Meet the Chef

When Heshy moved to California, cooking professionally wasn’t even on his mind; mountain biking, backpacking and skiing occupied most of his time. While working as a kosher supervisor at The Kitchen Table in Mountain View (one of the few farm to table kosher restaurants – now closed), he fell in love with food and especially California Cuisine.

“Living in Northern California has given me a true appreciation for natures bounty.”

– CHEF HESHY FRIED

The Kitchen Table was a good proving ground for “Hesh”, with daily deliveries of the best ingredients that California had to offer. The experience helped him finally figure out what he wanted to do with his life besides hanging out in the woods all day.

While working for an Organic Kosher catering company in San Francisco, Hesh met Chef Isaac Bernstein who had just founded Epic Bites and his life was forever changed. Isaac was known in the tight knit gourmet kosher world as a “gadol” (Hebrew for great or big).For Hesh it wasn’t just about getting acquainted with the 65 hour work week and 27 course tastings. It was about learning to make everything perfect, learning that $15 a person wrap platters could be elevated and that everyone deserved the best customer service no matter what their budget was.

Fast forward 6 years and he’s at the helm of a thriving kosher catering company that sticks true to its Bay Area roots. It may be cliche, but Hesh is all about scratch cooking, slow food and artisinal cuisine. Whether he’s smoking his own pastrami, fermenting his own kimchi, or foraging for edibles in the Santa Cruz mountains, he tries to bring something unique to the Bay Area kosher food scene.