It’s hardly a secret that Jews have a penchant for food. We discuss it, argue about it and fold it into our memories. We snack on pickles and olives, dried apricots, halva, pretzels, rugelach, babka and bagels . . . then go on to eat full-course meals. We store chicken soup in our freezers in case anyone sneezes and keep an extra coffee cake on hand lest a friend stops by, regardless if they’re hungry.
Noshing is our national pastime — and for New York Times bestselling author Jake Cohen it’s a lifestyle.
Following up on Jew-ish, in his new book, I Could Nosh: Classic Jew-ish Recipes Revamped for Every Day, Jake marshals his trademark chutzpah to help readers, Jewish or not, keep eating, morning, noon and night. He paves the way to a medley of delights, from schmears, both sweet and savory, to chicken soup sanssoup, challah of exotic variations, kugel fries, Persian rice treats and a tzimmes cake.
Jake returns to The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Cultural Center in a conversation to discuss his unorthodox approach to the staples he grew up with and how food has deepened his Jewish identity.
A social media star with a million Instagram followers glued to his challah braiding and garlic matzo antics, Jake Cohen has worked as a food writer and in some of New York’s finest restaurants and in test kitchens.
Jake will be in conversation with Isaac Mizrahi. Mizrahi has worked extensively in the entertainment industry as a performer, host, writer, designer and producer for over 30 years. He was most recently seen as Amos Hart in the Broadway production of CHICAGO and has an annual residency at Café Carlyle in New York City. Isaac has also performed at various venues across the country such as Joe’s Pub, The Regency Ballroom and several City Winery locations nationwide. The New York Times noted, "he qualifies as a founding father of a genre that fuses performance art, music and stand-up comedy."
He is the subject and co-creator of Unzipped, a documentary following the making of his Fall 1994 collection which received an award at the Sundance Film Festival. He hosted his own television talk show The Isaac Mizrahi Show for seven years, has written three books, and has made countless appearances in movies and on television. He served as a judge on Project Runway: All-Stars for the series’ entire seven-season run.
Mizrahi has directed productions of A Little Night Music and The Magic Flute for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Annually, he directs and narrates his production of the children’s classic Peter and The Wolf at The Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Mizrahi has his own production company, Isaac Mizrahi Entertainment, under which he has several projects in development in television, theatre and literature. His New York Times Bestselling memoir, I.M., was published in February 2019.
For more information, visit HelloIsaac.com.