By Stacey Dresner

WORCESTER, Massachusetts – The Worcester Jewish community has known for years that Chani’s Kosher Take-Out & Catering is the place to go for home-cooked, mouthwateringly delicious food.

Prepared and sold at Central Mass Chabad on Newton Avenue, the menu regularly includes dinner entrees like schnitzel, roast chicken, salmon, brisket and kugels; lunch fare including to-die-for pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, soups and salads; and baked goods like the fresh challah rolls Chani Fogelman herself whips up in abundance.

Now Chani’s is becoming a name in the wider community after the kosher deli won an informal contest run by Cunningham & Associates, a Worcester tax firm.

“It started one day back in May we received an order for 15 items – salmon plates, schnitzel plates, sandwiches, pastrami – all kinds of items. And it was a little bigger order than usual,” said Rabbi Fogelman, husband of Chani, and director of Central Mass Chabad.  

When a young man from Cunningham & Associates arrived to pick up the order, Rabbi Fogelman asked if the company was having a party.

“He said, No, they were running a contest… seeing what was the best restaurant in Worcester. I joked around and said, ‘Great, I think I could win.’”

Chani’s Kosher Take-Out “competed” with 31 other local restaurants.

“He came back two months later and told us you came in first, in fact you decimated the Shrewsbury Street restaurants” referring to the area where many of the chicest of eateries are located.

Chani’s then had to compete in the top 16.

“From 16 we went to the final four, like March Madness, a bracket contest,” Rabbi Fogelman said. “Then they came here two weeks ago and let us know, “you have the best food in Worcester.”

Anthony DeSimone of Cunningham & Associates said that Chani’s became part of the contest because the take-out’s Facebook page had so many posts from happy customers.

But the food kept them coming back.

“One, the food was absolutely incredible. The best we’ve had,” said DeSimone. “We keep going back and every time they just keep delivering. The chicken schnitzel, the pastrami – all of it was awesome. I think the mushroom barley was a big hit too. We even have a couple of co-workers go outside the office in their free time.

“Two, we love the cause,” he continued. “I got a chance to walk around the synagogue and see everything – they were setting up rooms for preschool and an afterschool program. It was a really nice thing to see. And all of the proceeds are going to this non-profit.” 

In honor of Chani’s win in the contest, Cunningham & Associates’ charitable arm, C&A Cares, awarded Chabad a $500 donation.

Just last week, after hearing about the restaurant contest, The Boston Globe did a profile of Chani’s, bringing in even more customers and fans.

But while they were excited to receive this attention – and more customers — Rabbi Fogelman explains that the real purpose of Chani’s and Central Mass Chabad altogether, continues to be to provide Jewish programming and a warm sense of Yiddishkeit to the Worcester Jewish community.

Chani’s Kosher Take-Out all began with the famous Shabbos dinners they have held for years.

“Originally Chani and me on Friday nights would have 45 to 70 people at the house for Shabbos dinner. At one point Chani said, ‘Why don’t we cook in the shul kitchen, the commercial kitchen? It will be easier.’ So we cooked here and then would bring the food back home for Shabbos,” Rabbi Fogelman recalled.

The coronavirus ended the Friday night dinners with guests, but in May of 2020, when Covid was in full swing, they began offering meals curbside, like many restaurants at the time.

“That really took off,” Rabbi Fogelman said. By May of 2021, Chani’s Kosher Take-Out took off even more when they were listed in the local Worcester Gazette’s “Worcester Eats” website listing the best of the town’s eateries.

Chani’s began holding Thursday night dinners in the social hall of the synagogue, pre-prepared by Chani and two workers. Families came in to enjoy their kosher dinners seated at one of the several round tables set up in the room, or to order and take their food home.

Now Chani’s is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Fridays from noon to 2 p.m. Customers can order online or in-person, and pick up their lunch and dinner meals or eat-in in the social hall. All meals are made while the diners wait.

“We make everything fresh,” Rabbi Fogelman said. “On Thursdays, the line is out the door. We bring them free samples while they wait. It’s like a party atmosphere.”

The money made from this endeavor – now totaling around $100,000 – goes toward Chabad’s programming, including their J-Fam program.

J-Fam, through Chabad’s yeshiva, picks up Jewish children from their local public schools on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and offers them food and activities from 2:30 – 5:30 p.m.

“We offer them a snack when they get here, and then they do fitness, art or music. We do their homework with them. At 5 o’clock every day they are served a fleishig (meat) meal,” the rabbi said. “We don’t charge for that program because we feel at this time it is an absolute emergency to do whatever we can to attract Jewish children to Jewish programming.”

The money also goes toward Chabad on Campus, which offers Jewish programming at local colleges like Clark University and UConn Medical School. 

With all the new buzz, Chani’s is getting even busier. Orders are coming in from shuls in the Metrowest area of Massachusetts and as far down as New London, Connecticut.

“We’re getting many more orders and new people are coming in, and they are very excited. Actually we are seeing people from Worcester who didn’t know about us,” Rabbi said. “The most exciting part of this is that we meet new Jewish people. The Jewish people walk in and the smell brings back memories of when they were younger. It brings back memories of their grandparents and their families. That’s what it is all about.”

Chani’s Kosher Take-Out can be reached at https://koshertakeout.square.site/

Main Photo: Rabbi Mendel Fogelman takes a platter filled with deli sandwiches to waiting customers.