By Shlomo Kapustin
Tribune Correspondent
Like the mythical phoenix of yore, Tri-Elm Catering of Toronto has risen from the ashes. The company, which lost its kosher certification from the Kashruth Council Of Canada (COR) in November, has been purchased by a group of private investors, and renamed Gan Eden Catering.
The new head honcho for the catering service is Ze’ev Saban, whose official title is event coordinator.
According to Saban, the name change was mandated by COR, which wanted to make a clean break from Tri-Elm’s apparent troubled kashruth history. Legally, it may be the same company. Gan Eden has also taken over the lease of Tri-Elm’s former offices in the Borochov Centre near Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue. However, for the company to regain its kosher supervision and seal of approval, new management was required.
“The COR looked negatively on Tri-Elm,” said Saban in a recent interview. “There had been a number of kashruth issues over the years. It wasn’t just the one recent issue.”
Despite its loss of kosher certification, though, Tri-Elm boasted an 18-year track record in the city, a stellar reputation and an enormous amount of goodwill.
“[Tri-Elm’s] way of doing business was offering decent prices for good-quality food,” said Saban matter-of-factly.
Also, said Saban, “it did phenomenally well.”
Consequently, Saban and his investors purchased the company for more than $200,000. For their efforts and cash, they received a list of 20,000 clients (both corporate and consumer), and a smooth entrée into the catering business.
For Saban, it was also a chance to return to the cherished industry of his younger years. While he was most recently employed in the telecommunications industry, the Winnipeg-born 42-year-old spent a hearty chunk of the ’90s in the catering business, in which he worked at banquet halls in a similar role to his current one. In fact, his close friendship with the former owner of Tri-Elm, Joe Elmaleh, began in the late ’80s in the incestuous world of Toronto kosher food services.
The world of catering is an exciting one for Gan Eden’s owner.
“It’s a great feeling to have people coming to you for a wedding,” he said. “With a wonderful chef you can create something amazing. It’s a euphoric feeling.”
Saban has plans aplenty for his new venture.
Gan Eden currently has exclusive contracts at three locations – the Borochov Centre, the Regency Banquet Hall and the Royalton Banquet Hall.
Tri-Elm Catering, though, had previously been the in-house caterer at a number of synagogues over the years, and Gan Eden intends to explore that market in time.
“By the time we got the hashgacha (kosher supervision) back [in February],” said Saban, “it was too late for this year.”
He has other, more novel, plans, as well.
“I want to expand on the corporate side and still focus on the consumer side.”
In addition, while he has no intention of abandoning Tri-Elm’s affordable history, he does have plans to target another market, too.
“We would like to go up a notch…in terms of presentation, taste…to bring class and finesse.”
At the moment, though, he is still scoping out the market.
“I am a very patient man,” he said. “I want to find my niche in the market…then grow the business.… Once momentum picks up and things are moving,” all will be well at Gan Eden.
To this end, he plans to use the business skills that he learned as an undergraduate. “I need a really good chef to take care of the food,” he adds, “so that I can concentrate on the business side.”
And Saban has one final trick that he can always pull from his menu: he was a mashgiach (kashruth supervisor), both in Winnipeg and in Toronto, so he knows how to relate to the rabbis of the Kashruth Council of Canada, which dispenses the COR certification.
“Things are stricter today, with bugs in fruits and vegetables,” he said. “We don’t use broccoli, asparagus or cauliflower” for that reason. While one can purchase vegetables that have been checked, he explains, this would add thousands of dollars to an event planned for hundreds of people.
“I may have a different philosophy [from the COR] on some things,” he added, “but I will follow the COR to the letter of the law. That’s my bread and butter.”
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