Unlikely Chef Spices Up Kosher

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Hillel Kober at work in Delancey Street Deli/Photo by Chris Hessel

By Elana Glowatz

When Hillel Kober was hired at the Delancey Street Deli last year, he had no training in the culinary arts. But Koby, as he's called, has found that he possesses a natural gift for preparing food, and he has made the kosher deli a dining destination for many Stony Brook students.

"I’ve loved cooking ever since I picked up a knife a year and a half ago," said Koby, 21, smiling widely and rubbing his long goatee between his thumb and forefinger. He adjusted his kippah, the skullcap worn by observant Jews, and explained in his rough voice that he was unexpectedly offered a position at Delancey Street when he traveled from his home in Silver Spring, Md., to visit his older sister, Tova Delman, and her husband, Rabbi Dave Delman, who works with Stony Brook Hillel.

"I came to visit Tova for Shabbos and Rabbi Adelman was there," Koby said.

Rabbi Yoel Adelman, who also works with the Hillel Foundation, oversees operations in Delancey Street, and at that time the deli needed a moshgiach, or food supervisor.

"We needed full coverage in Delancey by a person who is Sabbath- and kosher-observant," said Adelman over a plate of Koby’s almond string beans. He said that the students he had previously hired as moshgiachs often had conflicts over classes, tests and illnesses. Koby "had no fixed plans," and so Adelman offered him the position.

Koby was raised in a kosher household where his mother did all the cooking. He said he feels as though he stumbled upon this career.

"I was supposed to be a mechanic," he said.

At the time he was hired, Koby had recently dropped out of the Lincoln Technical Institute in Columbia, Md., where he had been studying to become an automotive technician. He left, he said, because "I suck at math."

Although Koby was hired to oversee the kosher preparation of the food served at Delancey Street, "he took on more and more responsibilities in the kitchen" and discovered that he had a "passion for cooking," Adelman said.

This discovery led to Koby’s promotion to sous chef, the position he now holds.

Despite his lack of a background in the culinary arts, Koby has quickly made himself known to students who frequent Delancey Street. He brings a unique flavor to the deli, both through his personality and through the advent of the "Koby Special."

When working with kosher food, "it’s hard to be creative," said Scott Swartz, a kosher chef at the Culinary Institute of America. This is largely because kosher chefs cannot mix milk and meat products, and the milk substitutes that can be used with meat limit the menu.

But this does not seem to be a problem for Koby. His special is different every day and "always fresh," he said.

When he helps open the deli at 11:30 a.m., he strides through the Union, already in his apron, listening to metal music on his iPod and wearing sunglasses. When the first student filters into Delancey Street, he points to her and says, "Koby Special." She nods.

Koby makes a joke about head chef Will Kaiser as he fills a plate with caramelized onions, roasted chicken and potatoes. He hands the plate to the student with a smile.

"He is an asset in the biggest way," Kaiser said of Koby’s work in the kitchen and his passion for cooking. Kaiser, who has worked in many four-star restaurants, mostly in the Caribbean, said Koby has improved since last year and that the two men learn from each other.

Koby is a good person to collaborate with, "and he’s a friend," Kaiser said. "It’s nice to have a friend in the kitchen."

Aside from the attention his vibrant personality draws, Koby also aroused interest last spring when he expanded the sparse Passover menu with innovative dishes such as Swedish meatballs with steamed vegetables and tofu matzah lasagna.

"Of course I’d rather eat other things, and there’s not much he could do with the dietary restrictions on Passover," said Sarah Marshall, a frequent customer. "But he does the best he can, and he did a good job with what he was given."

Koby plans to attend the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts in Brooklyn next summer. After that, he said, he aspires to "become a world-renowned chef and open my own restaurant called 'Tiferet'" back home in Maryland. Tiferet is “Hebrew for ‘beautiful,’” he said with smiling eyes. But he estimates that this will take him more than 10 years to accomplish and, until then, he plans on staying put and learning as much as he can.

"He’s a good kid and a good chef," said Tova. "Practice makes perfect, so when he has enough practice, hopefully, he’ll go far one day."

When Koby isn’t preparing food at Delancey, he likes to get creative in his home kitchen. He lives in a house minutes from Stony Brook’s campus with Tova, Rabbi Delman and their three children.

"When we were younger, he was always a helper in the kitchen," said Tova, who has much experience from cooking for her family and from hosting Jewish students on the Sabbath and other holidays. "Now I give him pointers and he asks me questions."

"I give him my honest opinion," she added.

Tova’s kitchen is also where Koby gets many of the ideas for his Koby specials, which vary from fried pastrami wraps with chicken and Caesar dressing to sweet-and-sour chicken with rice.

"My favorite is the chicken teriyaki and broccoli," said sophomore Michelle Cohen. "There’s enough teriyaki to make it salty, but not too much, and the chicken and the rice have a really nice texture. Koby also gives really good portions."

Koby, however, said he does not have a favorite dish.

"Everything that involves a dead animal is my favorite," he said, chuckling.