Tzvi Rudin

I have very little experience as a student eating school lunch. I was that picky kid who didn’t eat anyone’s lunch; yet I became a food writer…go figure. To add to the irony, my husband worked as a cook in school food programs for years before our business was born. It is with that in mind that I offer lots of respect to Tzvi Rudin, the man with many pans.

How did you come to work in the field of food service?

For many years, since I was very young, I worked in a camp under my uncle. Later, I went to Kosher Culinary Academy, a culinary school in Israel (which no longer exists). It worked well for me because it was an English-speaking program, and I got the added benefit of receiving certification to be a mashgiach.

After I returned to America, I worked for a restaurant and did some odd jobs. I got married and moved to Israel with a plan to start working in the industry.

But, frustratingly enough, I couldn’t seem to land a steady job. I literally went knocking door to door, looking for work. Every time I found a job, for some reason, I lost it shortly thereafter. After quite some time, I finally found a position in Har Nof — not as a chef but helping set up for parties. Then the chef was fired and I kind of got thrown into the job as the head chef for a catering company, cooking for multiple parties a day — everything from brissim to bar mitzvahs and weddings. I worked crazy long hours.