Conference taveng::bagels

Hi Linda,

A number of kosher caterers advertise in the Jewish Advocate newspaper;  I'll 
type in a summary after I get the next edition (today's mail, I think).

In personal experience, which is what you're really asking for, I've eaten a 
dinner catered by Green Manor, and thought it was OK.

But the most important point:  what is this EVENT you are planning?  :-)
(Can't stand the suspense!)

Regards,
Joyce

PS Are you still tech writing in Marlboro?

    The easiest thing to do, especially if you mean that the food had
    better be glat kosher, is to call the V'ad Harabonim in Boston (may
    be in Brookline now; used to be on Tremont Street) and request their
    list.  When Paul and I got married (4 1/2 years ago) there were
    only ten caterers on the list (Green Manor was one of them), so
    it didn't take too long to call all of them and get comparisons.
     They were all located in Boston or its southern suburbs, and some
    of them only cater at certain locations (like, some hotels).  We
    found a women in Newton who would go to Worcester for us, at a
    reasonable price (but I don't remember her name), and the food was
    quite good.  (I don't know what you do if you want to have an event
    in Springfield or someplace...)  There might be glat caterers in
    Worcester now; the Jewish community there has grown a lot recently.

    Ruth's Kitchen in Worcester is glatt kosher and will cater
    at various locations around the Worcester area. Besides her
    the the next nearest glatt caterer is in Road Island.
    
    			Fred
    

    You may want to check out Gilbert, they catered our wedding (we
    had dairy - my wife insists on "real" desserts), and the food was
    excellent.  They're from Providence, but they do maintain an office
    in this area(Newton, I think).
    
    David

    The affair I am arranging is a dinner for Hadassah members.
    I've been told that caterers treat nonprofit organizations
    different and have a different price structure.
    
    Anyone familiar with this?
    
    <<Linda
    
    p.s. to Joyce--I am still writing in MRO.  Hope to see you at woods
    mtg next week.

    The shul I belong to has many functions, particularly brotherhood
    and sisterhood dinners, catered by a couple who belong to the shul.
    They are an older couple and do not do it for a living. They might
    do it if it is for a charitable organization, and if the function
    is at the shul. If you are interested, let me know and I can give
    you the name of someone to call. The shul is located in Worcester.
    
    Jack

    Old Myron Cohen chestnut:
    
    Two women are talking by the pool at the country club:
    
    Bertha:  Sadie, you shouldn't tell a soul... I'm having an affair!
    
    Sadie: So nu, who's catering?

Linda,

My wife has also arranged functions for Hadassah, the Framingham Chapter, 
being a past Vice President.  She has used Rubin Caterers of Newton, MA. a 
number of times and has always been pleased.  He is accustom to working 
with Hadassah (pricing, etc.).  I believe that you can get their phone 
number from directory assistance.  Unfortunately, I don't have the phone 
number with me.  If you do want to contact them, and have trouble, send 
MAIL and I can get the phone number (I think).

							-- David

    Thanks to everyone who provided information.
    
    <<Linda

    I was looking through the Guide to Jewish Boston (and New England)
    and there were several kosher caterers listed there.  If you wish
    the list, you can a) buy the book, or b) send me a MAIL message
    and I'll give you the names.
    
    The book happens to be excellent.  I'd strongly recommend purchasing
    it.

    Andy Wiener of Brookline has catered several affairs which I have
    attended recently and has done an excellent job.  Mostly his catering
    has been milchig.  
    
    Recently he has begun catering fleischig and will be the kosher
    caterer in a recently renovated hotel in Brookline.  
    
    Andy is shomer shabbos and has a very reliable hashgochah.  He can
    be reached by calling Cafe Shalom (I do not remember the name of
    his catering business but his family operates Cafe Shalom). 

                <<< GVRIEL::DUA0:[NOTES$LIBRARY]BAGELS.NOTE;1 >>>
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Note 172.0                  Gilbert & Davis Catering                  No replies
BRAHMS::AHART                                        14 lines  12-AUG-1986 17:30
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    Another place for excellent  ( I think strictly Kosher ) food
    is at Davis Catering.  Once called Gilbert & Davis and maybe
    even back to Gilbert & Davis makes the most incredible
    chopped liver in the world.  I HATE liver, but their liver
    really is outrageous.  The chopped herring is good and so is
    their kishka.  The kinishes are homemade as is everything else.
    
