By COLlive reporter
The Chocolatte shop in Crown Heights has prided itself on being Brooklyn’s only kosher coffee and dairy eatery open 24 hours a day, aside for Shabbos.
Up until today.
OK Kosher Supervision, one of world’s largest certification agencies which is also based in Crown Heights, has notified Wednesday that Chocolatte in the Jewish Children’s Museum is no longer under its watchful eye.
The official reason: “Kashrus violations.”
Rabbi Don Yoel Levy, CEO of OK Kosher, said his agency had a rocky run with the owners of the cafe, often finding them disobeying instructions and not keeping up with their standards.
“They were bringing in ingredients we didn’t certify and unchecked vegetables,” he told COLlive, noting that eating vegetables with insects on them is “worse than eating non kosher meat, which is only one prohibition, and vegetables can be breaking five of them.”
Chocolatte’s owner Levi Harel, who recently moved to the neighborhood, told COLlive that while he has “respect” and “appreciated” the work of OK Kosher, the reason for the removal wasn’t violations.
“We did our best to resolve whatever they were asking,” he said. “The true and only reason was that they were asking for a big deposit for the hashgacha work and wanted the mashgiach to be paid $15 an hour, for 24 hours, which wasn’t financially possible for us.”
Rabbi Levy says $15 an hour was below minimum wage and that standard pay for such work is $16-$18. “I’m not going to take someone who gets paid less. His work is not worthy, as the gemara states,” he said.
In regards to the deposit, Rabbi Levy explained: “It’s not a big deposit and it’s done as a guarantee that the mashgiach works without fear. He shouldn’t be afraid of the owner when he sees a problem.”
Harel said: “We are committed to providing our customers with the highest standards of kosher. Although we don’t have a formal hashgacha, we have myself and my brother, shomer shabbos, on premises at all times, and the same mashgiach who worked for us under the OK working for us still, washing the vegetables and supervising.”
A photo taken after 11pm on Tuesday and posted on Facebook showed Rabbi Yosef Braun, the member of the Crown Heights Beis Din who recently started giving his own kosher supervision, in the cafe’s kitchen.
Rabbi Braun and Rabbi Yaacov Schwei are currently in legal proceedings to take the CHK supervision from the sole control of their third and senior colleague Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba. The Kingston Bake Shop is Rabbi Braun’s only other kashrus beneficiary.
Asked about Rabbi Braun’s visit, Harel simply said: “He came to check.”
While acknowledging Harel is a shomer Shabbos, Rabbi Levy insists that the dispute with the shop was over “purely and 100% kashrus issues” and that “I wouldn’t eat there myself.”
UPDATE:
A sign hanging in Chocolatte is titled “Mehadrin Kashrus Certificate” and states that the “cafe and restaurant has undergone a thorough research and exhaustive inspection over the last week.”
Dated 5 Cheshvan 5774, it is signed by both Rabbi Schwei and Rabbi Braun, making it the second eatery in the neighborhood under their supervision.
In the letter they “ascertain that the standards of Kashrus (etc.) be in the best possible manner” and that customers should eat “without any concerns whatsoever.”
it means somebody that eats at home only.
My family and I will only go into this store if the OK will come back. This way we know all is good there.
If you are sincere, and i have no reason to doubt you are, then what a beautiful world and Crown Heights it would be, if most people looked at things this way
from all these comments the only one i agree with is #127. I personally have’nt and would not eat there
Your point, which has some merit, would come across much more effectively and be read by more people if it was easier to read. Use proper punctuation next time.
fantastic comment you are inteligent and bring about the truth.
the prices charged in kosher coffee shops and mesadas are outrageous.
the hechsher is profit ridden.
In California 1 mashgiach looks after all the other establishments checking randomly.
the quality in los angeles is tops and prices more reasonable.
A capuccino can be bought easily for around 3 dollars .Reduce cost of the hechsher and pass savings to the consumer.
families can not all afford to eat out.
its about time that a hechsher was created as a non profit.and really non profit
Braun and Shwei have no experience in hashgacha. It’s not the same as taking a test for smicha or watching your wife in the kitchen.
