FYI - there is a newly Kosher place in South Philly called Miss Rachel's Pantry. It is Vegan and delicious. Kosher supervision by IKC. They mostly do takeout and catering. Website is here: http://www.missrachelspantry.com/

Recent message sent out

We are pleased to announce that we were able to assist Burger.Org to move into the former Max and David's Restaurant at 8120 Old York Rd 150 Yorktown Plaza Elkins Park PA. They are under the same supervision and have a wonderful selection of burgers, sandwiches, salads, and even all day breakfast!

We encourage you to visit their newest location and enjoy the great food, the great atmosphere, and plenty of free parking.

All the best from our family to yours for a happy new year and a happy and healthy holiday season,

The Katz Family

In center city, I would recommend Felafel Bar for lunch with kids...casual environment and despite the name they have very different menu items than Mama's...green salads, paninis, etc. Blackbird Pizzeria in CC will deliver to your hotel, if you need a break from "eating out". The pizza is vegan but delicious. And I third Burger.org. Both locations have great food, although the one on south street has more room to sit.

Rabbi Altulsky says that Jewish Heritage Night on August 7 WILL be under Rabbi Mehlman and that the catering in general will begin under the hashgacha starting September 1.

I spoke to Rabbi Schwarcz and he is updating his site so it is incorrect at this time. Not only are all these places under IKC, but they have more places than ever in the US and Internationally.

Breaking news: Betty the Caterer is now under the Orthodox Hashgacha of Rabbi Aharon Mehlman with a mashgiach temidi managed by Rabbi Tzvi Altusky. See letter below:

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

This letter is to certify that Betty The Caterer, located at 7037 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, is under the strict orthodox kosher supervision of Rabbi Tzvi Altusky of National Kosher Supervision with a full time Mashgiach termidi on the premises of above address at all times. Rabbi Aaron Mehlman is the Rav Hamachshir of National Kosher Supervision based in New York.
All meats and meat products are certified Glatt Kosher. Betty The Caterer’s commissary houses a separate Dairy Kitchen, Pareve Bakery and well as their full Meat kitchen. All Dairy ovens and equipment and Meat ovens and equipment are new. Additionally, they have their own inventory of Kosher China, Silverware and Glassware.

Rabbi Tzvi Altusky

Jar Bar, located at 113 South 12th Street just south of Chestnut Street in Center City, Philadelphia is now Kosher pareve under the supervision of the IKC (Rabbi Zev Schwarcz). They have a very cool looking raw vegan menu - check it out here: http://www.jarbarphilly.com/
If someone tries it out, let us know the scoop.

FYI there are a couple of other places not on that list, like Falafel Bar (great paninis) and Crisp (delicious flatbread pizza). For the most up to date list, see: http://www.ccshul.com/index.php?id=13

FYI there is real cheese flatbread Pizza now at Crisp in Center City. It is not regular Pizza crust but it has real cholov yisroel cheese and is really good.

MiLah is also good for that.

They are certified by IKC (Rabbi Zev Schwarcz). The certification is posted on the front door.

Crisp restaurant in Center City, Philadelphia is now kosher. I went Friday for the first time and it was awesome! It is on 18th, right off Chestnut. (around the corner from the continental) I had the mexican salad flatbread pizza - this is a very thin flat crust cheese pizza that is LOADED with corn, guac, jalapeno, tomato....I've never had anything like it but it was delicious and pretty cheap for all that food. The chili cheese fries were fantastic, too. So excited that I can now get kosher cheese pizza in cc!

There are 14 stools with a bar. Kind of small but enough room to sit at the bar.

It is a second location and opened this evening!

FYI - burger.org opened tonight and Crisp is kosher starting tomorrow!

I will certainly defer to my favorite chef - thank you for the tip. Will look for the fairway balsamic next time I need it!

Whoa, pretty harsh words. IMO It is far from "disgusting". I have used it in many dishes that were fantastic. As far as I know, It is impossible to get authentic balsamic vinegar with kosher certification, so this is probably the best you can get right now.
FYI - Rabbi Yitzchak Abade permits many kinds of authentic Balsamic vinegar without certification, on the grounds that it is mevushal. For info, see www.kashrut.org.

Bartenura makes an excellent quality balsamic vinegar.

http://www.kedem.com/images/141005.pdf

Word on the street is the second Burger.org location opens on Thursday!

Also, word on the street is that Crisp Philly is going kosher this week under the IKC - Rabbi Schwarcz. They are a block away on 18th just north of chestnut. It is mostly falafel, which we have a lot of, but the menu looks interesting. The exciting part is they have real cheese flatbread pizza, the first kosher pizza available in Center City. YUM! Very exciting developments!

