By COLlive reporter
Photos: Shimi Kutner/COLlive
After the Tishrei guests, come the foodies.
The streets of the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn were once again swarming with people on Sunday, merely a week after the last visitors that were in town for the new year left for home.
The hundreds of people seen were attending the first ever “Crown Heights Food Crawl,” organized by JMenu, benefiting Toys For Hospitalized Children and sponsored by COLlive.com. It was a sold-out success.
The hungry bunch joined for a fun day out with family and friends, enjoying the great weather and the company of others while sampling great food from neighborhood establishments.
Showcasing were restaurants and eateries, including Albany Bakery, Baguette Express, Boeuf & Bun, Calabria, Chocolatte, Dean Street Café, Eber’s Wine & Liquor, Empire Grill, Ess & Bentch, Gombo’s Bakery, Hal’s New York Seltzer, House of Glatt, JJ’s Holy Cow, Koshertown, Mama Kitchen, Mendy’s @ the JCM, Mermelstein’s & Kohen Bros. Catering, Natural Treats Juice bar, Noribar Sushi Lounge, Prime Avenue, Raskins Fish, Sushi Spot, Sweet Expressions, Table One Catering, Turk Catering, and Wine By The Case.
Among those enjoying the kosher delicacies were New York State Senator Jesse Hamilton, Assemblywoman Diana Richardson and Matthew Pitt, Director of Constituent Affairs for Council Member Laurie Cumbo. They joined the food crawl on foot and tasted the spread at each location.
JJ Hecht, Director of Toys for Hospitalized Children and co-organizer of the event, was thrilled with the response from participants.
“The people were super excited, and everyone had a great time,” he said. “We are extremely thankful to JMenu for organizing and COLlive for sponsoring the event.”
The best “taste of Crown Heights” was chosen by both a panel of judges and the “people’s choice.”
The panel of expert judges included Elan Kornblum, Publisher of ‘Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine’, Dani Klein of “Yeah That’s Kosher” blog, Shlomo and Shifra Klein, Publishers of the Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller Magazine, Chanie Apfelbaum of Busy In Brooklyn blog, Naomi Nachman of The Aussie Gourmet blog, and Miriam Pascal of the Overtime Cook blog.
The judges chose Boeuf & Bun, represented by co-owner and chef Tzemach Woolstone, as their top taste of Crown Heights. Participants chose Mendy’s Restaurant, represented by Nati Abicassis, in the restaurant category, and Koshertown Takeout, represented by Shimi and Shoshi Benabou, in the eatery category.
“We are so excited for next year,” said Shmuly Wolf, CEO of JMenu and co-organizer of the event. “Today was just the beginning of something huge in years to come.”
Video: Crown Heights Food Crawl on InstaStory @COLliveOfficial
..don’t want to be negative but how come I didn’t see any tefillin stations in the photos.. Maybe there were ?
This whole event reminds how far (low?) we’ve come when a ‘bagel mit buter’ was considered an extreme extravagance unbefitting a chosid… not that I am so holy myself…
I love all my fellow Jews and lovers of Jews, thanks for allowing me to share…
Eliyahu (from the north)
this really sounds like it was tons of fun but let’s not forget the old Yiddisheh adage ‘ eat to live, not live to eat.’
Had great time. Enjoyed immensely! Appreciated this event and glad to contribute to a good cause. Hope the next crawl won’t be far down the line
Why? Since when can’t we voice differing opinions? At what point have we changed the definition of ‘achdus to mean ‘ -everything that is ever done is always one hundred percent fine. and don’t argue because that means you hate other jews.
Achdus means that despite having alternative views, we none the less recognize that it shouldn’t be substantial grounds to divide us.
So please have a little more achdus and don’t tell the world that they must conform to your worldview.
A day later and still talking about the event!
Agree with all these posts and adding my personal thank you
Jmenu, col, JJ Hecht/Hecht fam,NCFJE and all those responsible
my thoughts exactly….essen est zich….
Great event and also a kiddush hashem; never knew there were so many choices in CHs
Don’t comment if you can’t b positive. So nice to see an event that brought achdus to the community. Families enjoying together, friends enjoying together. Was fantastic bh. If your not comfortable participating then don’t. Let’s keep positive!
Thank you sponsors, vendors and organizers. Had a great day.
I will be the first. with all do respect, is this what CH has become? what happened to iskafya? I don’t know, but it seems like chukos hagoyim to me…
Thanks to @shmuli_Wolff for creating this event. J-menu is an extremely useful app, and I wish you all the success in the world moving forward.
WOW!
Looks like it was a huge success! A Great Cause!
Hecht family you are amazing!
I think it’s a brilliant idea, what a lovely community event. The food looks delicious, too!
participants – helped a tzedaka and ate great food!
Vendors – helped a tzedaka, got some new customers (me for sure)
I could list something positive about every vendor!
Good onya Tzemach, your a good lad!
Please make more tickets available next year. Looked great, wish I could have gone, I will definitely buy my tickets early next year!
Smiles and food, both very beautiful things. However to make a public outdoor festival about food seems like a bit to much. Is it not possible to rent an indoor spot?
Crown heights is far from being the spiritual safe Haven it was intended to be,but please let’s not make it foodie heaven
What a fun way to spend the day. Had a superb time. Loved the food! Baguette the greatest falafel balls! Yum! Loved the portobello mushroom burger from holy cow. Kpshertown salads and cake divine. Going there for shabbos take out for sure!!! Was so pleased to have so much fun and meet such warm people and give money to a good cause.
I’m free next Sunday. Please!!!! Had great time with my fam. Thank you Hecht’s ( saw a few of you today!) jmenu, col and all sponsors and vendors! Loved the day
A wonderful day. Met lots of new faces on my rounds:) Guests from other communities had a fabulous time!! All vendors were so friendly. Mendy’s excelled with the amount of food the way they served and didn’t get flustered with the volume of people! Exemplary! Thank you all those that put this together:)
So much excellent food & happy faces, Had a blast !!!!!
Can’t wait for next one.Would bring more friends. Didn’t know what to expect.Would love a dairy, pasta & fish food crawl too.
Nice to see no negativity comments!
Peace, love and good food!
So much great food today! A few firsts for me – Raskins Herring, Smoothies from Sunshine Pharmacy, both Sushi places – just yum!
Oh and the Schwarma place on St John and Kingston
Great Chinese! Yum! Will be coming back!
Great cause! Enjoyed my day immensely. Thank you jmenu col & Jj Hecht and all vendors. Money worth spent!
had a fantastic time!!
So proud of my husband Nati Abikasis at Mendys Restaurant. Y’all made the right choice.
Amazing
Hecht’s u rock the world!!!!
From glorious weather to happy people. The cafe on Dean made fantastic tuna burgers with wonderful black coffee and vendor was so pleasant!!! I would def make the effort to go there!!
Kudos to all who support the talented and hard working business owners in Crown Heights!
Wishing everyone soaring success!
I love seeing the Shear family đŸ™‚ Mazal Tov!
-milano, itaila
Def my 3 choices: Boeff & Bunn!!! As usual best service delicious beyond!
Mendy’s : wow sooo much food!!
Koshertown: Gracious! Plentiful!Personable & delicious!
What a wonderful day and a great cause!
Thank you