Kosher Food and Drink

Today’s the day! July 14th is the grand opening event for Cafe K in Silver Spring, MD. After dropping my kids off at the camp bus stop, I made the short drive to downtown Silver Spring to check this new dairy restaurant out.

Cafe K (1300 Spring St # 136, Silver Spring, MD 20910; (240) 531-2333; cafekbistro.com; under Vaad of Greater Washington “Capitol-K” supervision; dairy/fish) is located on Spring Street not far from Georgia Avenue. There is a fair bit of construction in the area, but Google Maps showed me the way accurately. It is an easy walk from Woodside Ahavas Torah synagogue, and I was pleased to see members of that Jewish community already supporting the restaurant.

The parking situation is a bit mixed. There’s street parking in front and nearby (free until 9AM), but if that fails you, the Spring Cameron Garage and Cameron Street Garage are a short walk away and pretty cheap. I was lucky enough to swing into a spot at 8:15AM.

Cafe K is easy enough to spot from the street, and I was greeted by the owner himself – Dan Kugler. This part of downtown Silver Spring is an exceedingly nice area, and you shouldn’t have any safety concerns until it’s very late at night.

The restaurant is very nice in an aesthetic sense. The first thing you see going to it is the large outdoor seating area, which is pleasantly laid out and cozy. Inside, it’s moderately large, with comfortable seating (not too close together), and a large open kitchen area. The layout isn’t revolutionary in any sense, but the use of mirrors in conjunction with the large windows make it seem bigger than it is. I also really appreciated the power outlets and USB chargers in the booth seating, which I think will be fantastic for families.

Cafe K has a sit-down service concept. I’m fine with this, but it’s always dangerous to some degree, because your service matters a lot more with that paradigm. I found the service on opening day to be exceedingly friendly and competent. There was clearly a playbook in hand, and it was being followed.

I was also very impressed with the way that Dan personally greeted everyone who came in off the street, and really tried to engage with the community. Kosher restaurants have an uphill battle sometimes for community acceptance, and watching him give opening day gift bags to a pair of kids who just randomly wandered in – even though their parents didn’t buy anything – was wonderful to see. This kind of engagement is something that all kosher restaurants should strive for.

The menu… well, here’s the menu:

I like it. The fact that it doesn’t fall back hard on pizza, wraps, or simple bagel sandwiches is refreshing. There’s a nice mix of food for everyone on here, including kids. Presumably, we’ll see some evolution over time. I have to admit I was disappointed that there wasn’t a frappuccino option (long-time readers will remember that I am a huge fan of a good frappe).

I ordered the “Smoked Texas” and a chocolate milkshake. Alas, I was told no milkshakes were being served today, so I defaulted back to my old favorite: diet peach Snapple. The Smoked Texas also was not going to have the spinach sauce, which was disappointing, but, again, not a terrible lapse on the first day of the restaurant being open.

My food took about fifteen minutes to come – slightly longer than I would have hoped for (10 minutes), but about in line for a new restaurant. On the positive side, it was absolutely delicious. The Smoked Texas was a great blend of savory, salty, and satisfying, with the egg poached to perfection and the cheese melted just right on top of the salmon. The toast soaked up the egg yolk while still having a nice toast crunch. The side salad had a well-constructed vinaigrette that accented the salad but didn’t hide the taste underneath.

I left just before my parking meter expired, and I left happy and full. The prices aren’t unreasonable, and I really felt like I got my money’s worth with the portion sizes and the quality of the food. I’d encourage you to head out there and support them. For a first day, I had a great experience, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it improves from here.