    It is located on Rt. 1 between Dedham and West Roxbury.  Right
    near Manufacture's Marketplace.  They have a little store up
    front for little things, like those mentioned above, but they also
    do catering for affairs aswell.  Pricey, but worth it.
                                                                      
    

    Since the last discussion about kosher caterers was in 1986, I wonder if
    anyone has any new advice or experiences, positive or negative. This is
    for a wedding in Needham (MA) in 1986. Thanks very much!
    --Dan

    I was married in a conservative Newton, MA synagogue this past October.
    It was a 1:00 pm traditional Jewish wedding.  The reception was in the 
    Social Hall at the synagogue.  
    
    Our choices for caterers revolved around Gilbert and Davis, Green
    Manor, and Izzy's. We used Izzy's Kosher Catering out of Providence, 
    Rhode Island.  
    
    Quite frankly, the food was sensational!  Our guests - all 200 of
    them - and the immediate wedding party, raved about it.  The leftovers
    - and there was some as a few guests couldn't come at the last minute
    - have been a pleasure to eat! Also - I should note, there were
    no "food oriented" disasters.  (Not enough food ordered, cold food,
    etc.)  Everything was perfect.  I couldn't recommend Izzy's enough.
     
                    
    

    I was married last spring at Congregation Ahabat Sholom in Lynn,
    an Orthodox synogogue.  The woman in charge of events gave me several
    names of caterers.  We had Carol Wald in Newton do the food.  The
    people we invited were both Jewish and not Jewish, so we wanted
    a more cosmopolitan menu.  We also had many children there (one
    caterer told me children don't belong at weddings) so we needed
    a menu they would eat too.  Carol suggested a separate menu for
    the children.  Carol had a shelf of cookbooks which are among the
    best I know in her office.  When I remarked on this, she told me
    about her training.  She studied extensively with Madeleine Kamman
    and has attended seminars with Flo Bakker and Julia Child. 
    
    Our menu was chicken breasts with fresh asparagus and mustard sauce,
    seasoned wild rice, sauteed summer squash with bits of red pepper
    for color.  We had various fresh fruits before the main course and
    also with the cake.  She makes a custard base from orange juice
    and eggs for the icing for the cake.  It was much better than the
    usual Crisco shortening base.  The kids had plates full of little
    meatballs, cocktail franks and chicken nuggets with raw vegetables.
    EVERYONE thought the food was wonderful:  I think it was inspirational
    to a number of my most Orthodox friends.
    
    Because she brings all her own dishes, she will also go to Conservative
    events.

    
    May I ask if anyone has heard of any Kosher caterers on Cape Cod?
    I wouldn't expect it, but one never knows--a member of a lost tribe,
    perhaps.  :-)
    
    
    thanks for the info,
     Cheryl
    

    I didn't discover any in my kosher caterer quest, but they'll all
    travel quite far to cater something, in general. The last time I was in
    touch with Izzy's in Providence, for instance, they had gone to
    Andover. Most of their business is actually in Mass. So Cape Cod would
    certainly be OK by them. I'm sure the same would be true of Rubin, and
    any others in the Stoughton/Canton area.

    Gilbert caterers are based in Providence, so I don't think the Cape
    would be out of reach for them.  They're great.
    
    David

Wald in Newton may also travel to the Cape.  We had them at our 
wedding and had wonderful hors d'oeuvres, buffet(roast beef, poached
salmon, vegetarian/pareve lasagne, lo mein, antipasto), and dessert 
buffet.  They even did Peking duck as an hors d'oeuvres!  They 
are unpretentious - if you want white glove service and "Vienna 
carts", Gilbert may be the best choice for you.

Sara

    re: -1
    
    I don't know what you mean by "white glove service", gilbert catered
    our wedding (granted it was six years ago) and I didn't find the
    service to be "white glove".  Of course the state that I was in
    was barely conscious ^.
    
    David

White glove service is also called "French service".  It's a 
fancy shmancy thing where all the waitpersons where white 
gloves to serve you.  I first saw this at a New York/Queens 
wedding.  Personally, I find it a bit pretentious.  But, to 
some people($$$$), it's very important.  I'm sure Gilbert 
has wonderful food, too.  In evaluating caterers for our 
wedding, I tried to stay away from caterers offering white 
glove service, Vienna dessert tables(In NYC, sometimes, the 
caterers dim the lights, put spotlights on the dance floor, 
have the band play a peppy number and actually announce 
"so-and-so caterers are pleased to present the Vienna tables", 
and then the wait persons wheel the carts around on the dance 
floor.  It looks like a circus.), and anything else that might 
not be to our liking.  I was looking for a creative yet down 
to earth caterer that would listen and be responsive to the 
kind of affair we wanted.  That's why we picked Wald.

