As a 13-year-old boy, Elon Kviatkovsky, the Chef at LA Kosher Catering at Valley Beth Shalom, had two options when he returned home from school: a sandwich or a home-cooked dinner. The choice was obvious, but there was a catch—he had to prepare the dinner himself. With both parents working, the responsibility fell on him. So, after riding home from school on his bike, he sat down to do his homework. And then Kviatkovsky would roll up his sleeves and start cooking schnitzel, chicken, kebab and hummus.
When his parents returned home after a long day at work, the table was set, and dinner was served.
“My parents were always excited to come home to a nice warm dinner,” Kviatkovsky recalled. “My mom especially loved hummus and I used to make it myself, boiling garbanzo beans and mixing in oil and all the other ingredients. Luckily, I almost burned the house down only once.”
“My parents were always excited to come home to a nice warm dinner.” – Elon Kviatkovsky
Years later, after graduating high school, he was unsure of what he wanted to do and found himself selling vacuums door-to-door. His parents, knowing his passion lay elsewhere, urged him to come back home and attend culinary school. Kviatkovsky enthusiastically abandoned the vacuums and enrolled in culinary school. After graduating, he trained with renowned chefs, including Michelin-starred Chef Josiah Citrin at Mélisse in Santa Monica and Chef Bill Bracken at the Peninsula Hotel’s distinguished Belvedere restaurant in Beverly Hills.
Two years ago, he joined LA Kosher Catering at Valley Beth Shalom, where his two children, Layla, 11, and Shai, 7, study. “My wife had her bat mitzvah there, and I’ve attended countless bar and bat mitzvahs there,” he said.
For Chef Kviatkovsky, it was a great opportunity to leave his mark on the place and elevate the menu, which had remained largely unchanged since 1952.
“The company was owned by a father and son,” Kviatkovsky explained. “It was a classic Ashkenazi-Sephardic style menu. The food was delicious but old-school. The younger generation, who grew up here, wanted to see more interesting dishes and a menu that evolves.”
Over the past two years, Kviatkovsky has taken the original menu and elevated it, adding a twist to familiar dishes and making them new and exciting. There’s a variety of options, from traditional French and Persian cuisines to modern Asian or Italian fusion dishes, all handmade. The menu also includes Israeli and Moroccan salads and pita imported from Israel.
After 30 years of the same menu, the changes have been warmly welcomed by the many customers who rely on LA Kosher Catering for their celebrations.
As far as Kviatkovsky is concerned, it’s tikkun olam — repairing the world — when he sees people enjoying his food. After all, one of the basic questions people ask after every event is, “How was the food?” A lot of the success of an event relies on the quality of the food.
LA Kosher provides catering services to cities as far as San Diego and Santa Barbara, offering both kosher dairy and nondairy menus.
This month, LA Kosher Catering began offering Shabbat-to-go again — a full Shabbat dinner for families — which quickly became very popular among the parents of children at Valley Beth Shalom.
“Anyone can also order on our website, you don’t have to have children at the school,” said the chef. “Parents are coming to pick up their kids and grab Shabbat dinner. After all, the last thing you want to do after a long day at work is start cooking for everyone.”
Families also enjoy prepared meals for Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah. “Passover is our most popular one as it saves so much time and effort,” said Kviatkovsky.
When asked what the most rewarding aspect of his work is, Kviatkovsky said, “At the end of the day, when you put two people in a room with a meal, it’s the best part of the day. What we do as restaurateurs is bring people together, create a vibe. You don’t even have to speak — just enjoy sitting together and sharing a good meal.”
Whipped Eggplant (Baba ganoush)
4 medium eggplants
2 Tbsp tahini
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp Kosher salt and salt to taste
4 cloves roasted garlic confit
2 Tbsp garlic oil
Garlic confit:
Peel one head of garlic.
In a small pot, put garlic and 1 cup of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of kosher salt in a baking dish and bake in the oven at 350°F for 20 minutes. Pull it out and let it cool.
In the broiler or on the BBQ, poke eggplant with holes to let out steam. Cook over a high flame to char all the skin leaving burnt skin and soft eggplant. Put in a bowl and cover with plastic to let eggplant steam 20 minutes.
After the eggplant is cooled remove the charred skin from the flesh. Rinse under cold water and put on a paper towel to dry.
Add the peeled eggplant, tahini, sesame oil, garlic confit, garlic oil, and kosher salt to taste in a blender.
Whip eggplant until smooth.
It can be eaten immediately or after two hours stored in the fridge.