If he does decide to give his supervision then I’m sure he will enforce and be scrupulous especially in the areas of trust and verify…
If Rabbi B does not accept them, or drops them after a short while then I think everyone will be concern!
to all the people that are bored enough to read all these comments and actually got this far without falling asleep GET A LIFE! now if your still reading ill have you know that this whole idea is ridicules we dont need any of this garbage anyone in their right mind that is truthful with themselves knows that this kind of store is only boosting the problem that is destroying our community first it happens behind closed doors with the window shades down but now its right there on the street pushing its way in to our childrens class rooms… Read more »
Ask yourself what would the rebbe do? You will get the answer right away.
Thank you.
The brothers were not there at all times, they try saving the money we pay for food we buy there. Harel, the only way you will manage to clean your name a lil is by getting a mashgiach 24 hours a day. Not you. A mashgiach. I know you personally, and i would never ever trust you for anything, you come to our shchuna but you dont want to follow any guidlines we must keep in the rebbes shchuna
What do you think they did by kretchmes, inns, and food stalls (spices, dried fish and meat, dairy products) for thousands of years? They trusted, that if someone was shomer shabbos and part of the frum community then you trusted him.
Somewhere Jews stopped thinking and deciding for themselves and let big business (rabbanus and hechsherim are a for profit) do the thinking for them.
If you trust the owner, then make a decision for yourself.
All I can say is that the owner would not put fresh strawberries on my yogurt because he was waiting for the mashgiach to come check the strawberries. Sounds pretty trustworthy to me!
Don’t known about CHK or Braun/Schwei etc. but I know there is an agreement between the “big 4” – OK, StarK, OU, Chof-K that if a client has a hechsher removed for kashrus violations (as opposed to financial etc. reasons) the other agencies do not accept them as a client, to prevent people simply “shopping around” constantly. It should be the same here. And as people point out the OK is a multi-million-dollar internationally respected hechsher – if they say it’s problematic (and risk getting sued in Beis Din/court for slander if untrue) there must be regalim ledovor. Everyone is… Read more »
Bugs are an issur deoraisa and if the restaurant failed to follow instructions to bring in only the Bodek ones it’s a serious breach oftrust. Also deposits and the wages of mashgichim are not negotiable. If the mashgichim are paid directly by the owner they are meshubod to him… I hope that R’ Braun’s standards are just as strict, otherwise it’s compromising other Hashgochos in the area.
EVERYONE TRUSTED LEVI HAREL FOR FRESH AND HEALTHY AND DEVASH MILK. IT IS USED FOR CHOLOV YISROEL ACROSS THE COUNTRY! HE IS DEFINITELY SHOMER SHABBOS AND TRUSTWORTHY!
Now I’ll eat there since it’s under R’ Yossi Braun!
THUMBS DOWN (N)
THUMBS UP (Y)
As a restaurant owner in Canada I can tell you that the hashgocha prices are extremely high for an average store owner who is trying to make a living in these difficult times. I remember over 40 years ago when the father of Rav Levy was giving hashgocha to a vegetarian restaurant in Manhattan. We used to eat there frequently when visiting NY. On a number of occasions we noticed when we ordered salad, there was no mashgiach there or anyone to ask who is checking the salad. One day we ran into Rabbi Levy alev hashalom and we asked… Read more »
הרב קלמן ויינפלד אמר לי אתמול,
שהיו מספר בעיות,
הכניסו ירקות ופירות ללא פיקוח
ובעיות של בישול עכו”ם
We don’t need your mussar. There’s no gossip factor in learning about the switching of hashgochas, because this incident calls into question the trustworthiness of both hashgochas involved.
It’s a tough call to make here. Is this about money, politics- on both ends… is Rabbi L trying to pull more money, or is this because the owner and he simply didn’t get along… I’ve thought about it and I’ve come to this conclusion. Rabbi L has been in this business a long time. He is successful for a reason, people trust his Hashgacha for a reason. He wouldn’t state to people that they should not eat there, unless he felt there was really a lacking in the way the place was run. I think the place is beautiful,… Read more »
BTW the sign is posul mitoichoi, If the level of kashrus of number 1,2,3,4 and 5 (in the sign) is equal to number 6 (did they disabled Facebook for example…) and 7 (mamosh “tznius mirbis”! I want to see the braun and shwei family going for an ice-cream in the outside seating…) – than I don’t think that any yid who pretends eating Kosher would eat there…
so now its two places i wont eat in.shwei is still trying to figure out whats going on .
