ABOUT US

Not Just Rugelach was originally founded in 1995 by a graduate of the prestigious Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris. After graduating in 1983, the student was hired to be the chef at the United States Embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he once cooked for President George Bush, among other heads of state and dignitaries.

Although working at an embassy brought great stature that was envied by all, he ultimately returned to New Jersey, where he served as a chef at several restaurants, taught cooking classes, and cooked for various retail gourmet shops.

While cooking for Fifth Avenue Epicure, he was asked to come up with a special rugelach recipe. Rugelach reminded him of a delicacy his Slovenian grandmother used to make, so he worked up a recipe based on one of hers. It was a phenomenal success and the official start of our begining. We decided to go off on our own to see if we could make a living selling "Just Rugelach."

From humble beginnings we rented kitchen space from a caterer who did not use his kitchen at night. From 6 P.M. until morning, We created and baked the rugelach ourselves, all by hand. We reached the point where we could produce about 200 pounds of rugelach in a ten-hour shift, slept for a few hours, baked the pastry, packed it, and sold the product to many of New York's finest restaurants.

We began selling at Green Market tucking our small stand into several locations. Although we also had a thriving wholesale and mail-order business, we especially liked the one-on-one relationships with Green Market customers. We always wondered what Anne Willan, directress of La Varenne, would think if she knew one of her former students was selling what has become Manhattan's finest pastries while building a premier baking establishment in the greater New York metro area.