Angela Sipes
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It’s a supermarket, a restaurant, a pharmacy, a pizzeria, a bakery and a Jewish store: KC Market in Boynton Beach is becoming a one-stop shop for a community in desperate need of kosher food and Jewish products.
With 28,000 square feet of retail space, it is one of the largest kosher markets in Florida. The owners took over a former Publix at Military Trail and Woolbright Road and opened it late last month, stocking the store with kosher wines, meats, cheeses and snacks, as well as dips, salads and soups made fresh daily in their kitchen Dania Beach commercial. .
KC, which stands for “Kosher Central,” also has an 11,000-square-foot market in Hollywood and plans to open a third location in the coming months in Hallandale Beach, said Ian Kass, manager of the Boynton Beach store.
“We’re imitating the Hollywood store, but this store is much bigger,” Kass said. He pointed out the selection of hundreds of kosher wines, stacked six levels high, and 15 freezers full of kosher ice cream (the Hollywood store has six).
Courtesy of KC Market
A look at the fish counter at KC Market, a kosher grocery store with 28,000 square feet of retail space formerly occupied by a Publix in Boynton Beach. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The Jewish community in Boynton Beach and surrounding areas has been growing rapidly and lacked a kosher market. Residents had to travel to stores in Delray Beach and Boca Raton to purchase the nearest fully kosher and kosher-style foods. Central Palm Beach County residents can also shop at large chains such as Publix and Winn-Dixie, which have small kosher sections but do not have kosher butchers on site, said Rabbi Levi Feigelstock, executive director of the Orthodox Rabbinical Board of Broward and Palm Beach Countieswhich certifies restaurants and markets that comply with Jewish kosher laws and has certified KC Market.
Kosher laws come from the biblical books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy and were expanded upon in later rabbinic teachings. Only certain animals can be eaten, such as cows, sheep, and chickens, and there are detailed rules about how they can be killed. Fruits and vegetables should be free of insects; Meat and dairy cannot be eaten together and your utensils must also be separate.
Not all Jewish residents who move to the Boynton Beach area comply with these kosher laws; observant are only a small percentage, less than 2%, according to a 2018 survey by the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County. Still, that survey showed enormous Jewish growth in Greater Boynton: a 32% increase, to 90,000 Jewish families, in the previous 10 years, said Michael Hoffman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation.
“The population has increased even more since then, since COVID and a lot of migration during that time,” Hoffman said. “We’re in the middle of updating that data.”
Whether religious or not, customers who visited the store on a recent day said they enjoyed shopping KC’s variety of products rarely seen in traditional South Florida supermarkets, such as schmaltz, which is rendered poultry fat. used in Eastern European cuisine, and gluten-free bourekas, a Sephardic Jewish pastry filled with meat, cheese, or vegetables.
Customer David Mermelstein of Boynton Beach said he has visited the store several times a week since it opened. Recently, he was stocking up on pastas and salads for an upcoming gathering at his synagogue.
“The Jewish community here is growing by leaps and bounds,” he said. “A store like this will attract more young people to Boynton Beach.”
Kass said he and his 50 employees are learning the culinary needs of Boynton Beach’s Jewish community, which he said prefers Eastern European comfort foods such as chopped liver, brisket and knishes. He said KC’s clientele in Hollywood is largely Israeli with Middle Eastern roots and prefers lighter fare, with staples like lamb, chickpeas, lentils and nuts.
Customer Barbara Malkin of Boynton Beach said she’s glad her nearby KC has many Eastern European specialties. She and her husband, Sam, looked at the offerings of chopped liver and remembered how their families made the traditional, rich, cholesterol-inducing schmear.
“I don’t like Israeli food, so I love it,” he said. She filled her cart with minestrone soup, eggplant in tomato sauce, stuffed cabbage, vegetarian chopped liver, and meatballs.
The store is also stocking up for Passover, when observant Jews abstain from bread products and eat specially marked foods. A large sign advertised Coca-Cola and Diet Coke with yellow caps signifying they can be drunk during the holidays.
Two on-site restaurants are yet to come, one serving meat dishes and the other dairy dishes, as observant Jews keep these foods separate. Also along the way there is an on-site pharmacy and an outpost of Cohen’s Judaicawho has a store in Boca Raton.
Kass said she was happy to see a variety of people shopping at the store, including Jews who don’t keep kosher but want to check out new products. Orthodox Jews like Kass consider eating kosher food to be a mitzvah, or commandment of God, and believe that sharing their kosher lifestyle is also a good deed.
“We’re bringing kosher food to people who don’t normally eat kosher food,” he said. “This is one of the greatest mitzvahs.”
KC Market is at 3775 Woolbright Road, Boynton Beach. Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays. Visit Facebook.com/KCMarketFL or call 561-396-9711.
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