Equally importantly, executive chef Eduardo Adrobo was open to working with her and with the Kehillah Federation to kosher their meaty menu. Helpfully, Venezuelan-born Rabbi Dendoravic, who oversaw the project for Kehillah is a fluent Spanish speaker which made comms between him and Adrobo even easier. Essential for a recipe creator encountering kashrut for the first time.
Dressing up: Joanna Nissim with Arros QD marketing manager Maria Alonso[Missing Credit]
Nonetheless it was a steep learning curve for Adrobo and his team to adapt their heavily meaty menu: “I’d done kosher events as a private chef, but they weren’t as strict as this — I had no idea how much was involved.”
In the planning stages, he and Nissim visited north London supermarket Kosher Kingdom to find approved alternatives to the ingredients he uses ordinarily. Sharing the products via a shared WhatsApp group allowed Rabbi Dendarovic to give the products a thumbs up or down. “I was amazed that even some products sold in a kosher supermarket were not approved for use” says Adrobo.
The first event attracted huge interest, selling out in a matter of days. I was invited to their second in July, which was also a sell-out.
Arriving early in the evening, the restaurant was quiet but the smartly dressed staff greeted us with beaming smiles. A quick tour of the kitchen revealed foil-covered kitchen surfaces and stacks of crockery purchased especially for the kosher event. The gas fires were topped with chicken wire to allow the new paella pans to sit on the burners without breaching kashrut. All meat cooked in the oven would be double-wrapped under Rabbi Dendarovic’s watchful eye.
On the other side of the open kitchen, in the airy dining room, my daughter and I sipped a glass of cava (me) and mocktail (her) while we waited for the first dishes on our set menu to arrive. There was an extensive list of kosher wines, spirits and cocktails for those wanting more than the welcome drink.
What followed was a progression of meat and parev treats — each one brought with a full explanation.
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Up first, a dish of stones topped with two clever trompe l’oeil pebbles that were actually graphite-coloured cocoa butter shells that melted into soft, parev cheese-flavoured centres. Asparagus and truffle tartlettes were similarly delicate — and a surprise hit with my fussy teen. The trip to Golders Green’s Kosher Kingdom had not been wasted as I’m guessing they popped into Grodz — the bakery across the road — to sample the Grodzinski’s breads that accompanied the dish of bone marrow. I loved the fusion of Ashkenazi breads with the meaty schmear.
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The perfectly coiffed Spanish waiters provided an element of theatre while serving much of the meal. Slices of Valencian citrus fruits were pressed on the plate to produce a zingy dressing for the kale salad which was also dotted with candied kumquats and juicy bubbles of tomato water jelly. Stone bass ceviche took a more Asian direction with its creamy-flavoured sauce of coconut and Kaffir lime.
Moving on to meat, meltingly soft beef cheeks slow-cooked in a red wine jus exploded with flavour and were well-paired with the delicate, roasted Jerusalem artichoke puree and crunchy pine nuts.
Sunny-coloured stunner: beef rice Photo: Victoria Prever[Missing Credit]
The showstopper meat course was the beef rice. A koshered version of one of the restaurant’s signature dishes. A large paella dish filled with sunny-coloured, al dente rice which had soaked up the intensely meaty beef stock prepared to Arroz’s recipe by Shefa Mehadrin — which had also supplied the meat.
The generous cut of meat — cooked perfectly pink inside — was a treat. Our waiter urged us to scrape the rice from the pan to collect all the sticky, caramelised juices. My only regret, that I did not ask to take our leftovers home.
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The finale was suitably simple and perfectly pitched after four courses. A plate of fridge cold tropical fruits and sorbet was very easy to squeeze in.
By the time we left, the evening was in full swing all tables filled with smartly dressed diners happy to pay the £150 per head ticket for the five-course meal — with one glass of kosher cava.
For those wanting to dress up to dine, the Arros QD pop up is a welcome addition to The Fire Place from Andrew Krausz and Tony Page’s Marylebone restaurant — the smartest places to dine on London’s kosher dining scene.
Tickets are already on sale for the next Arros QD kosher pop up on September 14.
