The most precious and costly commodity in Manhattan is space. Because of this spacial deficiency, even some of the cities finest restaurants are no more then a glorified nooks. The expense is simply too great for most establishments to maintain, especially in certain neighborhoods or streets that cause the cost of space to borderline on the ridiculously excessive. So when I say to you that the Milk Street Cafe, the new kosher restaurant located at 40 Wall Street, takes up no less then twenty three thousand square feet, it should tell you in no uncertain terms how seriously owner Marc Epstein takes the business of building a successful restaurant. Embodying the “Go big or go home” ethos, The Milk Street Cafe opens up to a spacious front end ornamented tastefully with modern sensibilities. The stone floor is intricately decorated and stretches out into eight thousand square feet of equally well decorated prep stations. These stations offer a vast, almost mind boggling variety of foods, that run the gamut of Cafe style items. Diners can customize pasta, salads, and sandwiches on top of being able to get sushi, bakery, soups, and prepared grill items. What makes The Milk Street Cafe truly unique though is not that they offer so many items, it’s that they offer them in both dairy and meat.

Whereas most restaurants need to restrict their menus to either of the two options, The Milk Street Cafe has found a way to merge the two modalities of kosher restaurantism with an elegant, if not grandiose solution that is their prep kitchens.

Stretching out behind Milk Streets front end, are several kitchens, who’s space equals triple that of the main dining area. These kitchens are separated by corridors, and each kitchen is distinctly marked by it’s different color floor tile, which signifies if it is the dairy, meat or parve kitchen. When working in these kitchens, the culinary staff wear an apron and hat that is specific to each kitchen. The kitchens themselves are glorious monuments to modern day culinary production. Every bell, whistle, and kitchen appliance you could possibly need is neatly squared away at it’s corresponding prep station. This allows The Milk Street Cafe to do far more then act as a breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot, but also as a catering company, capable of servicing large corporate events or meetings.

What I really liked about the Milk Street Cafe, outside of it’s many dining options, it’s innovative structure, it’s willingness to push the envelope and it’s very affable owner, is the food. The food is very good. I ate mostly the meat options as meat is my preference. I highly recommend the Peppercorn rubbed roast beef with red peppers and horseradish sauce, and the Smoked Turkey Salad with sun dried tomatoes.  Both these sandwiches are served on wonderfully fresh bread, that has a nice crunch crust with a soft interior. To me that is paramount for a good sandwich, and so the combination of the excellent flavors of the meat and the texture of the fresh bread make for one of the better sandwiches available in New York. A friend of mine chose to go the milchig route, and had the fettuccine with wild mushrooms in a light cream sauce. He said that he found it to be “very tasty and very filling”. I also recommend trying an offering from the Milk Street Cafe’s rotisserie. In particular their KC BBQ brisket, which is smoky, sweet, and cooked to a melt in your mouth perfection.

As I sat sampling my sandwiches, I realized that The Milk Street Cafe caters to all walks of life. A non-kosher eater could easily walk into the restaurant and never know they were at a kosher establishment. It so flawlessly integrates the different cuisines in such a graceful and well thought out way. that the effect is seamless. Owner Marc Epstein says that he is “Living the dream” in that he has his successful restaurant in Boston that he has now brought to New York as well. But what I don’t think he realizes is that he is actualizing the dream of a number of kosher consumers as well, by providing a kosher environment that feels like dining in a high end cafe that just so happens to be kosher. It’s just one more large step towards the main-streaming of kosher food. Personally, I can’t wait to go back and continue to work my way through their extensive menu

Milk Street Cafe
40 Wall Street
New York, NY 10005