Table for Two 11 8 19

[Music] good morning you're listening to table for two with near mean a comment on the Nahum seagull Network I'm so happy to be back after the on tests this is our first show back after the beautiful tissue season that we had and I did that I was away for a week my husband had a conference as I was away with him and now we're back in the studio how I use ek good it's good rights really feel like it's been a long time right regular program you know what I love routine I'm a big fan of routine let's do our routine for our intro for those of you don't know me i new mean that when i'm about all the food all the time I love to cook it eat it either restaurants anything food related everything to cookbooks perfect for Pesach perfect and perfect flavors which is almost a year old actually this week it turns a year old happy birthday perfect flavors okay and what was that our I'd you chopped competitions I run a catering business and I love to travel and try kosher foods from all across the world but I want to hear about your food experiences too so call me yet yummy at knock'em Segal dot-com I am you can follow my Instagram and Facebook and Pinterest and my website the Aussie gourmet calm I'm if you had a great meal or you ate somewhere and you had a great meal at a restaurant cook something just you know me I love to hear about it I love when you guys are interactive with me it just it's so much fun it becomes it like I'm here in the shooter with --zk we talk to each other we talking to you but I like to you back from you you know it makes a little bit more exciting for me to hear how everyone's doing um okay so where I was since I guess after yontiff I was home for like I went on a conference a lawyer's conference with my husband funny thing is I was the only one we have this like reception it wasn't kosher so but they had you know selection of alcohol and beer so I had a coach you know very Scotia so I had a beer and walking around and schmoozing in these networking and I'm like just taking pictures of the food for inspiration and I'm like I'm at the only I'm at the only person taking photos of the food right because normally when I go to events everyone's taking photos of the food but lawyers they were not taking photos of the food they didn't care they were busy eating and drinking it which was quite quite funny for us to you know like we always snap then eat you know but I came back I was home for a few days and then I went to Virginia and did a chopped competition for the vard of Tidewater which is in Norfolk Virginia area it was the most beautiful community a big shout out to a rabbi and mrs. Mustafa ski and the entire team over there to Rabbi haver and his family and the entire community of Norfolk you made my family feel so welcome we had the most incredible weekend we even got a private tour of the world's biggest naval base which was amazing we went down to Colonial Williamsburg we had Krispy Kreme Doughnuts fresh off the Belles let me tell you that might have been the best thing ever and over gourmet food I've eaten give me a doughnut fresh of the Krispy Kreme oven straight from the fryer on on their cooking belt it was unbelievable and of course I have to tell you the best shwarma and falafel in America is in Norfolk Virginia it's unreal the line on Sunday when we went back to have something else gonna help we have the shwarma on Friday and then we went back on Sunday her lunch was out the door it just a great restaurant that happens to be kosher and everybody knows about it like it was like out the door the like like maybe 20 30 people on line which is so nice to see in a kosher restaurant that everybody comes and eats there so it was really really really incredible um and yeah it was it was really a great trip and it's only an hour away so you know if you're ever in that area you know that there's an incredible community like right it's by Virginia Beach we also went to have a little look at Virginia Beach as well and I didn't I couldn't put this in but um you know how I love aeroplanes I love to fly so I happen to really be obsessed with a Kitty Hawk the Wright brother's airplane and that's about an hour and a half drive from Norfolk had I known I would have put that in the schedule but now I have to go back to Norfolk so I can go to North Carolina to see Kitty Hawk and I'll give that a plane Pat and whoever knows watches my Instagram you all know what I mean by a plane Pat okay there was a lot to say there right so on the line I have with me Estie Berkowitz now Estie was one of the first guests on table for two when I first started this week marked the beginning of the kosher trifecta week this coming up week starting off with Jewish food media kosher feast that evening and then two days of kosher fest and we're going to line up today's show just like that we're having s T Berkowitz from kosher feast we're having Menachem lubinski founder of kosher fest and then Melinda Strauss from the Jewish food media conference welcome SD Berkowitz hi Naomi I die your energy is just coming through the phone oh no thanks anyways okay you know this is my favorite time of the yontiff yontiff has gone by which I have I love yontiff don't get me wrong but routine has started and for me routine for the last 20-something you since I'm even living on the Lower East Side is going out to crochet vest I know what would life be without kosher fast kosher foods food media conference right all these things that have like piled onto the amazing week that it's almost a week that it turns into it's a celebration of kosher food that's what I like to think of it it is it is so what can I tell you about you know this year it's just I'm really grateful as you know for all the support of our community and what the growth has done for everybody it's just really really something to be proud of and this year actually I'm not really heading up kosher feasts but I'm there is like you know a supporter and valued at an ambassador yeah an ambassador so tell us what's going on there so this year actually you know of course Roberta shear of kasha ride her and I are book ambassadors and actually the main person who really has made all the arrangements his Alisa Kaplan of kosher gourmet Mart okay I didn't actually did not know that its tea house she I thought really will reopen yes she's an cress running she really she has a whole business online and she really got started because she was helping out with her school and they realized you really have a gift of getting really cool thing to put in for our auction for our events so she decides she decided to start this kosher gourmet Mart calm and anybody could check it out and she has a really unique kosher product I wanted that get her in the studio we'll have to get her in the studio oh I thought you were running kosher Fest this year she would show good fortune we took it over we and test you know as we know that we like to get together and it's actually has a mall a smaller warrant it's a knit event this year beretti PC steak house ah Walsh aw we love him he's been in the studio oh yes I've seen him on your show and he's hated such a lovely