by Lori Gardner for Jewish Food Experience

Ami Schreiber is a software developer, but he always dreamed of owning a kosher Chinese restaurant.  He grew up in New Jersey, just close enough for his family to be able to head into Manhattan for kosher Chinese food as a special treat. Over the years, Schreiber’s affection for Chinese food grew. When he moved to the Maryland suburbs in 1999, he continued his pursuit of the cuisine, with visits to the kosher David Chu’s China Bistro in Baltimore and the now-shuttered Royal Dragon in Rockville.

When a friend saw a flyer advertising the sale of the non-kosher Chin & Lee Chinese Carry Out in the kosher enclave that is Kemp Mill Shopping Center, Schreiber knew the spot was bashert (meant to be). The shopping center is home to Shalom Kosher Grocery Store, The Kosher Pastry Oven and Ben Yehuda Pizza. There is a synagogue in the parking lot, a yeshiva down the street and three other synagogues and Jewish businesses in the immediate vicinity. Schreiber, an active member of the Kemp Mill Jewish community, knew he needed to jump at this opportunity. He wasn’t a restaurateur, but he had the chutzpah and drive needed to figure it out.

Read the story here.

 

Holy Chow, 1331 Lamberton Drive, Silver Spring, MD

***********

Check Out My Other Stories for Jewish Food Experience

Justin Rosenberg of Honeygrow:  Fast Casual with Jewish Values

Mikey Fabian:  Bringing Jewish Values to the Table

Adam Greenberg:  Jewish Food Takes a Vacation

Jackie Greenbaum:  Rocking it in the Restaurant World

Meredith Goldberg:  A Recipe for Healing

Chef Sasha Felikson:  Bring on the Borscht 

Ari Gejdenson, Mindful Restaurant Group:  From Gejdenson…err, Generation to Generation

Nycci Nellis:  She’s Got Her Pulse on the DC Food Scene

Restaurant profile:  Fired Up About Al Ha’Esh in Rockville