Do you have any suggestions for Jewish wedding catering on a Saturday in Los Angeles?

March 22, 2009 10:29 PM

Jewish wedding catering in Los Angeles on a Saturday. Is this possible?

I'm getting married in January 2010 to a Chinese girl. I'm Jewish. For the wedding ceremony, we're going to do a Chinese tea ceremony. We're going to have a semi-traditional Chinese wedding reception at a Chinese restaurant in Monterey Park. It's planned for a Saturday.

I wanted to get some Jewish food catered, as well. I picture my grandparents, cousins, and some of my aunts and uncles struggling with chopsticks and them wondering what's going on in the shark fin soup. I thought it'd be really cool to provide them (and any of the Chinese guests, of course) with the option of eating some Jewish food. Kosher would be great, but therein lies the problem.

Do you know of any places that cater kosher food on a Saturday (Shabbas!) in or around Los Angeles? It doesn't have to be kosher, but perhaps Jewish and/or Israeli food would fit the bill. It does have to be tasty. All I've been able to come up with so far is catering from one of the delis (like Canters or Jerry's Famous), but they mostly seem to specialize in party platters--cold cuts, smoked fish, bagels. I would like something more than that for our wedding--you know, something more wedding-like. And I'm looking at providing this food for about 30 to 50 guests.

The caterer doesn't have to be Jewish. The food doesn't have to be kosher or prepared in a kosher kitchen, either, though that would be a plus. They don't even have to serve the food. They can drop it off at the Chinese restaurant. If it's REALLY good, I wouldn't mind having someone pick it up. The most important thing is that the food HAS to be good. I'd rather spend more on amazing non-kosher food than mediocre kosher food, too. Make sense?

Can you help make our wedding the most memorable Jewish Chinese wedding ever?

posted by rybreadmed to food & drink (11 comments total)

You're not going to get a Kosher caterer on Saturday (they'd lose their kosher certification), so scratch that. The deli platters of either cold cuts or smoked fish are the most famous Jewish foods, so I'm not sure what else you had in mind. I think getting those from a Jewish-style, but not kosher, deli would be your best bet. If you were really hoping for brisket or stuffed cabbage, call some Russian or Polish restaurants and see what they can do for you.
posted by jillsy_sloper at 10:50 PM on March 22

If there is one place on earth that this should be very easy to accomplish, it's Los Angeles. There are a million caterers, and it's hard to imagine that there are many of them who would *not* do this.
posted by bingo at 10:59 PM on March 22

You could try getting the food on Friday and then eating it on Saturday.
posted by Electrius at 11:03 PM on March 22

I've been to kosher Jewish weddings on Saturdays before. The key thing to remember is that Shabbas lasts from sundown friday to sundown Saturday. After that, you're golden.
posted by Oktober at 4:32 AM on March 23

There are totally Kosher catering outfits run by gentiles during Shabbat. How else do synagogues / hillels / people who have catered meals, cater Friday night meals?

I think the main problem is going to be finding one that will consent to cater a meal in a mixed venue... that serves shark fin soup. (Splash... well, there goes that [chafing dish, ladle, whatever] to the treyf side.)

Also, remember that there's a long tradition of Jews and Chinese food. What else do we eat on Christmas?
posted by charmcityblues at 6:11 AM on March 23 [1 favorite]

Also, remember that there's a long tradition of Jews and Chinese food. What else do we eat on Christmas?

I wanted to chime in in agreement with this. Chinese food is fairly ubiquitous in our culture. My elderly Orthodox Jewish relatives were even fine with Chinese food. If it's the chopsticks that are the issue, why not just supply knives and forks?
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:53 AM on March 23 [1 favorite]

I wanted to get some Jewish food catered, as well.

I am similarly confused by this. Chinese food is Jewish food as far as 99% of the Jewish families on either coast are concerned. Is your family maybe flying in from Iowa or something?

Also, you know, I think you might be over-thinking this. I know how stressful and detail-oriented weddings can be, but if you were to provide all of your guests with knives and forks in addition to chopsticks, that would solve the chopsticks problem. (You can even wrap them in sets with a band of origami paper so they're wrapped like the chopsticks!)

It's OK for them to wonder what's going on with the shark fin soup. If you put a menu card on every table or at each place, with a bit about the tradition behind each food course, it will be fun and interesting. I'd pay attention to your Chinese menu and make sure there are "accessible" foods throughout the meal, but basically, I'd just serve chinese food. It really isn't that big a stretch - it's food, it's yummy, it's going to be OK.

Can you help make our wedding the most memorable Jewish Chinese wedding ever?

I'd have custom fortune cookies made as wedding favours, and instead of traditional Chinese proverbs, I'd have Jewish proverbs printed on the fortunes :)
posted by DarlingBri at 8:23 AM on March 23

Los Angeles will have a kosher Chinese restaurant. You should have the meal there.

Chinese food is, like, almost more Jewish than Jewish food.
posted by Deathalicious at 8:33 AM on March 23

Oh never mind, looks like you had the specific restaurant planned. So, you know, tell them to do the normal Christmas menu.
posted by Deathalicious at 8:35 AM on March 23

Thank you for the many ideas so far. This is the real deal, though, in terms of Chinese food. My ideas of what Chinese food was totally changed when I ate in the San Gabriel Valley. My extended family (not so much my parents, but grandparents, aunts, uncles) is used to the Americanized stuff like Panda Express. I don't think they'd fathom eating something like chicken feet (though this will not be at the wedding).

Many of them may as well be from Iowa.

I wanted to incorporate some Jewishness into the whole thing, though. You know, respect my heritage. We're doing the actual ceremony in the traditional Chinese method; I don't think it's too much to want to see some knishes sitting on some of the tables, right?
posted by rybreadmed at 7:10 PM on March 23

rybreadmed: "I wanted to incorporate some Jewishness into the whole thing, though. You know, respect my heritage. We're doing the actual ceremony in the traditional Chinese method; I don't think it's too much to want to see some knishes sitting on some of the tables, right?"

I absolutely understand this desire. We also had a mixed wedding, and you definately want to feel like everyone is represented. Other people will undoubtedly disagree with me but in my personal opionion, the menu is not the place to do this. Feeding one kind of food to members of one family and a different kind of food to members of the other family emphasises differences in a weird kind of way. A cohesive menu is a joy to eat your way through, and knishes and shark fin soup are not a good combination.

Perhaps you could talk to your other half about ways to make your wedding more integrated without impinging on the tea ceremony itself. Could you hold your tea ceremony under a chinese fabric chuppah? Can you break a glass? Sign a custom ketubah with chinese and hebrew symbols? This just seems like the sort of thing that could make your wedding really unique and reflective of your identity as a couple.

In any case, mazel tov!
posted by DarlingBri at 10:28 PM on March 23