menu and of course I have to mention royal line is going to be pairing with each part of the meal and anybody out there was on Facebook and you are interested in food you're starting out your kitchen you have Instagram but you want to kind of be in an intimate setting want to one this is a great event for you and you should go to our Facebook page our Facebook group is really where everything happens right oh I'm a member of that yeah we really found that platform to be most engaging and we encourage all of our members to share their good news too what do you got going on you know and if I see you've been in the news which is not hard yeah thank God I like to share it there because I want to share with everybody successes I think that's something really that's nice about the community that we want to support growth of everybody you've built a beautiful community a food a food community so let's talk about how coach if he's got son how many years ago do do stop we really started in 2011 I want to say we had a very small dinner I don't think you made it that year nah Mike I just met you in five pounds you were giving a demo and I think you had a baby and I had your daughter was with Moodle I had a little son but we did it I want to say and I forget the name of the restaurant is that there anymore whatever the case is we grew so much that the next year we went to a bigger place you know we went to Abigail's so why did it get started back before Instagram there was a well I for Instagram what do you mean yeah was there life hello I don't know so we me being that I'm a lifestyle blogger I really just started with a blog about being young mom kept kosher I thought that this touched so many different areas food travel clothing everything so at kosher fest there were lots of different people coming because they had no oh I make beautiful things to put food and oh that's great you should come and be a good brand that you can work together only days of fab collab let's put it that way fat but what's it gonna be fab collab a fab collab you know both people win and it just every year that we just 30 only you came on way in the beginning as just a powerhouse and you were M seeing like everything in those days you know even before you were really doing chops and you were so hey I want to see this succeed you really you know when Tibet for all of us and brought so much thank you thank you I hope you know how much we all appreciate now my pleasure my pleasure I love to be I always I like somebody asked me what I do I was at and I said I'm mmm an ambassador for kosher food who you are if you're fantastic and your way with people so we really grew everybody who was a part of it helped us grow and it's been going and then we took a year off last year really again you know bat mitzvahs come Ryan I put in my book launch I put my book launch into the open tslot and it was so great I was watching from like you know Instagram video world it's really now this year you know Alyssa stepped up but hey I'd like to do this okay here we go so it just is such a nice thing to offer people from out of town who may not know what to do Monday night after the conference or who are coming in you know so we really find like comps and we have a lot of surprises a lot of oh can you share one here okay it's it's not going to happen till Friday it's airing on Friday yeah yeah you know we we actually remember is going to get like a really great swag bag and our nice unique things that you don't see every day which is really fun that happens to be kosher but the other thing is we have giveaways that we're going to be announcing at the dinner like a belfie pressure cooker I don't have you s'posed it we've been trying to keep up because everyday people are reaching out like hey I've got to give this to your bag you know oh that's amazing s T it is so nice and like I said Elissa is like she has so many connections with brands I've never even heard of and I think it's nice to kind of you know bring it to the table you know no pun intended but to really create that space and like I said where we have some more announcements to make even before up until the night that we're all getting together okay so so um it's this is airing Friday morning how can one still get tickets do we have any openings you know it depends on the restaurant so Seth has been really a lunch so as in years past we really try to accommodate everybody so if you find that you're trying to register and you're not please message us as we send me an email primetime parent at gmail.com okay great I will be in touch with Alyssa but we love everybody to have his face at our table and again like this is very different than years past we thought what over a hundred and fifty people but we said let's talk like going old school a little bit and like Joe have a smaller smaller more intimate group and it's close to two rich food beautiful people decide it's not so bad to get there right like 25t back from aphaia catfish right so no no no Jersey no but not far no neither watch over the GW once it actually New Jersey nothing spa it's just getting to New Jersey from right is the case not even getting out of the city or getting out of Long Island that Rockaway Turnpike is impossible I know I know I'm having a ride home from Long guy late I've moved since you know my other days of doing kosher these getting teachers used to be but that's okay yeah your food right can you give us a little bit of a rundown of the menu I know that is has been privatized okay through this I hope just a minute or so again we're starting with appetizers beef cheek mushroom janaki am I saying that right yaki don't be yucky that everything is paired with a wine for royal wine cork right yes good coming dead yella yeah frequent guest of table for two and royal wine media marketing oh yes we're Somalia audience and everything so the next thing I'll have a Buffalo cauliflower ratatouille we then have a beef bacon oh gosh help make a left handed yeah yeah I need you on this side Naomi didn't have a warm mushroom bisque free sea of endives beets cucumbers mustard dill vinaigrette okay that's just appetizer okay and these are full plates this is not a tasting venue this is like a full-on menu then our entrees our salad with artichokes fennel barigoule II guys what's that last one was the last word Barrett I want to say I are good by the way this was on our Facebook page so if I need to see yeah you should you should know cooking is all based on French um I'm just never took French me a that it's French with an Australian accent is awful okay but you know like I said I mean this is so um we're gonna have rack of ribs ribeye like people could choose from one of these and then eleven chicken breast the conscious of our gluten friendly people here oh nice and then a dessert is like a amazing creamy merengue toasted almond blueberry beautiful mojo mojo buzz pop okay they're one of our sponsors actually does pop so that's going to be fun so I wait I'm going to be on a diet until Monday at 6 o'clock and then visit lunar clothing that's it I'm stretchy pants you check your sweat suits you wait you're sweating and