FAKE HECHSHER AT MONTICELLO RESTAURANT: Phony Certificate At Upstate Eatery Causes Kashrus Crisis

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A treif restaurant in upstate New York has been using a fake hechsher and causing dozens of Jews to eat non kosher food this summer.

The 24-hour Bistro, located in World Resort Casino in Monticello, New York

24-hour Bistro, located at Resort World Casino in Monticello, New York, is a completely treif eatery that has been tricking frum Jews into eating their food by hanging up a fake kashrus certificate. The outdated sign was brought to the restaurant by a conniving worker who got it from New York.

 

 

 

 

 

A photo of the expired hechsher issued to La Cuisine

The expired certificate, issued by Rav Yisroel Gornish shlit”a of Khal Chizuk Hadas in New York in 2017, belonged to the now defunct La Cuisine restaurant, formerly located on the corner of East 19th Street and Avenue M in Brooklyn, NY.

Additionally, a few items on the 24-hour Bistro menu have been marked kosher despite there being no indication that any hashgacha has given their stamp of approval on the kitchen.

There have already been multiple instances of Jews eating at the restaurant due to seeing the fake sign without giving it a closer look.

Rav Gornish is aware of the situation and is working tirelessly to have the management remove the phony hechsher and raise awareness of the matter to stop more Jews from being nichshal.

{Matzav.com}


56 COMMENTS

  1. This is terrible! All stores must have a current, updated, hechsher certificate prominently displayed in order for any Jew to allow himself to patronize the store. If we, the mighty powerful consumer demanded it, it would happen. We carry the dollars that the proprietors need to transfer from our wallets into their registers. If we demanded better tasting food they would deliver. We wouldn’t stand for outdated food why do allow outdated hechsher certificates.

    • Legitimate stores do have this. It’s the illegitimate ones that do not. Caveat Emptor – Buyer Beware. Read the teuda and see if it fits.

    • There was a restaurant in Lubbock, TX with a sign saying “kosher.” I looked into it and made them take the sign down. Seems they were equating kosher and hallal.

    • They have a Giant light up menu. outside.
      They Serve Lobster,clams,bacon,pork,ham.
      This is fake news. What a conspiracy. Are we sure the person didn’t plant it ? What do you think about it?

    • There used to be a New York State Kashrus enforcer but the Governor looking to save the taxpayer money decided to get rid of that position. I guess he feels murdering babies takes precedent.

      • The trashing of the Kashrus Dept was by Patterson. He silently declared was on the Jewish community, and he brazenly destroyed many of the programs that benefited the frum community. B”H he was rewarded with bizyonos appropriate for that. But the damage was done.

  2. terrible! I wonder if legal action can be taken against this place. I believe it should be taken so that nothing of that sort would happen again.

  3. Something is missing from this story.
    1) “Additionally, a few items on the 24-hour Bistro menu have been marked kosher. . .” Why would an otherwise kosher establishment need to mark items as kosher on their menu?
    2) “The expired certificate. . . belonged to the now defunct La Cuisine restaurant, formerly located on the corner of East 29th Street and Avenue M in Brooklyn, NY.”
    Expired or not, the name and address of the restaurant clearly appear on the certificate. Neither match the name on the certificate. (More likely what was being claimed was that certain items were coming from the Brooklyn eatery. That would explain the menu.) Hashgachos need to begin pulling certificates, mashgichim, and, publicly, their certification even when the only “kashrus concern” was that fees are not paid. But here the bigger question is why all certificates – as well as kosher tape, labels, stamps, etc. – were not assured pulled when restaurant closed. Also, certificates must begin including hologram stickers, hard laminated, signed, and up-to-date certificates. Perhaps multi-colored printing should be used as well.
    3) Has the mashgiach “expired”? Where was the mashgiach? Did nobody ask? As an aside, an expired certificate, alone, does not a non-kosher establishment make. As long as the mashgiach has not “expired.” Expired certificates often only mean fees are owed.

    • I’m trying to understand your 3rd comment.
      An expired KL often means they did not pay, and therefore there is no Hashgacha… and therefore mashgiach isn’t being paid hence no Mashgiach so no yid should be eating there.

