Couple transforms Kosher Palate space, announces specials
By Deb Silverthorn
When one door closes, other doors open. That’s exactly what’s happening at the corner of Coit and Belt Line for Kosher Palate owners, Chaim and Miriam Goldfeder. The couple announced their walk-in grocery will close in the coming weeks; their food service division, Palate Catering, will expand its full-service catering and event planning for weddings, b’nai mitzvah, community and corporate events and fundraising galas.
“It’s tough. While we look forward to building more of our Palate Catering, and continuing to provide meals and prime meats, there’s no question this is a rough time for us,” said Chaim, who with his wife opened the storefront in the summer of 2018.
“The grocery department isn’t doing what we’d hoped, it hasn’t for a while, and we’ve been talking about this for over a year,” he said. “It’s not a decision we made lightly and it’s one we wish we didn’t have to make. Still, we’ll put our all into the other areas of our business and I believe we’ll be successful for our family and for the community.”
The store is offering a variety of discounts over the next few weeks; the grocery department will remain open until current inventory is sold.
“We’re grateful to those who have supported us and we hope they will continue to do so,” said Miriam. “We’ll continue to provide the very best to our customers and we really do hope when it’s time to order for a simcha, another special time or Shabbat table, they’ll think of us.”
For four years before the opening of the brick-and-mortar Kosher Palate, Chaim served kosher barbecue, catering for private clients and events through his Texas Kosher BBQ. While his Texas Kosher BBQ food truck would make community appearances, regular customers made weekly pickups from the kitchen at Congregation Ohr HaTorah.
Palate Catering will remain in its current space. The 1,500 square feet will allow for an event room that can be used for hosting simchas, business meetings and other gatherings of up to 40 people. While the dry goods, refrigerated and frozen groceries and kitchen accessories will be gone, clients can still order fresh cuts of meat and Shabbos, shiva and simcha meals, as well as weekday meals, for two, 20 and more.
The menus will include many of the favorites that were displayed in the store’s deli case, with a full menu from starters to dessert available for pickup within hours. The shop’s butcher will remain on-site, roughly from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day; orders can be called in for meat items — including new specialty cuts — as well as desserts, including cookies and rugelach, for same-day pickup.
“It’s tough,” said Kosher Palate and Palate Catering founder Chaim Goldfeder, who with his wife Miriam opened the storefront in the summer of 2018. “While we look forward to building more of our Palate Catering, and continuing to provide meals and prime meats, there’s no question this is a rough time for us.”
“We’re disappointed to be closing a part of the business that has been important to us and that we believe the community will miss,” said Miriam, “but we’ll be OK, and we’ll give our all to this side of the business.”
The butcher and kitchen team will remain in place while, unfortunately, other employees will soon be let go. “I so wish we could do something to help them,” said Chaim. “[But] it’s really just time.”
The Goldfeders, who moved to Dallas in 2000 and who are the parents of Eli, Nechama and Shlomo, have been responsible for leading chesed opportunities, feeding those in need in Dallas and beyond for years.
A couple of times each year they partner with Moadim L’Simcha in Lakewood, New Jersey, providing thousands of meals worth more than $150,000. On a regular basis they have numerous local families whom they support with weekly grocery needs at greatly reduced pricing or, in some cases, covering the tab in its entirety.
The Goldfeders provided meals in Houston and New Orleans when hurricanes hit those cities, arriving with pallets of food and serving tens of thousands of meals on each occasion. Last year, they founded Texas Jewish Community Response, a 501(c)(3), to support causes in which they believe.
“We’ll continue helping others; there’s no stopping that,” said Chaim. “It’s what we do because it’s the right thing to do. Whether it’s through gift cards for other merchants, providing more of what we have or in other ways, our support won’t stop.”
Meira Naor, Dallas Kosher executive director, said that the Goldfeders’ sense of personal responsibility to the community is special.
“Kosher Palate has so often been there for our community, and beyond, and we have so much respect for the Goldfeders and their efforts,” she said. “The Goldfeders have always pivoted in business, and they will again. We look forward to continuing to support them.”
Palate Catering is located in the Kosher Palate storefront at the northwest corner of Coit and Belt Line Roads. Visit KosherPalateTX.com to see weekly and other specials and menus