every course is paired beautifully with wine from kosher from yeah royal wines amazing it's like such a fun night guys I love networking this is an event to be at if you are you know coming in for kosher fest or you want to just have a foodie dinner right you know it's so hot people always asking me like do you know if a tasting menu I can go to or a tasting dinner they're usually a couple hundred dollars so this is I think what so what's it going for now we had a price break because one of our bottoms generally like kicked it and said I'm gonna help you know with that but then it went back up it's 140 for everything and that's a swag bag of like full to the brim like of stuff yeah bring a big because you need to put in print a little Rolly bag yes and again and that includes all this wine you know so they don't serve wine I believe that you see so we're bringing it in I hope it it's going to be so much great content too if people are looking like I want for content for their blog Facebook this is rich with content as you know the whole trifecta everywhere you go not just the people you meet but the products you're gonna find also okay I love that and I'm really excited for USD you and Roberto are added again as ambassadors of kosher feast run by Alyssa from give it a shout out again coastal gourmet marcom there you go so go check that as well we'll get her in the studio one of these days when we get our mix off as we move into the winter schedule I'm fantastic so st it's so great to talk to you you know do you remember the first time you're on the show is probably my first I'm knowing things in hey Ilan and Abbi Ilana and Abby and you took his suite up yeah no no so lead up was actually in between kosher fees right right amazing amazing back in the day really I can do longest conferences has oh yes it has well I'm so grateful thank you so much for interviewing me about the event my pleasure anytime I'm looking college are you going to be a kosher fest at all you know I can't make it work this year but maybe maybe something will change all right I may surprise everybody okay I like that I look forward to seeing you I'm super busy week for all the foodies so we are super excited to see you can't wait alright looking forward and congrats and all your great stuff in your book I'm waiting for the next book perfect no no more books I'm tired I'm denying SD it's okay now there's so many young people out there that are creating so many great books and and and Mira Pascal is a book coming out I know I know what she's been quiet but this is why she's been quiet she's been really really really busy yeah I'm just gonna signal ZK well when they tried that other number the 71 eight number we're trying to get Menachem lubinski on the phone so maybe if we call the switchboard at Luba Carmen we can pull him away from his meeting which quite happened with such a busy he's one of the busiest people I know yeah yeah and then I'm gonna have Melinda on the phone talking about Jewish food media conference she's also running another conference called qivana so we're gonna hear it but I love her podcast kudos to her I know it's so funny like everyone's coming up with a podcast I'm like we are the originals we ate those Airways very early on like now who's been doing this 35 years at least oh can I just say that I have I proudly have the bumper sticker on my car from Jamin a.m. yes when I'm still going and like so I appreciate Malcolm and I first heard about him from my brother like in the night oh wow yeah well I'm sitting in the same studio actually but he was probably out in the whatchamacallit back then their jerseys it's Jersey City Jersey City yeah though long but long yeah now it's wearing so much from his shows like I just pick up so many good pointers tip books my name is forget mind you my Israeli politics from no I love that I really do so congrats nothing on all year years and having such great and Miriam Wallach is like a man I mean yes she's all amazing at what she does to and all the guests in the show it's so valuable she's the I read her podcast yeah no you listen to how do you listen to it on the podcast alright wherever I am okay on it's through the Apple through a podcast app through the app through well through the app I have it on my phone okay you can download their knock'em Segal Network app on what's it called there what's our Samsung app what's that called Google Play sorry I'm an apple girl all the way cuz I'm gonna have a phone that's named after food at a blackberry I have an apple see I'm healthy okay SC thank you so much good luck with kosher fees and then we'll be in touch okay Shabbat so long lengths SD okay bye okay I have on the phone the one and only mr. Joseph s Menachem lubinski welcome Menachem thank you very much it's that time of the year again I guess I can't believe it where's the time going it's unreal yeah I know I pulled you out of a meeting thank you so much for joining a group who I know I wanted you in the studio about it you know we roll last minute here and and I know that you are very busy leading up to crochet vest talk to me about the beginnings of kosher fest for all our new listeners to fill them in how this all started well this is going to be the 31st year of kosher fest and it started back in 1989 when the show which was at at that point called the kosher food and Jewish life Expo which was a show for consumers attracted fifty thousand New York and went to Chicago and Los Angeles and Miami and I had at that point bought the show from the person who had founded the original kosher food a Jewish life Expo and with my marketing research and with my knowledge of the industry I decided to turn this into a bona fide legitimate kosher food trade show so we started in the giant stadium club which was the stadium that was built before met life and we started with 69 exhibitors and we had about 600 visitors just to fast forward to this year we'll have close to 400 boots and a little over 6,000 purses unreal yep yep but it's not been really the story of the show it's been a story of the industry because in that same period that the show existed the kosher food industry and and the whole cuisine took off in America to new heights and I think that that josephus merely becomes a showcase of the dramatic changes and dramatic progress that the kosher food industry is making it's been unreal I I've seen so many trends that start because of a show casing co-chef first right I just just to give you one small statistic when we're talking about the beginnings back when kosher first started we we found that there were about 12 or 13 kosher cookbooks on the market the largest selling cookbook was the Lubavitch loins Michael right right and today you walk into into a store like Isis and you're bound to find about a hundred and fifty different kosher cookbooks yeah and the fact that every magazine and every publication has a kosher food section almost every week not to talk about the voluminous volumes that they come out before a yontiff you know we literally need a truck to cart home the the magazines and the newspapers it's it's unreal that the kosher foodie boom like