by Rabbi Yitzchak Gornish

Restaurants and Passover. These two words, mentioned in tandem, are enough to send chills down the spine of restaurateurs and kosher supervisors, albeit for entirely different reasons.

The restaurant owner, especially one opening for Passover for the first time, envisions a financial windfall, with Jews gratefully flocking to his or her eatery, overjoyed that they need not cook at home. By contrast, the kosher supervisor, especially one who has previously implemented a Passover program for restaurants, is quite aware of the enormous difficulties that accompany such a project. For a business to flourish, it must be accessible to its clients whenever possible, and a restaurant is no exception. Indeed, the pre-Passover period is among the busiest for many restaurants. Homemakers, having declared their kitchens off-limits to chametz, send their families out to eat; the closer the holiday approaches, the more people go to restaurants. Restaurants provide a much-needed, much-appreciated service during the week preceding Passover.

However, the holiday itself poses a quandary. No restaurant relishes (or can easily afford) closing for an entire week. Inevitably, restaurants entertain the notion of remaining open on Passover.

On the surface, preparing a restaurant for Passover seems simple enough, entailing a few hours of cleaning and some menu changes. The reality is quite different. In fact, it is so complicated that the O.K. Labs does not encourage restaurants to open for Passover. Our experience indicates that establishments incur great financial expense in the process, and that there is a significant emotional toll on the staff, especially in restaurants attempting this daunting challenge for the first time. Nonetheless, we assist those restaurants that insist on remaining open. Recognizing the enormity of the project, we begin several months in advance by meeting with the restaurant management. The chefs and the wait-staff captains are encouraged to attend this meeting, because they will play key roles in a successful Passover program.

The restaurant management presents its planned program for our scrupulous review. While some restaurants will be open only during Chol HaMoed (the Intermediate Days), there are meat restaurants that desire to host the ritual Seder, held on the first two nights of Passover.

This creates numerous complications. Jews are not permitted to travel by car or train on the first two days. Therefore, the restaurant will need to arrange lodging for the mashgichim — the on-site kashrus monitors — in close proximity to the restaurant. If Passover begins on Thursday or Sunday, so that the Sabbath immediately follows or precedes the two days, three or four days’ lodging will be required. This expense alone can be very taxing, especially for establishments located in pricey areas.

We explain the rules that govern food preparation on the Sabbath and yom tov. On the Sabbath, no cooking is permitted. While certain cooking is allowed on yom tov, one cannot prepare from one day to the next. By and large, restaurants are closed on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays, and so unless the management and employees are Jewish, such rules will be new to them. (If a restaurant has been open on Passover in prior years, the concepts will be somewhat familiar.)

At this meeting we request a detailed Seder menu, to insure that it complies with the parameters that apply. For example, by tradition, roasted foods are not served at the Seder; we ensure that the menu does not include a roast entrée or appetizer. We develop a system for the Seder patrons to pre-pay, because monetary transactions are prohibited during the first two days of Passover. We explain that Passover eve walk-ups must be turned away. We also ask that the restaurant consider hiring a rabbi other than the mashgiach to lead the Sedarim, since the latter is preoccupied with supervising the kitchen.

The proposed menus must be screened to eliminate items that are forbidden on Passover. These include fresh produce such as green beans and snow peas, which are legumes and thus prohibited to Ashkenazic (and some Sephardic) Jews. A dairy restaurant, while not an ideal location for hosting a Seder (traditionally a meat meal), nonetheless faces its own particular challenge in composing a creative Chol HaMoed menu, because staples such as breads, pastas, and (chametz) pastries are verboten. The holiday provides the ultimate test for chefs, who must work with a host of alternative ingredients.

Again, this initial meeting is critical; it sets the stage for all that follows. Every rule must be clearly understood by all involved. If something goes wrong on the first two days, the mashgiach is effectively stranded, since he cannot place a call to the office and request guidance.

(It is hard to overstate how isolated a mashgiach feels when he encounters a question and cannot call a rabbi for an answer. He has to make a snap decision, and he may not have expertise in the particular subject matter, which may reach beyond kashrus to the laws of the Sabbath or the holidays.)

The Seder mashgiach must be knowledgeable in all the relevant laws. Several years ago, a mashgiach reported to me that he had allowed processed, ground white horseradish to be used as the bitter herb. Too late it dawned on him that although this horseradish was certainly kosher for Passover, the vinegar marinade involved in the processing had rendered the horseradish unfit for use as maror.

What happens if a mashgiach must make a decision? Our mashgichim will not allow themselves to be pressured into allowing a questionable item or overlooking a violation when previous instructions were not followed. The mashgiach is empowered to take any action necessary, including closing the kitchen, if there are violations that compromise kashrus. A situation such as the one just described can quickly ruin what could have been an otherwise successful Seder. Proper preparation helps avoid such situations.