STARBUCKS BASIL CHOCALATTE…
IF ONLY WE LUBAVITCHER CHASSIDIM WOULD KEEP IN MIND REB NISSIM’S A VORT
BROIT IZ A GUTEH ZACH PUTTER IZ A GUTEH ZACH OBER ZUZAMEN BEFERISH NIT!!
FOR THE NON MAMEH LOSHON SPEAKERS ..BREAD IS GOOD BUTTER IS GOOD BUT TOGETHER NEVER!!!!!!!
MAROSHENEH BEFEIRISH NIT!!!!!
ICE CREAM NEVER !!!!!
REMENBER ALEIN BLOWSHENT MEN..
ALONE YOU GET LOST
LEARN TANYA ,LEKUTEI TOIREH DERECH MITZVOSECHO
VOS DARF MEN? KAI BULKEH UN KARCHOSKE..
Several comments; 1. As someone who has been in and out of the food business I can say eidus on the OK. They are an extremely ehrlich organization, and would never ever say something bad about someone for financial reasons. I too had money issues with them, and they bent over backwards to work with me. They had every right to be much harsher with me, but chose not to. They were much nicer about it than I had any right to expect. Any body who says this was about money is a liar, a fool, or just plain ignorant.… Read more »
every body, CHASSIDIM ARE 1 MISHPOCHE!
i wouldnt eat there just as i stoped eating at kingston bake shop!!!
I am not a supporter of broun but you quote about eating telaim is worse then teraifa meet is true ONLY when you pick up the worm with your hand and eat it
We have a torah and a shulchon aruch lets stop with these chumres that have no source in halacha its killing our young generation they see right through it
the pizza store, under CHK, had to close early because it was a hangout & the Rabbonim, quite rightly, decided this isn’t “kosher.” Also, when Basil was a bit too yuppified & mingling was a poblem for the OK a couple of years back & that seems to have been resolved. Whenever I eat there it is all perfectly respectable. Obviously, the new hechscher doesn’t care about that aspect. Kashrus isn’t just on food (although that was obviously a major problem here) it’s on the decency & general standard of a place. Activities should acceptable to frum patrons, not the… Read more »
OK says it relied on owner or another frum person to constantly be there. Only when they have found out it was not the case, they requested mashgiach. Now please, please think for a moment! OK has vested interest in restaurants keeping their hechsher. What do they gain by removing hechsher? They are just loosing business. Not just a one time business, long term customer. As far as I know OK always goes extra mile to work issues out, if only out of mutual interest to continue doing business. Why it would be different here? “It’s about money” mantra works… Read more »
The OK is extraordinarily upright Kashrus Organization. If Rabbi D. Y. Levi himself makes a statement regarding this issue, which he has, I’ve no doubt at all that it is forthright. Aside from that Rabbi Levi is an respectable yid, there are so many people within the OK who know the actual details of this issue that for the Supreme Rabbi and CEO of the OK to state on websites anything but the absolute truth (at least as he sees it) is utter madness. This coffee shop is a bag of coffee beans to the OK, so all the it’s-all-about-the-money… Read more »
he says himself and his brother are there fulltime,how does that work they are there for 24 hours!?
I would eat there the same way i trust any shomer shabbos jew.
The big joke here is R braun and shwei getting their second location because no one else gives them a hechsher…
Any publicity is good publicity
it’s all a publicity stunt! lol…
its only about money. there was a pizza shop in the hood that everyone patronized. it had no hashgacha.
fact is…is that svei and braun are desperate for hasgacha locations.
they were quick to give raskins fish a hagacha as well.
it is possible that chooclate tried to call OK’s bluff. and now have to give in on new terms, terms that they did not agree to with OK.
we also need to remember that the new hecsher has zero experience in hasgachas, so i believe this harrel guy will have them coming and going….
lets see if this new hagacha will allow them to be open 24 bhours and have out door seating, the greatest Piritzus that can be, in Daled Amos of 770
first of all it is all about money. the SERIOUS kashrus problem was so easy to fix with in a few hours Rav Brauan and Shweii both put up there certification. The OK could have done the same . But the real issue was they weren’t getting paid. Even if they are a multimillion dollar business all good business men know if you let one client not pay then you have a 100 clients not paying… They needed to make an example of them and claiming they were not kosher because they couldn’t cough up the dough!