came well I think it's the world boom food you know the Starbucks definitely helped her coffee shops everywhere kids drinking iced coffee I never drank iced coffee you drank iced coffee when you were like 13 you see kids walking around with iced coffee I drank iced coffees when ice cubes fell in accidentally right but right that's like a now with young kids like young well you know young adults like school them teens but it's like it's a big deal now like going out to eat and this the sushi everywhere like where did that start right like in the very early mid-90s sushi took off about in the in about 2000 but you know who ever dreamt it would come to the point where you virtually can't go to an affair even to a wedding tour to a restaurant without having sushi served so I once went to a kiddush and I had a hard time finding the can filter fish because it was sushi everywhere I'm like oh I love sushi don't get me wrong I love kafeel sufficient herring though so like I'm still a traditional hamish a girl at heart but it's like sushi has taken over every pizza shop has a sushi counter or every flash iike restaurant has a sushi menu it's just become so part my kid can order sushi at school she's in sixth grade like it's amazing how we've made our kids foodies and makes it there were a couple of factors that played into it number one is food went away from the objectable objectionable ingredients things became healthier became easier to make things kosher so that was a major change we didn't have to worry about lard anymore we didn't have to worry about animal fats anymore because a lot changed into the organic and the use of greens so that was one major change in the second thing is a new generation came up that said instead of why kosher they said why not why can't everything be made kosher except for those things that are obviously can't be made kosher but when you walk into you know there's a new Wegmans just opened up in in Brooklyn and they've got about 75,000 square feet and in there they have about 60,000 products and I dare say that between 40 and 50 percent have a kosher certification right so so if my grandfather in Poland said such design I eat it's difficult to be a Jew not very difficult today all you need is a shopping cart right it's really true I just came back from Virginia and I went through the supermarket there I cannot remember the name of it as a big a big supermarket that has a small ish kosis kosher section so I looked through the crusher section because that's what I do and then I walked around the store just looking for kosher products they had so many kosher products there like that of Philadelphia cream cheese dip in a small container with pretzel chips attached to it kind of like the Sabra humbles with a pretzel when I won a Philadelphia Cream Cheese package I've never seen that in gamma glad I've never seen that in any kosher supermarket it's a good product that Philadelphia Kraft brand said let's make this kosher let's put the o you on it and sell it everywhere and it just happens to be kosher I have the same experience walking our Whole Foods or a fair way that the many products there that you don't see and you know that's what's happening at this kosher first this kosher fest is has a hundred new food exhibitors there's a whole new generation of kosher food that's coming into being like like like companies that were never never appeared there before like Obon I mean I can go through there's a hundred different companies that are coming from all over the world to showcase they want a piece of this action they want a piece of this industry and the so-called hey Misha company is already well established so but I think there'd be more more product especially since we have all these new I mean new over the last decade these independent kosher supermarkets will have the room to showcase to put more product so if more and more products come onto their shelf so instead of having what we call for facings of mayonnaise they'll only have three and they'll have somebody else's product from England that would that would be a gain for the kosher food industry so I I just think you know every time I think that the industry has plateaued I realized that it's only on the ground floor yeah yeah it's it has not a there's not plateaued I think we keep growing as as our population keeps growing as our palates keep growing as we create more kosher recipes it's all cyclical you know mishpokhe a magazine and kosher comm they're creating more kosher content which means we need better ingredients more variety of ingredients and then the manufacturers are making them and then you guys are showcasing them you know so I I feel bad for the young women today who all they had to do in the olden days was just learn a recipe from their mother grandmother today they have to be sort of a house chef through the magazine and come up with a presentation and they just can't drop the food on the plate the way the way it was gonna be in the days before but if you do that's great and if you want some inspiration you have plenty of it some damage so like I give it a lot of cooking class and so many times people say oh I just cook as my family needs to eat and so many times people say I live to make dinner you know they love to cook so it's really nice that there's a little bit of something for everyone and it's really now easy to make something quick and easy and drop it on the table or you can really go gourmet through all these beautiful things so it's really exciting to see and what do you think is the hottest thing out now what am I going to see I think I would like to say the snack aisle is really changing most rapidly into a much more healthier set where we used to be used to potato chips now you can get cleaner chips now you can get corn chips I think at every type every type of flavoring in it I think the snack aisle is growing rapidly I think those people that are into sauces can't believe how much that is expanded so what's happening is that the existing companies there are expanding their lines because look the bottom line is for a company to thrive and to make money and to grow is the new products they will probably be according to my calculation to be upward of 500 new products at kosher Fest this year not all of them are going to make it but a lot of them will will be on the Shelf and you know kosher fest takes place in November for one important reason yeah why it's sort of the last possible time for stores to prepare their pace except I know what's still available for the place open and especially this year where we don't have that extra month of Adar right no stores are already preparing for places right in front of them yeah Pesach is April 8th yeah right am i right April 8th or 6:00 well I'm gonna have a look I'm gonna have a look maybe have a countdown its April 8 I don't hear anyone no relation which is early unless unless you pick up on Jackie Mason's joke that the the Jewish holidays are we the earlier light than ever on time range it's not too early it's not too late now she was super late this year it is not it's like you know the other kind of breaking news and with