| Wednesday, April 7, 7:00 pm
Members $90, guests $115
The Passover story records that the Jews fled Egypt in such a hurry
they didn’t have time to let their dough for bread rise. Thus,
matzoh, unleavened bread, is eaten to remember and commemorate their
redemption from slavery. But this Jewish holiday is not only about
happiness and freedom, it’s also about incarnating the suffering
the Hebrews went through some 3,000 years ago. Alas the manufacturers
of kosher food seem to remember only the suffering. Who can bite
into a Manischewitz macaroon or eat a bowl of kosher-for-Passover
cereal without feeling mistreated?
It’s 2004, and it’s time for a change! That’s
why we’ve invited the talented Peter Hoffman, of Savoy, and
his disciple Todd Aarons, now of Mosaica, to cook a proper dinner
to celebrate, yes, celebrate, the third night of the weeklong Passover
holiday.
Hoffman, who opened Savoy with his wife, Susan, more than 13 years
ago, is as immersed as ever in a cooking philosophy that prioritizes
sustainable agriculture and the use of beautiful, seasonal local
ingredients. The place is a “perennial favorite,” William
Grimes wrote in The New York Times; it’s a romantic
spot where the editors of Saveur “always find something
good and unexpected.” It is, according to Patrick Martins
and Ben Watson, authors of The Slow Food Guide to New York City,
“as close as you’ll get to Chez Panisse in New York
City.”
Aarons, a graduate of the California Culinary Academy, came to
work in the Savoy kitchen after two years under Judy Rodgers at
the celebrated Zuni Cafe. Hoffman and Aarons were a cooking team
at the time when Ruth Reichl wrote in The New York Times
that “eating at Savoy you get the feeling that the people
who run it like food, like themselves and like what they are doing.”
Aarons was liking food so much that he moved to Tuscany for six
months to work at four different restaurants. In 1999 he studied
under Hoffman’s mentor, Madeleine Kamman. Consulting jobs
for cafes in Netanya and Tel Aviv sparked an interest in Israeli
cuisine and kosher laws. At Mosaica, in Vauxhall, New Jersey, Aarons
has fused his years of training and experience with kashruth, and
he’s offering Kosher Mediterranean cuisine prepared with seasonal
produce from the best farmers and purveyors of the area.
Take that, Manischewitz!
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