Content area
Full Text
Itta Werdiger Roth Is Changing the Face and Taste of Kosher Food in New York City
On a crisp morning earlier this fall, I met chef Itta Werdiger Roth outside a small storefront in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The windows were still covered with newspaper, but inside was the beginning of Mason & Mug, a new artisanal kosher restaurant she is set to open on November 25 with her business partner, Sasha Chack. Werdiger Roth led me inside for a look at the newly installed wooden bar, which is topped with smooth white subway tiles and illuminated by three oversized Chinese lanterns. The wall across from the bar is decorated with a bright, graffiti-inspired mural. The menu concept - small bites of global street food - will feature dishes like Vietnamese bánh mì, fish tacos, spicy turmeric and ginger chickpeas, and homemade pickles. Neither the space nor the menu seemed anything like most kosher restaurants. But then again, Werdiger Roth is hardly like other kosher chefs.
If you have never heard of Werdiger Roth, that is at least in part by design. In late 2011 she launched The Hester, a popular speakeasy-style kosher supper club that she ran out of her home in Brooklyn. In keeping with the hush-hush vibe of a speakeasy, she kept her own identity semi-shrouded, sending communiqués to guests under a fictional name, Kate Hester. Now she is ready to step out of Kate's shadow.
As is the case for many food professionals, Werdiger Roth's path to becoming a chef and restaurateur was far from straight. She grew up in Melbourne, Australia, in a Hasidic family. Her father's family traces its lineage back to the beginning of the Lubavitch movement in the late 18th century.
Like her father, whom Werdiger Roth describes as quirky and creative ("the kind of guy who will wear a purple suit to shul and not care what anyone thinks"), she gracefully defies any conventional stereotypes of religiosity. Her dark-brown shaytl, the wig traditionally worn by married Orthodox women, is cut in a wavy bob with stylishly cropped bangs. She favors vintage clothes and red lipstick, and has a warm, easy wit and a fiery sense of humor.
Werdiger Roth's passion for food...