what I would like to confess and I've told this to many many supermarkets don't look at kosher fest necessarily as an ethnic kosher show because the industry has so outdid itself with new products and beautiful packaging that if you're looking for new products if you're looking for good products you looking for gluten-free if you're looking for health product the kosher industry has it all and it does you don't necessarily have to serve it to a kosher consumer right and that's that I think is a big change from kind of like the positioning where we used to think of kosher first there's more or less of an ethnic show or somebody be called it the nearest Irish oh hi mr. show yeah you know what's the product that surprised you the most at kosher fest I mean in the past years yeah in the past years after seeing it for 33 years well you know when I first saw when I first saw the kosher beef jerky I kind of never expected to see that you know when I see people coming from from Thailand and Vietnam and presenting the way they prepare sushi platters I mean that that's kind of like eyeopener's now there's almost every country today I can't help there they're about 20 different countries they're trying to figure out how to get into the kosher market because if they're an ingredient like take China which has like 3,000 companies producing kosher you can't you can't sell to the United States today unless you're kosher who are you going to sell to you can't sell to coca-cola can't soak the Pepsi can't stop the Kellogg's you can't sell to Bannon so it's it's sort of the the kosher industry in the US and by extension Israel which is a huge market yeah as poss the entire world to really go kosher that's why the o you today is in well over 100 countries that they have much decent today produce kosher products Wow wow that's amazing China I know a lot of I make rice paper rolls made out of rice paper that's and it says on it made in Vietnam and tamarind sauce made in Thailand actually the ramen noodle soups from Geffen it's just made in Singapore when I went to Singapore I took them with me and I was eating made in Singapore kosher noodles I've brought it back to Singapore that's another example of me who ever knew who ever knew what ramen was in the kosher market and and getting it served in a restaurant and it's just it's just we sort of the whole world opened up to the kosher food industry and and guess who's benefiting because she consumer people who are eating out people who are all in the kitchen I like to believe that people who prepare these kind of meals in the kitchen have to look at cooking and preparing as an experience and that's exactly what it needs to be because the experience means research the experience means looking at the beautiful magazines the cookbooks and all the innovation that goes into that so we're we're kind of a new age with kosher but as I said we're just at the ground floor there's so many more changes coming it never gets boring really never gets boring I can say that you know what you bring more than anything else and I got I have to say this publicly you bring the passion of kosher food to to the to the pivot table you absolutely it's not just that pardon the pun it's just not it's just not a dry run for you it's a very very much a passionate feeling and and you're into it let's put it that way very into it I started calling myself the ambassador of kosher right like just shout crush it from the rooftops that we are really great we are really great be careful because we call yourself ambassador people are gonna want visas to go see how you do it I hope they can get a visa to Australia but I know I know rabbi got Nicky's coming with everybody groaner from Sydney Australia they're coming every year they have a booth mm-hmm yes we are london-based and I mean they come from all over the world it's really become the one time of the year and the big change this year with having all those new companies there for people to be able to say no you didn't see it of course it's brand new you might not see some of the older companies that feel that in a way that they're taking a break this year but you're gonna see you're going to see the next generation of Koshi you're going to see you're going to see chocolates treated in different way you're going to see a frozen ices you're going to see the sources in a different way you're going to see stuff from Europe you're going to see wines and whisky it's just overwhelming the amount of change that people are going to see at least the trade people who are eligible to visit kosher for exactly so let me just just tell a funny story that happened to me this week about kosher fist I've got two friends Australian friends that I grew up with who ran a program called kosher travelers they they're based out of Israel they said Naomi were coming in for kosher fest we'll talk more about what they they do later on but they said is there a game plan for kosher fest and they said there is you've got to start off in the morning milk lick don't be tempted by all the flashy so after lunch first you do a lap of the whole place from the minute the drawers opened you've got to be there early and even though that means staying over it you want to be there early then you say milkless to one o'clock and don't drink till the afternoon after one o'clock you can switch to flay she can start drinking that's the game plan I've been doing this over 20 years I know what and wear comfortable shoes this is the sounds like the most recent diet to come out on the market you know what you eat a little midday which eat after the day but yeah good advice I I like to tell people that sometimes it's just good to take one spin of the whole show without even tasting anything just get an idea and then go back to those boots that that you feel you want a really experienced and pace place the product right and I go for both days I do a lap the first I see everything I don't even talk to people I let me talk to friends don't talk don't talk to me till I do my first lap and then I go around again slowly tasting schmoozing with the the people showing the product and then you know what can work in the circle and then the next day I come back and seal the deal you got it right it's really managed my favorite event I'm looking forward is I block it out in my calendar when I leave Koecher fest on Wednesday afternoon you've already got a banner up see you at 2020 I will type it into my phone blocker block out those dates so I know that I'm good for next year okay sounds great I look forward to seeing you keep up the great broad care that you do thank you so much we'll be we'll be out doing a show from that crush and from Koecher fest next week so I'm super excited I mean that woman gonna walk around with UK and yoni and we're gonna you know highlight some of our favorites thank you so much and thanks for having me thank you so much man that lubinski The Godfather of kosher fest creator and motivator and he's just absolutely fantastic I love talking to him when I sent him the emails like can we can I get you on the show and he goes you go so I'm gonna be in a meeting there and then I