As one who does business with Restaurants and eateries across New York City, I can attest that when a Hashgacha is removed by the OK it is only for serious reasons. I would not eat at this location at all. The other point, how many times I walked in there to meet with the owners or manager and NO ONE WAS AROUND only a few girls who may or may not even be Jewish. No Mashgiach and no manager and no owner. BH I have nver eaten there.
If people trust this new hechscher, great. If not, you won’t eat there.
A Mashgiach deserves to earn at least $18 per hour as they are the most abused employees in any organization. Most employers feel they are not needed but they do not realize that they cannot operate their kosher outlets without them so they should actually give them the respect they deserve. Being a Mashgiach is NOT as simple as everyone thinks there is far more to it than meets the eye. Keep your comments to yourself.
I won’t eat there no matter which hashhacha this owner tries fooling now. I have seen with my own eyes how the store didn’thave a jew for a few hours…..all the owner wants I’s our money. He doesn’t care about anything else
Braun’s hashgawcha is good for bnai chelm. A believer in avodoh zarah is PASUL for testimony. Next he will hang a yellow flag there.
I do not know the full story and I am sure most of you do not know the full story. I am sure there is politics involved and instead of trying to ruin a buisness that is serving the community 24 hours a day rather fix the problem if there was a. Problem. I am sure the problem was not un fixable If it was the lettuce then show them what they are doing wrong and fix it. I believe there is more to the story. Stop LOSHON HARA let’s hope problem is fixed and I will still eat there… Read more »
I think they are all, right. Rabbi Levy had a standard, it must be kept. If his standards are violated then after a warning he takes his hashgacha off. The business owner needs to run his business in a way that it can survive. He starts off getting his first choice of everything, from hashgocho to decor. But if he can’t keep it up will need to make it work. Rabbi Braun comes in to a good restaurant that is interested in being supervised by an accepted local authority. They discuss what the problem was with the OK they find… Read more »
stop screaming!! gosh….!!
THERE WORE KASHRUS VIOLATIONS!!!! ONE OF THEM IS LAV DAVKA SHOMER SHABAS!!! AND NOW THERE IS A HECHSHER!!!???
loshon hara is just as bad as eating trief.
That’s barely enough to put kosher food on the table and pay your children’s tuition!
That was my starting salary over a decade ago. Most mashgichim make at lease $50,000, this is barely $30K.
Pay the mashgiach and bring back the OK.
I know I can trust them. When did you ever see a kashrus certificate that has to tell you the store was researched?!? And that the Rav giving the hecsher was permitted to do so in accordance with the psak of a zabla? Or that makes “positive mention” for the mashgiach and agency that just dropped suprevision. This is such a sick joke.
Not going there as long as braun is pulling the reigns
One takes off so the oter looks and thinks its a apertunity to get there name up be ashamed of you selfs
http://www.crcweb.org/Starbucks%20Beverage%20List%202011-04-08.pdf
LOLLLLLL!!!
Most people in the neighborhood are not very meticulous about kosher and will gladly eat there even it has no Hechsher. The Rabbis they got now also could care less about the Kashrus and are only opportunists. SAD!
Kahsrus agencies are good. Eateries owned and run by religious jews are good even without hashgacha = paying shake-down money. So many people are good. Life is good. But you can find bad things too if you look for them.
I hope the place does well and doesn’t need chnyoks to support it. Hopefully many non-jews, irreligious jews and easy going folks patronize the place and all’s well. Those who don’t want to eat there won’t, those who do will, and the owners will make money.