At the wedding we went to in NYC, the caterer was told not 
to parade the Vienna carts as described above but they did so 
anyway.  Needless to say, there was a very angry bride.

Sara

    re: -1
    
    I don't know are we talking about the same caterer here??  At our
    wedding the waiters did not wear gloves (of any color), and we did
    have a large dessert table, but it was stationary.
    
    David

    I know how to make vegetarian lasagna, but pareve? What's in it?

--David

>>    I know how to make vegetarian lasagna, but pareve? What's in it?

It's like an eggplant parmagian but without the cheese.  It had 
a very spicy tomato sauce.

It was great!

As for white gloves, caterers offer various levels of service.  
They may offer informal and very formal levels.  As I stated 
earlier, my preference is not for white glove.  And, after my 
friend's experience in Queens, I looked for a caterer without 
this level because I did not want it to be inadvertently slipped 
in to our reception.

Sara

    re:.23,.24
    This is a digression, but as I am lactose-intolerant, I make non-dairy
    lasagna.  A half-pound of soft tofu, an egg and some garlic and
    maybe a little salt and you've got a decent substitute for the ricotta
    filling.  Plenty of good tomato sauce rounds it out.  Parve or meat
    versions are both possible.
    
    (My wedding was catered by Charles Gilbert & Davis of W. Roxbury,
    and the food was very good, though not cheap.  I didn't realize
    they still had an RI operation; I thought they had re-merged.)
       fred

    I've just  started to do some calling around, so here is an update
    on some of the caterers mentioned earlier:

    Davis is  still in the phone book, but it lists the same number as
    Gilbert and Davis:  (617) 325-7750

    Green Manor  has two phone numbers (617)244-5344 (Newton, but they
    are only in their Newton office by appointment) and (617) 244-5344
    Their main office, I don't remember where it is.

    Izzy's (based  in  Providence,  but  they  will come to the Boston
    area) (401) 738-5454

    Traditionally yours  (which  I think was run by Carol Wald) is out
    of business.

    I also  found  a  phone  number  for "Jewish Religous Information"
    (617)  426-2139.  They have lists of kosher caterers, restaurants,
    bakeries,  and  so forth. They also have lists of congregations in
    the  area,  and a rabbi who will answer questions for you. I don't
    know  his  name,  nor  what  branch  he is. The woman there seemed
    helpful, and will be sending me the list of caterers.

--David

A bit more information:

    Traditionally yours  is  out  of  business, but it is unrelated to

    Carol Wald.  They're  still  in business and serve pareve and meat
    only.  (617) 965-1117

    The "Jewish  Religous  information  service"  turns out to be Vaad
    Harabonim.  They  won't  say  that  over the phone, and their mail
    comes  without  a return address. I don't know why they are trying
    to  hide.  They  sent me a list of kosher caterers (there are only
    9  or  10)  and  a  seperate  list  of  kosher bakers. The list of
    caterers  doesn't  include Izzy's, presumably because Izzy's is in
    Providence.  There  may  be  still  more caterers nearby that they
    don't list.

--David

    
    Re: .26
    One notable exception to this list is Andrew's Catering.  Andrew is the
    son of the owners of Cafe Shalom (a dairy restaurant in Brookline) and
    his catering is quite good.
    
    I just finished a tasting tour of every kosher caterer in the Boston
    area and would be happy to provide more details via email to anyone who 
    has an upcoming affair.  I've sampled Carol Wald, Andrews, Green Manor,
    Gilbert and Davis, and Izzy's.  We're going with Green Manor; Andrews
    and Carol Wald were also very good.

    Andrew did a great job for our wedding, and the food was excellent. We
    had a number of spontaneous compliments about it. He's somewhat more
    expensive than most other kosher caterers.
    
    --Dan

    Does anyone know of any kosher caterers in southern N.H. (Nashua or
    Manchester area?).  I am interested in having someone bring prepared
    platters of dairy stuff to my house for a bris/baby-naming. 
    Alternatively, if there are any kosher restaurants that would prepare
    platters "to go", that would OK also.
    
    Thanks for any suggestions!