said um you know can someone else do and he goes nobody knows kosher fest like me I'm gonna work out of my meeting to take the call so what to do a call in so we're very grateful for now for menachem for what he's done and for his time today on the line is my bestie Melinda Strauss how are you today hello hello I am doing great I'm sorry camp in the studio with me we were strolling in here I always love coming and it's been a while since I've been in actually I just I'm flying to Arizona tomorrow you know a week not even a week until my conference but I'm flying Arizona for a weekend right right right right so as this is this is coming Friday yeah we'll actually be in Arizona I will be yes I am currently in Arizona it's a with 85 degrees I think it's like snowing in New York now I know god forbid don't say that I'll teach Chuck Berry no no okay so Melinda yeah you wear many hats this is funny Melinda has her own podcast now and she just interviewed me for her podcast and now I'm sitting the tables back of her you were so good Naomi thank you so good okay so Melinda wears many hats she's with us being a friend and why for mom and she's this delicious dog called Louise that turned me around about loving dogs Melinda is an OP to be a coach tell me if I'm saying things wrong I got it she runs the Jewish food media conference she runs an upcoming conference called cavanna which we're gonna talk about she has a food blog she does so many fun things in the community and on the Instagram community she's changing the face of the Jewish woman's world about self motivation and getting people inspired to be the better to be the better cells does that deny that right that was so good yeah you know like if we have this in the big wide world they have a lot of inspirational because and so do we we have amazing Rebbetzin x' and all that we've got a great mr. speeches but Melinda's trying to inspire people to do it through business not just through business but I think through and I really feel very strongly that there's two parts to it right you can grow in your business which is one of the reasons besides community that Jewish food media came around was to grow your business which I mean I say it all the time we grow better when we grow together yep that building community helps us grow in so many ways not just with likes on Instagram and no followers but we learn from each other and and I could tell you just before this meeting I was back and forth with some of the friends in our community going over a few things for my conference so it's you know there's always people that you can bounce things off of and it's and then even like meeting new people and graphic designers and there's so many opportunities you know and networking to grow your business so that's the business side of things but then there's also the personal side of things and finding time for ourselves and self-care and not losing our minds when we're spending all of our time focused on other people you know it could just it's the little things that help us from not losing our minds beyond just growing a business so that's really where qivana the personal growth conference came from it what does Cavanaugh mean what does come on to mean if that's a good word I love it so don't worry it's a Hebrew word qivana yes it means the conscious intentionality living with intention doing with intention and not just you know doing things because that's what you're supposed to do and it's like opening up a bencher and you're you know you can open up the venture and read the words that's what come on are you can like I mean you don't have to be reading the words but the idea is that you read them so that you are really being intentional with the words that you're saying so that that word means so much to me because I believe so strongly in in living a life with purpose I love that I love that happening with purpose eating with purpose yeah eating with purpose yes you're right for sure right whether whether even if like somebody Elizabeth Sutton and I were chatting the other day and she's going to be on the show in a couple weeks and she was saying like what does she say those extra five or ten pounds came from something that you're enjoying life about that was great so make sure you tune in this is it's gonna air in like two weeks I'm y'all ever on this show amazing so make sure you are watch out for that show so this week right now is the the trifecta kosha show on today and then we're gonna do a show from kosher fest and then we're going to have Elizabeth on the show that we asked the kosher fest before Thanksgiving okay so let's talk about Jewish food media this is a seventh year this is the seventh conference I started the conference eight years ago took one year off did some construction and thought I can't do this all the same time so if they it's been around for eight years this is the seventh annual Jewish food media conference amazing I know I can't believe it seven I believe you started with my cousin Shelly yeah it was in the Calton hotel um oh my god I can't even remember the name of the hotel it was beautiful yeah I think was a Calton I think gorgeous I'd have to go look back yeah beautiful hotel was not the best base for a conference but but weird is so much fun right we did a grande McKellar very pregnant Mary Shapiro spoke danced our decline was up there I was a photographer yeah no effect who is just the funniest guy ever I follow on Instagram but he spoke about photography and it was just an amazing event and made me realize that it was really all started because there weren't a lot of Jewish food bloggers around right and we were just all getting started and and I had started this community on Facebook with other bloggers not in our world and we weren't kosher or weren't Jewish and I was like we don't do this in our own community and build up our own community of bloggers and it started out as the kosher food bloggers conference and was for many years but it's just like groaning groans right also kosher food bloggers kind of the word blog has changed like me used to mean something like a website ghost but I call my blog my Instagram account because everything you need to know about me is on my Instagram and a little bit more yeah now it's like what the blog was it's the influencer is the word now right influence I I can't wrap my head around that one but I know it's true I know people hate it but I really I don't think it's that I think it's the same thing with social media there are people out there to see we'll just call it we'll talk about Instagram right though people who see Instagram as a negative place because people aren't always real on there and people see what they want to see and it can be a dangerous place if you allow it to be but it's such an incredible place - well I just we can share so much about our lives and share positivity and share the realness even though it's not all exactly as our lives are because my goodness I can't spend my whole life on Instagram right but it's it's such an it can be such an amazing play outlet just like they're like the non-significant the shows that we have or your podcast yeah