I heard that they are keeping their other location too, and that the new one will be primarily takeout.

For the many people who will only eat at a restaurant with an Orthodox hechsher, it is not negligible at all. It is known that the different denominations have different standards of Kashrut so for someone who has Orthodox standards, it may make the difference as to whether they will eat there or not.

Furthermore, I don't know how you can be so sure that they will raise their prices. Rabbi Schwarcz has certified six other establishments in Center City, and none of them have raised prices as a result. I highly doubt Singapore will be the first one to do so.

FYI - Singapore Vegetarian in Philadelphia on 1006 Race Street (in Chinatown) is now under the Orthodox supervision of Rabbi Zev Schwarcz (IKC Kosher). Haven't eaten there yet but will report back when I do.

I second Cafe Rimon. Both the meat and dairy options are great. I personally prefer the dairy, although the guys might prefer the meat. Inexpensive but a real meal, not fast food by any means.

Once again, it is prudent to ask your LOR, but would clearly seem to be permitted according to halacha to eat a product with trace amounts of dairy in it after meat, because the dairy is nullified and does not produce any taste.

Halacha does not require that you are 100% certain that there is no issue, and kashrus agencies don't pretend to guarantee anything other than halacha was adhered to. A mashgiach is not there to "guarantee something isn't lurking in a crevice" and they physically can't even accomplish this guarantee. It actually would also be cost prohibitive if the mashgiach was there for that purpose and since it isn't required according to halacha it is not done.

I'm not sure what you mean by "sources". I spoke to many qualified Talmidei Chachamim well known in the kashrut industry who privately lament about the OU-D designation and have told me that it should be considered pareve. Most of these individuals would probably not appreciate being outed publicly on this board so I would have to ask them if they are okay with mentioning their names. Rabbi YItzchak Abadi (who is not afraid to state his opinion and as a result is considered controversial) is someone who has maintained this position publicly, and these individuals agree with his position.
In halachic terms, it is very difficult to say that the food was definitely produced on ben yomo equipment (used for dairy within 24 hours and not koshered). There is at least one (and probably many) safekot (doubts), and since this law is clearly not a torah prohibition (as evidenced from the shulchan aruch (who allows it outright) and the rema (who allows it bidieved - after the fact) safek (and certainly safek safek sefaika) nat bar nat is considered pareve. It might be a good idea to run this by your LOR and see if he agrees with this argument.

Thanks for pointing this out, zsero. I am sorry that I didn't clarify this point - "dairy free" was a term that I did not explain properly. I didn't mean that the equipment wasn't used for dairy, but that the equipment is cleaned thoroughly. According to the Vegan Action Certification, "companies must assure us that steps are taken to thoroughly clean the machinery " While it is theoretically possible that trace amounts of dairy are in such products, companies generally write this on the packaging to protect themselves from lawsuits. This statement is not found on this product as far as I know.

While everyone should check with their own LOR, a very strong argument can be made that a OU-D product with no dairy in the ingredients is halachically pareve (not even DE - ie okay even for Ashkenazim to eat together with meat). As mentioned, vegan certification is very strict about equipment being dairy free. While it is possible that the equipment is used for dairy, it is also possible that it is not, as the disclaimer is used to protect the company from allergies for the most part. Additionally, it is possible that it was not used for dairy 24 hours prior. It is also possible that the item produced before this product on the equipment was not dairy, thus kashering the equipment even within 24 hours according to many halachic opinions. Even if the item produced on the equipment immediately prior is dairy, the first run of our food will kasher the equipment according to these opinions, thus making all subsequent runs pareve, with the first run becoming batel (nullified) in the other runs. So many doubts in a case of 'nat bar nat' (in this case, dairy going into equipment which then transfers to another food) which has many leniencies anyway, makes a strong halachic argument to say that ANY OU-D product that has no dairy in the ingredients should be considered 100% pareve, all the more so if it is certified vegan.

Not sure where you got this info from. 5 Spoke is exclusively certified by the Chof-K, not the Star-K.

Star-K has been giving their hechsher to some whole foods brand products for a while, which is a wonderful thing.

If you really want great cheese at whole foods, look for 5 spoke brand which is chof-k certified. It is made from raw milk, humane, grass fed, and delicious! See http://www.5spokecreamery.com/cheese.... for info. Not all Whole Foods carries this cheese, but most of the ones I buy from do. Highly recommended!