By: Leah Balbin
It is midday, and Smith Street in Fitzroy is buzzing with commercial businesses. Restaurants, Cafés, newsagencys, and somewhere in the middle is the one-hatted, Huxtable restaurant. Tzvi Balbin arrives to meet Co-owner and head chef, Daniel Wilson to talk about the upcoming ‘Chasing Kosher’ event. Tables are stacked and chairs are up, chefs are prepping ingredients for service and Balbin and Wilson are ready for business.
Imagine: You’ve had a long day and you’re ready for a bite to eat. You choose a restaurant, go inside, order whatever you want from the menu and, well, Bob’s your uncle.
This is not the case for orthodox Jews around the world. Jewish culture restricts Jewish people from eating at just any restaurant.
Enter Tzvi Balbin: A young entrepreneur and owner of digital marketing agency, DataSauce. His mission: to make food accessible to the Jewish community in Melbourne.
Tzvi Balbin
The new initiative, Chasing Kosher involves finding a restaurant and ‘Kosherising’ it so that it is appropriate for Jews to eat there.
Balbin came up with the idea after attending a kosher pop-up dinner at a Lebanese restaurant in Sydney last year. “I really wanted to bring the concept here,” Balbin said. “Why should Jewish people miss out on experiencing different cuisines just because of a few technicalities?”
“There isn’t a scale to have a variety of food and that gets frustrating overtime.”
Rabbinic administrator of Kosher Australia in Melbourne, Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick arrives at Huxtable to inspect the kitchen and ensure that it can be ‘Kosherised.’
Rabbi Gutnick is positive about the initiative, “It’s is a great opportunity for Jewish people to experience food in a way that is not usually possible.”
Kosher law restricts Jews from eating certain animals such as pork, and from mixing meat and dairy. An important part of keeping Kosher law is having a Rabbi, like Rabbi Gutnick ensure that certain products are free of non-kosher ingredients or in this case, a utensil has been cleansed. Balbin and his partner, wholesale health food manager, Yossi Spigler, supply the restaurant with Kosher utensils and crockery that they bought for their Chasing Kosher event last year.
Balbin has already been successful at his first Chasing Kosher event at Union Dining in Richmond. The duo sold out in nine minutes and 300 Jews were able to enjoy a three course high dining experience.
Co-owner and Chef at Huxtable restaurant, Daniel Wilson said, “Why not?” when approached by Tzvi. “It’s something different for us and I love learning about new things.”
Wilson is positive about the experience so far after the first three dinner services sold-out in just nine minutes.
Balbin is looking forward to the event and its potential.
“Food is a big part of Jewish culture and there is such a huge market for this sort of thing. I’m looking into other cultures as well, maybe a Chasing Halal.”
Balbin is also nominated for the Bartercard Online Achievement Award for 2015 for his business, DataSauce.
Balbin launched his online marketing business in 2013.
“In today’s world, every business has an online aspect and we help businesses understand how to make more money online,” he said. “Digital marketing is a crucial component to any business.”
Balbin has worked with brands like: Ticketek, Catch of the Day and Skype to help them make money through online marketing.
When asked how he manages two vastly different businesses, Balbin laughs. “Successful businessmen do business in areas that interest them. I guess I’m just an interesting sort of guy.”
Leah Chaiton 