it's another way that you can inspire yeah and share share let people know they're not alone and like I look at someone like ABI Wolin who's good helping people grow their businesses and this is all happening because of social media people around the world can connect with someone in New Jersey Melinda you just reminded me I forgot to tune in to her business thing oh no it's still live okay bye time everybody here says it will be live anymore but it's now it's live for 24 hours when did she do it last night or tonight I you know I'm not following it so uh oh my god I'm such a nut job okay Abby Whelan does business challenges for women and I thought I should do that yeah and I completely suck on calendar but you know it there but it just shows you like around the world people the world's become so small so social media but I think that the word influence are when you use correctly you're not influencing people by forcing forcing them to do something but I think if you're influencing with trust then you're able to share things with people and and give to others and they can see it and go oh that's amazing I can have that too right that's how I see influence in a positive way I love it this is like music to my ears and I hope that you know I know Instagram can be distraction but you know just like there's lots of good things there are you know with everything that we do you got to just find your your groove okay talk to me about the Jewish food media conference who is speaking how can one still go there are still tickets available right so I guess everybody's sharing I mean I had to close down ticket sales if there are people who message me privately you can actually message me at Melinda at Melinda strathcom I will certainly privately open up ticket sales okay they can use my coche I am like Jewish food media and they owe me for 10% off okay so who's in the lineup okay so a Deen assessment oh I'm so excited she is just an incredible incredible woman so what the assessment is gonna be speaking I have Jeannie climb from Previn rallies I go now Biden from LA and then slay me a shipwreck line from places magazine love those guys they're so good and then you know Muse rahi from her her blog is gather a table as she has an e-book and Naomi this one's all you right here she has an e-book about iPhone or phone photography that's what I've been doing I've been begging mail please not for the DSLR blah blah blah I couldn't do it I bought a camera I returned it I couldn't the case like I could not handle the technology you mean my iPhone show me how to take nice pictures though and you've been asking me for years or like find someone find someone and well I knew I wanted seen us so but she was in Israel for a long time yeah and she's moved she's moved here and she is available and I literally like had to convince her I was like Cena you're too good people need to hear what you have to say and and she has her ebook you can actually go to gather a table calm and her ebook is available for anyone to purchase but if you're coming to the conference and you get in person with Cena and you can really you know I'm just gonna say you can stalk her ask her questions right she's very talented she's really an a super super girl I've met her once when she came into question of us a couple years ago and I I think the last time I was in Israel the time before I tried to meet up with her but it's hard when you're traveling with kids and but yeah okay can I tell you a little like secret okay I'm waiting we like secret okay it's really for you know everybody so Naomi as you're all listening Naomi tends to leave conferences about I don't know what halfway through we don't leave the event but like leave the room where everybody is speaking to go like Network and hang out outside the room right yes Jamie has extreme ATT so it's possible that I have seen her as my last Speaker of the day yeah make you come back into the room okay good I'm gonna sit there be some also you know why I was always very busy the last couple of his last year I had my book launch and I did my radio show from the conference yeah right and then like the year before that I was helping SD with kosher feast so I was in and out with that but this year I'm a free agent I'm all-in I'm gonna say I remember the first year a time came me and a tenner was here on the lower west side somewhere it was that Qaeda how bad yeah so how I mean a ton have front-row seats and he was seen there writing notes and he probably actually wanted to sit next to me now I'm like here's a call like 17 year old I'm like an old grandma and and you know we say but well we need pictures of that because we had I think was Khurana blue meth was the photographer and I always looked through those pictures because the lighting it was it was a tough space because it was really small it had the lighting was so beautiful no it wasn't that bad it wasn't that bad oh my god really it was murder crazy space you within my um location it was it was not good I had to rent tables it was your right hub I was for two years before that right ZK did you remember that we did the radio show from their head Noreen galettes was on the show we had a whole bunch of people lined up to do the show and picture over exactly where you guys were standing Union Square if you want those pictures I'll send them over there send them over Union Square ZK remembers hockey was collages it was such a bizarre location it was so cool in spirit but when everybody was in there it was just so tight right it was tight it was good in the first row but everybody else in the back yeah it was good it was very good but yeah look the the group has grown look at that you know there used to be a handful of people when I started doing cooking demos when I first started my business 15 years ago there were three people that did cooking demos Suzy Fishbein Jamie Geller and me now those two had cookbooks so they were like definitely way more busy and popular than me knows me and I did plenty great from doing cooking demos but now we're like there's like a hundred girls that can do demos which i think is amazing we are not competition we help each other one can't do one you give an egg to someone else like it is incredible how everybody wants a food demo or you know like it's yeah it's it's there's a lot going on in the food world these days and you know we're talking to Menachem interesti have a whole boom it's just growing and growing and bloggers are growing and growing in now what would you say is that someone who's listening to our show and they're like you know I want to do this summit I want to open up a food blog right or an Instagram account what should I do what would be your their and your advice to them the first thing that I would tell them is tasks and so themselves why because it's a lot of work just like any other job so if you're starting any new business whether it's I mean it could just be like okay I want to share my food go for it start your account so I just always encourage people to ask themselves why you're doing it before you start and the second thing that people should know is that it doesn't happen