Some of the comments attacking the ok are so ignorant that its not funny. You guys have no clue how kashrus works. The ok is s million dollar organization. It does not need to extort money from a restaurant. Those of you talking about exorbitant fees have no clue. This restaurant paid peanuts. Their rent per month is about 20 times more then the hechsher fee. Being asked $15 per hour for a mashgiach is not extortion. This was only demanded of him, after he flaunted all the rules. Bought vegetables that were not approved and did not have a… Read more »
ISN’T GOOD FOR ANYONE, IF YOU HAVE NOTHING NICE TO SAY SHUT YOUR MOUTH. THIS IS A YIDS PARNASA AND A ROV OF THE COMUNITY, MOST OF YOU 78 COMMENTS DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE EATERY AND WHAT WENT ON. IF YOU DONT WANT TO EAT THERE THEN DONT. BUT ON THE INTERNET WHICH IS BLACK ON WHITE FOREVER?. ENOUGH.
To #2: Read #50 — every commercial restaurant needs an independent mashgiach, even if the owners are totally frum and trustworthy. Because an owner is biased. To suggest that bcs of the owners the place needs no mashgiach temidi is ridiculous, unless you mean that kashrus companies are influenced by certain owners due to their yichus or money…
check these:
http://www.crcweb.org/Starbucks%20Beverage%20List%202011-04-08.pdf
http://www.crcweb.org/kosher_articles/popular_latte.php
http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-DontDrinktheCoffee.htm
Starbucks admits Strawberry Frappuccino contains crushed bugsdailymail.co.uk
…was conditionally true only in it’s early days. With the corporate makeover -including new types of coffee machines, foods solid and soup-warmed up (starting in about 2009) very few things can be used there, including black coffee
but he has no clue what he is he doing ….. If Mcdonalds needed a Hescher Rabbi Schwei would give it he is so Eidel and nice
I would never eat there if it goes under brauns hechsher. I used to go to kingston bake shop 3 times a week and stopped going entirely once they switched to his hechsher.
i personally know of a mashgiach in south america for the Ok who gets paid less then 14 $ an hour and told the OK and they didnt do anything about it
this is by far going to be on the 10 most commented articles at the end of the year
everyone keep on giving your 2 sence
Unbelievable.
The above
To all the laymen of CH please get educated about kashrus before you start bashing R Levy or decide that eating at Mcdonalds is ok. No hecsher removes the hashgacha from any place before the store gets proper warning. Even if the store doesn’t pay the hashgacha, they will allow some time to pay. Knowing the way hashgachas work, I figure that the issues were around even before Tishrai, the ok gave the store enough time to shape up.
I’ve been around rabbi levi, and I am glad have not visited this restaurant. If the owners have a good smicha or letter from rosh yeshiva that they fear god, then we can eat there, otherwise if you fear god, eat where a good rav is in charge. my two cents. 15 dollars for a god fearing mashgiach under the ok or ou or whoever, is very cheap. a mashgiach is not a babysitter. and even babysitters deserve more. mashgichim, teachers, and babysitters deserve big raises.
Update : as of 920 PM chokolatte is under the broin hechsher they posted a letter on the window
I would never eat in a place firstly if R’ braun gives his hechsher and especially if the kashrut agency that took the hechsher away couldnt give it back is terrible.
Id buy a coffee there but that’s it
What you say is not correct. If the owners cannot afford to pay the exorbitant price of the hechsher, then obviously the OK will not keep their hashgocha on the store. So removing a hechsher does not always equal not kosher! It seems that there is mainly an issue about lettuce….yes, that is a problem that needs fixing, but not a reason to destroy the place’s reputation or to call them non kosher! There are plenty of bakeries and other places that have no yidden anywhere in sight most of the time yet they have hashgocha.
What does Don Yoel Levy pay his workers on Troy ave per hour?
Cant wait till his hechsher goes up!!
You keep kosher??
I make sure to check my lettuce. I make sure I eat in places where I can trust the owners and I see with my own eyes that theres a madhgiach at all times so no goy puts on the fire, checks the eggs and more…..clearly and sadly I do NOT and Can NOT trust this owner. Its sad how he is making stories thatits all finfinancial issue. Well, I mr Harel try selling ur stories some place else.
I would rather have the place under a community Kashrus,
The OK is a PRIVATE BUSINESS, no offense to the Levys
” money is money “.
Unlike the OU which is really a non for profit not owned by any family.
I don’t believe a word a business owner says.
Lets have a real Hashgacha get involved.
I occasionally work as a Mashgiach and I wish they paid me $15 per hour!!!
