By Joshua Rosenstein, Assistant Editor, JTNews
Growing up as a non-Jew and studying to be a clothing designer, Leah Jaffe never dreamed she would be a kosher caterer. Yet Jaffe, who worked in the fashion design industry for 20 years before converting to Judaism, quickly discovered that there was no place to get decent kosher food. So she went to work.
A lifelong baker, Jaffe adapted to Jewish baking like a kneidlach to a bowl of chicken soup. Her friends soon urged her to start selling her challah to the community. She started doing so in 1998, working out of her basement, and her challah soon developed something of a cult-like following.
There was one guy who got married in Barbados shortly after 9/11, Jaffe recalls. He carried two massive wedding challahs sticking out of his carry-on. They must have been unwrapped and x-rayed a hundred times.
In 1999, Jaffe moved her business out of her basement and into a retail space on Northeast 65th St. in North Seattle. In 2000, she added a full bakery. The first location served as the retail front offering light kosher lunches, but when Leah found out earlier this year that Hillel was taking bids from caterers to work out of their brand new facility, she decided to investigate.
I felt it would allow me to pursue the catering aspect of my business more and also give me the opportunity to work out of a much better facility. But three locations was more than one person could handle. So she attempted to outsource her challah empire to Elliott Bay Baking Company, a local kosher bakery. Though they used the same recipe, the taste wasnt the same. Jaffe said she was deluged with phone calls from unhappy customers, just before the High Holidays.
It was a disaster, she said of that first attempt. I had customers calling to complain day and night. So she took the challah operation back, and cranked out three tons of the round loaves in her undersized facility over the course of the 2004 holiday period.
Now she is attempting to make the transition once again, but this time, she has given Elliot Bay not only her equipment and her staff, but special kneading lessons as well.
Its all in the wrist, she explains. The transition took place two weeks ago, and customers seem to be satisfied. There are still kinks to work out, she said, but things are going much better this time.
Meanwhile, Jaffe has recently moved into her new digs at the Hillel building, where she will serve in several capacities: she is in charge of leasing out space in the new Hillel building for Jewish community events like weddings, Bnai Mitzvah, meetings and other simchas. She will also serve as in-house caterer and provide the food for scheduled events in addition to catering Hillel and Jconnect functions. She will operate Hillels new café, which is slated to open January 1, 2005. Finally, she will continue to provide the off-site catering business that she has sustained for several years, but now out of the Hillel facility.
Her 65th St. location will continue to serve her retail business, which will soon include a lunchtime falafel bar. She decided to keep the business open because she feels her presence in the community is important.
My customers would kill me if I quit, she said. What Jaffe enjoys most about her business is the way it keeps her tied into the Jewish community.
At this point, she said, kids whose bris I catered are approaching Bar Mitzvah age. I know who doesnt eat garlic and whos allergic to mushrooms.
The move to Hillel has not been quick or easy. With her computers not yet up and running and the phones out of whack, Jaffe is embroiled in a challenging Hanukkah rush. She remains, nonetheless, undaunted.
Thank God! she said. As a for-profit business working with a non-profit agency, she says her goal is to help Hillel utilize their new facility to help fund their programs.
If the food is good, people will come, she said. The more successful their programming, the more funds will come in to expand them.
Café LeVine at Hillel is slated to be open in the evenings between 5 and 11 p.m. to fit into the schedules of busy college students. The menu will be similar to her 65th St. establishment, but she says her main goal is to fulfill demand.
Being in-house and small gives me the flexibility to change the menu based on student wants, she said. She also plans to price the menu affordably for the kids.
Jaffe says her biggest challenge so far has been to get the word out that Hillel has a space for lease and that she is on-site to provide kosher catering. On January 13, she will hold an open house at Hillel with tastes of her treats. In the meanwhile, shes excited about the new chapter in her business.
Its just a good fit, she said. My crew loves their crew, everyone here is genuinely nice, and being on site means I can offer more and better food when I dont have to schlep it across town. It also helps that the new Hillel kitchens are first rate.