I met Kat at her job as manager-cum-overlord of Fletchers, the brand new café located inside the Museum of Jewish Montreal’s (MJM) St-Laurent digs. She’s something of a serial entrepreneur in the Jewish food scene, and I was curious to hear about her inspiration and insight.
What’s her projects all about?
The Wandering Chew is a series of pop-up dinners highlighting the cuisines of lesser-known Jewish communities. With co-founder Sydney Warshaw, The Wandering Chew has hosted events taking inspiration from Mexican, Iraqi, Scandinavian and Italian Jewish communities, among others. [Full disclosure, I went to the Italian one and it was delicious!]
Kat is also the mind behind Fletchers, a Jewish café and culinary space, and Beyond the Bagel, a Jewish food tour in the heart of Montreal’s Mile End and Plateau neighborhoods. These last two are closely tied to her role as Director of Food Programming at the MJM.
Where did the inspiration come from?
“I did my master’s in Judaic studies with a focus on Jewish food history. I wrote my thesis on Mimouna, the Moroccan house-hopping-and-pastries tradition that marks the end of Passover. I realised I wanted to share the knowledge I had gained with the broader public in a accessible way. That prompted me to start writing blog posts, doing podcasts and doing pop-up dinners. I really loved reading and speaking about food, but also preparing food with a history, and sharing that history and culture with people, bringing it to life. People are much more receptive to learning if they’re already sitting down and eating a good meal [laughs]!”
What’s been difficult?
“It’s funny, there was a point where, because of my niche academic background, I felt that my job prospects were scarce. I got involved with the blog Jewesses with Attitude, and everything just took off from there.
But running all these things is kind of driving me crazy [laughs]! I’m working nearly every day, learning to run a café, prepping events, training employees, it never stops! Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea, but I’d almost like to prefer sleeping instead [laughs]!
Just being efficient with our meals has been a learning process. Make less food, ditch some of the overly complicated elements that don’t add to the meal, and make sure that people have enough (but not too much) to eat.”
What are some of the lessons you’ve learned?
“That an Eastern-European cherry soup, which you think might be nice and summery, will turn out to be a heavy, creamy, weird dish. We ended up swapping it out for refreshing borscht for a picnic we did.
That walnut sauce that takes hours to prepare (blanching and peeling the walnuts by hand), and that no one will notice? Maybe skip that one.
I’d also tell myself to reach out to people around me and ask for volunteers who’d like to get involved. The Wandering Chew is very much a work of love, and we were thrilled to see people who wanted to volunteer and help us. Prepping food is such a social activity, it’s so much better with many people, not to mention way more efficient!”
Thanks for the inspiration, now I’m hungry!
“You’re welcome! Come by this weekend and have a Moroccan bagel board! I guarantee you’ll love it.”
You can find info, events, menus and mouth-watering pics on Facebook: Fletchers, The Wandering Chew, Beyond The Bagel.