verbs for the process of making equipment, or entire kitchens, kosher. Mashgiach: Supervisor or overseer. An observant Jew who ensures that food has been prepared in accordance with kosher law. Hekhsher: A symbol on a food product that certifies it is kosher. Pareve: Food, such as fruit, vegetables and eggs, that is considered neutral under the laws of kashrut, meaning that it can be eaten with either dairy or meat meals. Treif: Not kosher. Source: How to Keep Kosher: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Jewish Dietary Laws by Lisė Stern (William Morrow, $25). Recipes that accompany this article may be viewed on Houston Chronicle microfilm or in the Houston Chronicle Recipe Database. BABA GHANOUSH HUMMUS GREEN RICE |
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dream. It opened in late November on South
Braeswood Boulevard because so many families in Houston's
Jewish community hungered enough for such a place to invest
in. 
going to
put up $10,000 to $20,000 of their own money, put it into the
restaurant business, hoping (the restaurant is) going to make
it (and) they are going to get their money back? It's a
mitzvah. It's putting back into the community." 
(also nonmeat). For practical reasons, restaurants
usually serve either meat or dairy foods, not both. The delis
at Randalls and Kroger at Meyer Park are kosher, too. In
comparison, Manhattan has 163 kosher restaurants, according to www.totallyjewishtravel.com. 
and everybody
else is welcome. For that reason, the sign outside - a drawing
of a kebab - doesn't advertise the fact that Suzie's is
kosher. She picked the name "to appeal to the Texan crowd."
an
interest-free loan. The Torah does not allow Jews to charge
one another interest.