A Roundtable with Some of Toronto’s Kosher Restaurateurs
Richard Rabkin, COR’s Managing Director, sat down with three Toronto kosher restaurateurs— David Magazinich (The Chicken Nest), Sruli Portowitz (Bubby’s Bagels, Essen, Crema Café, Stacked), and Dovi Rosen (Bubby’s Bagels, Essen, Crema Café, Stacked). They paint a vivid picture of the joys, challenges, and community spirit behind Toronto’s kosher dining scene.
Origins: From Dreams to Doors
David (The Chicken Nest): “My parents, Shalom and Linda, opened The Chicken Nest in 1994. Their dream was a kosher version of Swiss Chalet—the quarter chicken, the bun, the gravy. In 2018, I took over. What began as a ‘two-year idea’ has, Baruch Hashem, become a community institution for over 30 years. People use the word ‘consistency’ about us—but it’s more than that. We care. We put our whole heart into every dish.”
Sruli (Bubby’s / Essen / Crema / Stacked): “I grew up in Brooklyn. I was used to bagels and pizza every Sunday. When I moved to Toronto, I couldn’t find a proper bagel with lox and cream cheese. That gap sparked Bubby’s Bagels. From there, we grew into Essen, Crema, and Stacked. Honestly, no one does this for the money. It has to be a passion.”
Dovi (Bubby’s / Essen / Crema / Stacked): “I never thought I’d be in food. After yeshiva, I came back during COVID, when real estate was frozen so I was thinking about other options. I met Sruli and started at Bubby’s. In 2022, I officially became a partner. I’m not a foodie—I eat to live. For me, it’s about building a business that runs smoothly. Customers offer suggestions, and I say, ‘Great.’ But what I really care about is service and structure.”
Serving More Than Food
David: “This isn’t just a restaurant—it’s a community restaurant. Our portions are generous, and our prices are among the lowest in the city. I could charge $30 for schnitzel, but I ask: what can our customers afford? We live here, we pay the same tuitions, buy the same groceries. I even had a situation where a customer lost a $100 gift card, and I honoured it. People aren’t just customers—they’re neighbours.”
Sruli: “We deliberately try not to compete with other kosher spots. Essen, for example, offers heimish fast food—burgers, hot dogs, poppers—because Toronto needed it. Thursday nights at Essen we’re open till midnight, serving cholent and yapchik. It’s about creating places the community actually needs and enjoys.”
Dovi: “I don’t dress it up in lofty terms. At the end of the day, it’s just food. But when families come for bagels on Sunday mornings, or kids stop in after school, we’re part of their lives. That’s meaningful in its own way.”
Behind the Scenes: What Customers Don’t See
David: “People don’t always realize: we cook to order. If you call in a schnitzel platter, we’re not scooping from a pan that’s been sitting there. Every schnitzel is fried fresh, burgers are grilled fresh, noodles are wok fried fresh. Our chefs arrive at 8 a.m. The COR mashgiach opens up and lights the fires. The first rotisserie load is for lunch, and we cook throughout the day. During the school year, mornings are filled with orders for local schools. By 11:30 we’re open for lunch, but the kitchen’s already been buzzing for hours.”
Dovi: “At Bubby’s, a busy day means 7,000 bagels. That scale brings constant maintenance — plumbing from all the bagel seeding, electrical issues with 20 refrigeration units, missing ingredients, drivers not showing up. My role is putting out fires: a fridge fuse goes, sewage backs up, or an Uber order glitches. Customers see a bagel on a plate; behind it is an operation running from 3 a.m. until close.”
Sruli: “When we started, I was doing everything — opening the store at 5 a.m., baking, deliveries, even cleaning bathrooms. Now we have staff, but the schedule is still grueling. Our baker arrives at 3–4 a.m., the pastry chef at 5, front staff by 6. Sundays are wild—we might sell a thousand bagels before breakfast. And people still come at 5 p.m. asking for cinnamon-raisin, not realizing they sold out 10 hours earlier. You can’t have 100 leftover bagels at closing time.”