overnight you're not going to go from zero followers to 30,000 followers or 10,000 followers or even 5,000 followers overnight I certainly would highly recommend no one ever pay for followers because never see that you lose your authenticity I will unfollow someone if I see they paid for followers and it's very obvious so just know that when you pay for followers people know but really do it because it makes you happy and because think about some think about why you want it and really like and this is a shout out to Cena but if you could have good pictures of your food if you're starting let's say a food account because that's really where our heads are at here right can you and now tummies make sure your pictures look nice you know if you can only take photos at night that's cool amazon has really cheap lights you can buy that plug in you can have a nice light for your photos I should do that now can you help me order one yeah I have one we'll recommend I have a great one that I love to recommend to people and it's under 100 bucks there you can get in first so so cheap okay the tax deduction what have I said did I but it's it's you know so easy to have pretty pictures they don't have to be perfect and in fact I think a lot of people prefer when they don't look perfect yeah yeah cuz it sure is real I'm real might disagree on the Apple Val once told me she's like Mel step away from the food a little with the camera because I was getting really close up shots and I would they were good quality shots they were very close up she was like back up a little should move your feedback right he's amazing honey is amazing right she oh gosh how don't he does she cook the food she can photograph the food her own photography it's amazing her and Liam peskow you know I you know I've interviewed a lot of cookbook authors including myself you can't do photography it's a whole industry to have a stylist and a photographer and the fact that those two can do it themselves like Wow Miriam's third book is coming out soon I can't wait to see it it's the photos are in credible the ones that we've seen so far she did a blog post on overtime cooked on that showed like a sneak peak of her book and the photos the krembo like I can't get over it I mean I went look at her book I don't want to see any sneak peek oh yeah because you know why I would not hold the book in my arms and have that first surprise that's so sweet why I actually I'm holding back I know like I don't want to read the end of the novel before I see the beginning I want to see the whole book called that baby in my arms to know that my sister reads the end first the Fionan what the book of that the bottle one of my daughters does that I can't even and I'm a big reader I love to read and I'm like I just I can't even imagine and everybody's their friend and do your thing but like what I know oh my god it's crazy but yeah and actually Connie and Miriam are both going to be at the Jewish food media conference this year so I'm really excited to get to see them ya know it's it's a it's a really great event and we've got a couple minutes left oh I just want to talk quickly about qivana and who's going to be speaking at Cabana this conference that you're holding December 15th yeah oh my god such a list of speakers if I'm actually as we speak walking over to my computer because I there's so many speakers and I I don't know how I'm fitting it all in but I couldn't I just I needed them all to be there like it's just too good for them not to be up on that stage one of the things that I love about qivana and also with Jewish food media is I really love to give people an opportunity to speak and to have their voice heard so there's just my list is endless and I even say to people like if you think of someone you that you think should be up there tell me right I'm going to be introducing her now I'm the I'm introduced email to the beginning of the comfort oh you're the MC it's already dead I already told you like you do a good job Naomi there be my emcee forever uh hired so I have a lot of women I mean I could go through them if you want I can register a couple-week on it we got about two minutes I'd like people to hear who's coming like you sure that's key it's gonna be our keynote speaker and this missive s key is the gist telephone on Instagram she's Elizabeth of etske she used to be the accessories Expo that's what I was looking for okay great and she's just I love her how open she is about her support of Israel and about the things happening in her life she's just a very open honest person and it's really inspiring Abby Wolin is going to be speaking and Beth Warren is speaking and Yaffa policies I love you Paula I love those I'm Adam I just interviewed her for the PUC I just I just started following you amazing oh my god get ready yeah a friend of mine who this amazing woman it's on a thicker man who was one of the she started a group group it's an organization called momentum and then I have a panel I'm like I'm what is to word a panel that's going to be run by someone named Connie Aaron true who's Soga she's the BOK middle you know the podcast the bundle so that's her she's going to be moderating the panel with Rachel Tuchman Barry mitts Minh Ferry singer and Stephanie for hours I'll be speaking as well I don't even know a lot of these people but I look forward to hearing from them I love being part of a big inspiration or group so this is super exciting to get your tickets for qivana do we have a code to have a code well I will make a code for you and I will make it before this error so we can do a mmm I guess is it confusing for it to be qivana maybe kay Naomi hey Naomi I think that makes sense like just keeping the case oh my god hey Naomi Naomi it'll be ten percent off and it's you can buy tickets on qivana conference dot and it's in it's in fact you to 20 ounces we didn't even say where it's gonna be oh my gosh yeah it's a different area in that same building cuz factories you 20 is this incredible I call it a warehouse like it's a big space a huge space with a lot of different locations they have the restaurant they have catering and I mean I can't even I haven't been to a wedding there I just want to be invited yeah it's cool it's a great fun space my book launches them they'll we've got about 30 seconds left there's going to be food there's going to be good food right who's catering all the humble toasters catering to rich food media I love them Shalom you get a big shout out from us those sandwiches are yummy yummy and Kevon oh do we know yet but stay tuned stay tuned Belinda I love chatting with you where did 20 minutes ago I just don't know we'll talk later we'll talk later on my way home we wish we schmooze at least once a day online offline on the phone whatever okay thank you so much Melinda for joining us and Estabrook woods from kosher fees a Menachem Levinsky from Khrushchev s rounding out the trifecta for this coming week okay when I wish everybody should watch Shalom this is table for two in their Manhattan on the non zero Network stay tuned for music right up to lift benching sponsored by our friends at can-am shabbat shalom [Music]