BS”D we need the lashgna Rebbe from BP to intercede
If Don Levy took of the Hashgacha he has all of us in mind
If it was about money he would have kept giving Hashgacha and making money
No one should eat there
Dunkin donuts also carries ou products and so does white castle and just about every restaurant in ny so can we eat by all of them I’m sure a drink is kosher and so on
THEY HAVE DEFINITE KASHRUS VIOLATIONS!!!!!!!!
The OK continues to show its high standards in Kashrus. I wish Braun would be looking to profit from the places disgraceful behavior being open just a few months and to loose his Hescher is a Shander and a CHarpa.
Great work Rabbi Levy. I will never eat their…… How can you trust a person who looses his Hescher within a few months.
The fact that you stated R’ braun checked on it is worse! Braun is not a Rav has no respect for Rabbonim! what you fools don’t realize that according to him almost Everyone including them that buys anything in the neighborhood is eating Treif CH”V. Rav Osdoba is a real rav for many years was elected as per the Rebbe’s instructions was given The Koach BY The Rebbe!!
it actually does! ou does. thou their products aren’t pas and cholov yisrael
no hashgacha?
Wooohooooo oh my god these comments r ridiculous!!!!!!!!
which coffee has vegetables in it?
It is very nice to suggest to try to avoid politics by using other hechsherim. It would be wise to note that kashrus is about halacha, and the standards of the hechsherim mentioned are nowhere near the standards of the ones in crown heights (even the ones that are buried in machlokes)
Everyone bashing the hashgacha doesn’t know what they are talking about. You have no idea the kind of fear a mashgiach lives with when his job is too look for problems and if you find those problems you could shut down a restaurant and lose your parnassa. Additionally if you think that it’s okay to eat there because the owner is a frum person then you don’t understand the logistics of a resturant or kashrus . In a commercial kitchen there are a million things that can go wrong and without a dedicated mashgiach who is ONLY doing the hasghashgacha… Read more »
It’s a Hechsher of Machlokes. I haven’t been a customer of Kingston Bake Shop since they switched, and although I’m a big fan of Chocolatte (I’m there almost every single night), I will take my business elsewhere if they don’t get a neutral Hechsher. So be smart about your next move.
BRING BACK MESS AND STENTCH!
ER SORRY I MEANT ESS AND BENTCH
What if they were?
If its a stupid comment than what is the answer??? It is the truth. You can ask Danny B. why.
The ok has different rules depending on the trustworthyness of the store owner. Stupid stupid but thats the truth.
Thanks Yossi A
whats about a YD parnosso!!
I trust the OK. If they pulled the hechscher they had good reasons. I’m shocked that some posters are more concerned with bashing the OK and on principle, will eat there without hashgacha. Would they eat at Le Bon Pain? It’s not such a far stretch. After all, LBP is not McDonalds, is it?
starbucks has zero hashgacha and people still eat there..
Were all these comments really posted by Lubavitcher chassidim?
What I don’t like is the way they are doing it.. Posting it everywhere as if they are serving non kosher??! It’s not a reason to take off hashgacha.. The OK has a right to do what they want but they always bash and ruin those businesses that don’t wanna pay and it’s disgusting!
weres your yiras shomaim?
if thers no mashgiach dont eat there!
i promise youll live without that ice cream!
your lubavitch! were meant to lead the world not fall!
Ur a 100% right
About time someone stands up to the crooks using Hashgacha to bully small businesses into paying whatever they ask for and want.
There is no reason why people cant trust the owners of the business. And if they dont, go elsewhere for your coffee. I would trust the owners Hashgacha over any establishment hashgacha that would revoke it because the business cannot afford to pay their high fees.
I have never been to this coffee shop but I will make a point to stop in now to support you and your decision.
As a former mashgiach i know what that deposit is for and it is to ensure that if god forbid the restaurant goes under the mashgiach (who works for the ok) does not loose out on pay
Everyone curses out the Haskacha company. And for most thing the complaints are right, but this protects their employees!
And every restaurant signs a document agreeing to pay this deposit.
Don’t cry and blame the ok they have guidelines that protect the employee
IF YOU WONT PAY YOU LOOSE!!!
you trusted him doing ur milk when he did not live in CH. now he lives there u dont trust him?