The Real Costs
David: “Labour is our biggest expense. Dishwashers who made $16/hour pre COVID now make $22. Line cooks are $28 to $35. Food costs are up across the board. 4 2025 / 5786 / HALACHIC CORNER And seasonality hits hard: from August to September, revenue can drop 50%. People see a packed house in August and assume we’re flying, but one week later we’re quiet, covering payroll with last month’s revenue.”
Dovi: “Payroll and inventory dominate. Our staff need to be paid whether business is booming or slow. We can’t send a driver for a single cream-cheese bagel–it’s not sustainable. That’s why Uber Eats is both a blessing and a curse: another revenue stream, but they take 30%.”
Sruli: “In theory, business is a third goods, a third overhead, a third profit. In reality, cheese doubled, eggs went up 150%, and meat prices rise every two months. Sometimes you’re making ten cents on a scrambled egg sandwich. We raise prices maybe once every two years, and people say, ‘How can you?’ But they don’t see the costs.”
The COR Factor
David: “There’s a misconception that kosher is expensive because of COR. In reality, our COR base fee is $400 a month. That’s less than I spend on napkins. COR isn’t the problem. They’re a partner— checking ingredients, lighting fires, visiting multiple times a day. When customers call COR and hear that our kashrut is top level, that validates everything we do.”
Dovi: “I’m a COR huge fan. Once, we had a wraps issue. I called COR and got an answer in half an hour. Another time, they caught treif onion rings before they went out. That’s not annoying oversight–that’s a safety net. Relative to payroll and rent, COR is tiny. Consumers should be grateful for what COR provides.”
Sruli: “The most I’ve ever paid is $500 a month. Compared to staff, rent, or food, it’s nothing. And COR has always been reasonable with me—if I needed a break, I got it. Mashgichim come at 6 a.m., sometimes four times a day. They need to be paid too. It’s not expensive when you look at the big picture.”
Lessons Learned from the Trenches
David: “What lessons have I learned? Calm down. Early on, one complaint broke my heart, even with ten compliments. Now I take feedback in stride. A customer once told me, ‘The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.’ In this business, you can’t rest on your laurels. Every day you start at zero. You can’t hide your mistakes, you can only correct them.”
Dovi: “You catch more bees with honey. Be calm and respectful—with staff, suppliers, COR. Rapport matters. If I call a supplier and ask nicely, they’ll try to help. Also: never underestimate good bookkeeping. And don’t expect to get a lot of sleep.” “The idea that COR fees stop new restaurants from opening is nonsense. Startup costs are half a million dollars. COR is really a tiny cost on the list.” — Sruli Portowitz As David put it bluntly: “I spend more on napkins than I do on COR fees.”
Sruli: “I used to be a hot-headed New Yorker but over time I’ve learned patience. Customers aren’t malicious; maybe they’re having a bad day. Treat staff like family –most of mine have been with me for ten years. And never forget Hashem. When Bubby’s was shut down early on in our journey, my wife said, ‘Make Hashem a partner.’ We gave Him 10%. The next day, someone came with $100,000 to save us. That’s emunah.”
A Father’s Legacy
David (closing reflection): “My father, now 79, came to Canada with no education—he thought ‘busboy’ meant driving a bus. But he built something lasting. He kept businesses alive, fed struggling families—often while we were struggling ourselves. He’s a quiet man, but his chessed shaped this community. I want people to appreciate what he’s done.”
The Final Word
Running a kosher restaurant in Toronto means waking up before dawn, managing payrolls, absorbing food price spikes, and living without weekends or holidays. But these restaurateurs show that with passion, faith, and commitment, it can be done. And if there’s one myth they want to dispel: that the number or variety of restaurants in the city has nothing to do with COR. As David put it bluntly: “I spend more on napkins than I do on COR fees.” What unites them isn’t just food. It’s consistency, community, and a belief that Toronto’s kosher dining has a bright future.
By: RICHARD RABKIN Managing Director