Passover mashgichim give up valuable family time to work in a restaurant. Given the expertise level needed and the sacrifices made, it is quite reasonable that the fees paid to a mashgiach who spends the first part of Passover holed up in a hotel room are higher than routine. Some restaurants privately acknowledge that they only expect to recoup their expenses in the hosting of the Sedarim and provide these strictly as a community service.

Restaurants have to act early. A number of ingredients must be purchased months in advance, because they are produced in limited quantities. Passover supplies with a limited shelf life that are not consumed during a particular holiday season may have to be discarded, thus adding to the overall expense of the project.

New china will have to be procured, along with certain cooking tools. The restaurant must also set up a suitable storage site for its non-Passover equipment and supplies. This site must be inaccessible to the staff; often lockers must be rented, adding still more to the cost.

The final item on the meeting’s agenda is the kosherizing schedule. Unlike hotel and catering Passover programs, where the kitchens are available for kashering days in advance of the holiday, restaurant owners desire to burn the proverbial candle at both ends. They want to serve normal fare until the last minute and then convert to Passover mode in the shortest possible time. The O.K. Labs explains that it is impossible to have it both ways. The restaurant must give up a full day to allow for kashering.

Before kashering takes place, the equipment and surfaces to be utilized during Passover have to be thoroughly cleaned. Most proprietors do not anticipate the level of cleanliness that equipment must attain before being suitable for koshering. Hours of intense muscle power and elbow grease will be expended by a crew of employees. Furthermore, all non-Passover foods and equipment must be removed from the cooking areas before any kashering can commence.

Kashering is difficult. Some equipment can be kosherized by heating it to a very high temperature. Other equipment must be blowtorched, which is a tedious and intricate procedure. It is only after all the above is properly completed that actual Passover food preparation may begin.

I recall one proprietor who proposed serving non-Passover food until the morning of the day before Passover and only then to proceed with cleaning and kashering so that he could open on Chol HaMoed. I asked him if this was how his wife cleaned at home for the holiday. His face took on a disdainful expression as he replied, “My wife starts cleaning two weeks before Passover.” I pointed out that the O.K. must do a job that would at minimum satisfy his wife’s standards.

Some restaurants possess a pastry kitchen separate from the regular kitchen. Kashering the pastry kitchen several days earlier provides a bit of a breather. Yet this setup has a downside; it requires an additional mashgiach to supervise the Passover food, since the main kitchen is simultaneously preparing chametz.

O.K. restaurant contracts do not include supervision for Passover. Clients wishing to avail themselves of this option pay an additional fee, necessary because of the additional expenses we incur. For example, O.K. Labs personnel have to inspect these establishments more frequently before and during the holiday.

The O.K. Labs engages top-flight mashgichim for kashering prior to Passover and for actual Passover supervision. The mashgichim who kasher make a significant sacrifice, since they agree to work until the last hours before Passover (precisely when they are most needed at home).

Frequently the holiday mashgichim are different personnel than those who work at the restaurant the rest of the year. The regular mashgichim are often students from overseas who return home for Passover. The replacement mashgichim must spend sufficient time at a given establishment in advance of the holiday to familiarize themselves with its layout and systems. These personnel invest considerable time, and will often justifiably expect wages that exceed a mashgiach’s standard pay.

They must also be instructed in the specific O.K. Labs policies regarding Passover. For instance, I know of a Sephardic mashgiach who was unaware that Ashkenazim abstain from kitniyos (legumes). He mistakenly permitted the serving of string beans.

Having digested all this, most restaurants are deterred from opening on Passover. These restaurants often opt to use the downtime for renovations and maintenance. This, however, is also an area of concern, since even on Chol HaMoed, Jews are not permitted to do many types of work. The O.K. Labs guides these accounts regarding which activities may be performed during Chol HaMoed.

Of course, those restaurants that nonetheless choose to open for the holiday enjoy the O.K.’s unsurpassed dedication to kashrus. While the O.K. accommodates restaurants that choose to open for Passover, most restaurateurs spend the holiday celebrating their personal freedom from bondage.

Ironically, some owners use the opportunity to dine elsewhere, sometimes at restaurants whose proprietors have taken the road less traveled. The former later remark that after witnessing the ordeal those establishments are experiencing, they cherish their decision to sit out the holiday.

Customers wishing to patronize O.K. Labs-certified establishments during Passover can rest assured that the strictest standards are in place. No corners are cut, and no shortcuts are taken. You may dine with the confidence that the O.K. Labs is serving your kashrus interests.

Rabbi Yitzchak Gornish is a Rabbinic Coordinator at the O.K. Labs, primarily responsible for foodservice accounts. He is a graduate student at Rutgers University, where he is pursuing his Masters Degree in Food Science.