      • Sorry if I was unclear. Often, even if an establishment is behind in their payments to the certifying agency, the hashgachah continues to instruct the mashgiach to stay and to perform his duties. And even though the mashgiach is paid by the establishment, the kashrus standards are presumed to be those of the “certifying” agency. Thus, as long as the mashgiach has not expired, there is reason to assume the same level of kashrus is being provided now as before the certificate expired.

  4. It is every one’s personal responsibility to check and verify the hechsher on any establishment claiming kashruth certification, and certainly to check the kashruth certificate hanging in the window;at the very least check the establishment name on certificate and expiration date. These are the A.B.Cs of responsible kashruth observers.

    • Absolutely. 90% of these instances could be avoided if people just took a minute to look. The problem is that people are lazy and don’t always care so much to begin with. Schools should focus more on instilling true belief rather than rote performance.

  5. Wouldn’t the menu have given it away? Or is it a “kosher style”and qrestaurant where everything appears to be kosher. other than the certificate hanging, was there any indication or representation at the restaurant was kosher?

  6. “Askanim are working to have the management remove the phony hechsher as soon as possible and are raising awareness of the matter to stop more Jews from being nichshal”.
    Maybe the “ASKONIM” should work harder to keep the people away from such places.

    • Actually they have not filed for bankruptcy. They are just considering it. However, the casino is almost certainly not going to close. They are going to be purchased by another entity.

  7. I agree wholeheartedly.
    Hey, but it’s the summer. We’re in the country. If we can relax so can our hashkafas.
    Yeah, right.
    There’s a good reason why the Teshuva season follows the summer vacation season.

  8. The state still has a kosher inspector. Rabbi Aaron Metzger was although on his own was doing a pretty good job with the limited authority he had. This would be something he can assist with. What Rabbi Metzger cannot help is preventing Yidden from going to a casino in the first place!

    • No. We must demonstrate in front of the casino’s main entrance on their busiest day. Cause the casino to close. We dont take fake kasrus lightly. Also someone should just RIP down the sign. We are no longer a nation of sheep.

  9. A quick google search reveals this. Clearly treife. Nothing missing from the story.
    24/7 Bistro puts a creative twist on comfort food classics – from breakfast favorites like fluffy buttermilk pancakes and brioche French toast to stick-to-your-ribs specialties like Philly *cheesesteaks* and flame-grilled ribeyes. It’s the spot to kick off the day, take a midday breather or indulge your late-night cravings, with a cocktail on the side. This contemporary American restaurant is for those who take good food and drink seriously, around-the-clock. After all, like a big jackpot, hunger can strike at any moment.
    https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/24-7-bistro-monticello?select=YnLuYKGgbH3fNqaU7aNksg

  10. IMO, hashgocha certificates should all have a scannable barcode. A quick scan with your smartphone could then instantly show which establishment the hashgocha was issued for, which dates it’s valid for, and if it has been revoked or suspended. Products in stores should also be scannable by barcode (which they already have) and hashgocha to weed out errors and fraud.

  11. NYS no longer enforces kashrus law as the reform sued saying that it was the state imposing others “standards” on them like they have any, when they marry Goyim.

  12. Dear customers ,you should know better than trust a Papare on the window.
    We hear such stories so often . You want to eat Kosher ? always ask to speak with the Mashgiach on permises if there is no one that understands what you are sayin or no one can take your call to answer your question of Kashrus like who’s meat do u carry etc… than this is your TIP you are about to eat Treif!

  13. 1) Hashgachah Temidis is all food services.
    2) Mashgichim paid a decent wage and by the hashgachah not the restaurant.
    3) Mashgichim responsible ONLY for kashrus related issues (accepting and approving incoming deliveries, ability to check all invoices, bishul Yisroel, overseeing/monitoring all outgoing deliveries, in charge of all bedikas tola’im). He is not to wait on tables, take reservations, peel potatoes, etc.

    • Or work the cash register.
      Exactly.
      The problem is most mashgichim are paid by the establishment, NOT the Kashrus agency! I know this first hand because I was a Mashgiach in a particular restaurant in Manhattan and I met many other mashgichim who told me the same thing.
      The owners of the establishment look/view the Mashgiach as a total waste of money. “What’s he doing anyway?” Just standing around? Do something. Go serve costumers. Go answer the phone. Go help Pedro in the kitchen. Stir the soup. Call the credit card company and find out why this charge didn’t go thru. Call the distributor and order 10 cases of soda. