UAE’s first kosher restaurant opens in world’s tallest building — on the ground floor

The UAE’s first kosher restaurant is on the ground floor of the Burj Khalif. Image by Getty Images

By David Ian Klein September 24, 2020

Armani/Kaf, a 40-seat kosher meat restaurant, will open this month in the Burj Khalifa under the supervision of Rabbi Levi Duchman, who lives in Dubai.

The restaurant will be on the ground floor of the world’s tallest building where the Armani hotel has other dining options, and will also offer room service in the Armani hotel and delivery throughout Dubai.

The announcement of the new kosher restaurant came shortly after a directive from the United Arab Emirates’ tourism board urged Emirati hotels to begin offering kosher options in response to the opening of diplomatic relations with Israel.

Image by Rabbi Mendy Chitrik

Earlier this week, Duchman and his brother Mendel organized the kosher slaughter of 2,500 chickens to keep Armani/Kaf and the rest of the Emirate’s Jewish community stocked.

Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, a Turkey-based Chabad rabbi who oversees kosher operations there, supervised the slaughter. Chitrik is also the founder and president of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, which connects rabbis who live in Muslim-majority countries. So far the group has members in Albania, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Turkey, the UAE, Tunisia, Kyrgyzstan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Nigeria and North Cyprus.

Inspecting the Kosher Shchita in the UAE in preparation of the High Holidays, Rabbi Levi Duchman – Rabbi of the Jewish community of the UAE, Rabbi Mendel Duchman and Rabbi Mendy Chitrik President of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States (ARIS)@mchitrik pic.twitter.com/hK83JWIfA1

— ARIS (@RabbisAlliance) September 22, 2020

“The best example of tolerance and peace we can offer is active Jewish life in Islamic countries,” Chitrik said. “Jews have been living in Islamic countries for thousands of years.”

David Ian Klein covers breaking news and international Jewish communities for the Forward. You can reach him at [email protected] and on Twitter @davidianklein.

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