The OK is not what makes it kosher
I am coming to suppor you guys
We need everybody to come and support
To kill the beast
who needs the politics? use star k or chof k or a hashgocha from somewhere else and you’ll be ok. the politics here make me sick.
I’ve heard this story before. The hashgocha is annoyed that they are losing a customer so they cry “kashrus violations”. Give me a break.
The currption in the Hashgacha Industry as well as the schools in the area…
I just think its unfortunate that under the auspices of JCM, they replaced a gift shop (chinuch) with a coffee shop. Makes no sense.
No response from the ok??
the coffee cant be worse than starbucks … so fine I wont order a frap
Shuchtei Chutz is a problem
what a stupid remark!!
*** Those who choose to eat here are publicly eating food from an establishment without a hechsher. This is called NOT keeping kosher. There is a reason why the OK removed their certification. It is because the owner lied about being shomer shabbos and is not checking everything that is coming into the store. There are laws to Kashrus; although it is political, the cafe lost their trust and therfore their Kashrus. Thats the way KOSHER works! Im surprised that chasidim are ‘sticking it to the man’. Who is this man? Hashem? Hashem that said keep kosher? STARBUCKS – drinking… Read more »
a 24 hour mashgiach for what????? to watch them make coffee???? so silly…. i would still eat from there! and so should everyone else!!
#2 your a IDIOT
For posting This!
May you witness to post the coming of Moshiach Now!
umm $15 seems a bit high for a masgiach paying job.. it’s a minimum wage paid type of job isn’t it??
This is all politics.
most mashgichim also work in the store as a employee this saves the owner money
I’m going to start eating there just to stick it to the Man.
Its a crazy price for a guy who is going to sit on his behind learning and eating all day!
I would still eat there.
I’ve met the owner and I trust him. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.
i can vouch that i have seen the owner there whenever I went in to buy something and what a nice person he is too the store is beautiful and he should have a lot of hatzlocha
Whats the big deal about paying a mashgiach for $15 an hour? Thats a fair price – especially for a place with high prices and doing a brisk business.
Just spoke to OK. It seems that they relied on the owner as being frum to be in the restaurant at all times or have another frum person there. They found that this was not being done. One needs afrum person to insure the kashrus is kept properly. Remember the Boro Park restaurant who had a goy bring in non-kosher food? They also required that they use only Bodek vegetables or similar. A few times they found that the restaurant took in non checked leafy vegetables. This is extremely serious. They then required the owner as a result to have… Read more »
If there are so called kosher violations, what are they??? I only heard a rumour about not having a full time mashgiach checking lettuce. Is that a reason to remove a hechsher?? Maybe the ok is demanding way too much money for their hashgocha work when a simple coffee shop does not require a mashgiach tamidi.
you cannot compare a store owned by non jews to a store owned by jews. Especially if they are selling “kosher” food as well. there are so many more halachic issues.
Members of my community who are slowly becoming observant visit this website and this is truly embarrassing to say the least. Please everyone who is to comment, think twice before you type a comment- you dont know who is reading this site. Lets not hang our “dirty laundry” in public. May the Rebbe only have Nachas from all of us.
So I guess this is fine…but what about the baked goods???
if you drink coffee at starbucks then you can continue to drink at chocolatte during it’s non-hashgachic period of time
neeeeeeeeeeeext
because it’s all just a political dispute! it’s REALLY unfortunate that hashgacha is a bunch of politics. it’s the same way in Israel.
Relax, most Lubavitchers including big Rabbanim and Shluchim regularly get their daily coffee fix at Starbucks which has NEVER had a hechsure. Regardless of your personal feelings to Rabbi Braun fact is he’s the majority on the beis din and should have access to the hashgachah. Lastly other local restaurants are a worse kind of hang out then Chocolatte will ever be.
First of all Albany bake shop is not under the BS supervision, it’s the Kingston bake shop that under the BS supervision.
2nd any shop open 24 hrs to be a hang out should not be under any supervision. it should be closed down.
Why doesn’t basil need a 24/6 mashgiach????
The answer is VERY simple. The owners of Basil are trustworthy people.. HAMAVIN YOVIN…..
so are people still eating there? is it still open?