Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

ORLANDO—Family reunions, weddings and birthdays are a time for families to gather together, celebrate each other and share a meal. For the kosher community, however, trying to simply share a meal isn’t always that simple. Dietary restrictions and kosher guidelines can put the kibosh on party planning faster than you can say bar mitzvah. To answer the call, Rosen Hotels & Resorts founded Zayde’s Kosher Catering; and in nine short months, it has quickly emerged as Central Florida’s premier kosher catering service.

The Zayde’s concept is the brainchild of Harris Rosen, president and COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts. Rosen named the service after his grandfather, his Zayde, Samuel Rosenhaus, who immigrated to the U.S. from Austria-Hungary in 1911.

“Zayde’s is about connecting to our Bubbes and Zaydes who serve as a link to our rich past,” said Rosen. “What better way to celebrate their lives and our community’s heritage than through world-class, gourmet kosher food?”

In keeping with the Rosen Hotels’ goal of exceeding the needs of every guest, Rosen said Zayde’s Kosher Catering was founded to be able to serve even the strictest of Orthodox dietary requirements. Rabbi Yosef Konikov, of RCF, Rabbinate of Central and North Florida, consulted on all construction aspects of the kitchen and Rosen Plaza employs a full-time mashgiach to oversee all catering activities. The mashgiach holds the single key to the kitchen and provides constant supervision.

“It is important that we are able to honor the dietary requirements of our Jewish community,” said Rosen. “It is not enough to be ‘kosher-style,’ we want our visitors to have the peace of mind that their guests and families are receiving the highest-quality certified kosher meals.”

Zayde’s director of Catering, Rebecca Maxwell, said Zayde’s culinary team is dedicated to creating events made of lasting memories. The 5,000-square-foot facility, headed by Executive Chefs Michael McMullen and Jorge Oliveira, is one of the largest and best-supervised kosher catering services in the country.

Located at the Rosen Plaza Hotel on International Drive in Orlando, Zayde’s meets the certified requirements of kashrut in terms of equipment, food sourcing, storage, handling and preparation. The facility was also constructed in strict compliance with halacha, with three separate kitchens for glatt kosher meat, cholov yisroel dairy and pareve. Zayde’s can provide catering for any size group, from a small gathering of 25 people to a large convention or celebration of 800 people. In addition to on-site catering at Rosen Plaza, the meals can be catered in to all seven Rosen properties as well as off-site venues and events within the community.

Dr. Marcy Bernstein sought the help of Zayde’s Kosher Catering while planning her family reunion this summer.

“Our entire family keeps kosher,” said Bernstein. “Plus, we have family members that require gluten-free and peanut-free options. It makes it nearly impossible to find a facility able to accommodate that level of attention.”

Bernstein’s daughter began to search the Internet for possible solutions and found Zayde’s Kosher Catering was able to not only meet the family’s dietary requirements, but also cater in to Rosen Plaza’s sister property, Rosen Inn International, which allowed the group of 30 to stay close to the synagogue.

“We were thrilled,” said Bernstein. “They were very sensitive to our needs and everything was clearly labeled. They even had a supervising rabbi on site. We wouldn’t have been able to go there if they didn’t.”

Bernstein said she felt more families, especially those with children, would travel to Orlando if they knew they could have true kosher catering right there at their hotel.

“They did a wonderful job. The food was delicious and plentiful, and they made it easy for us to just enjoy our family.”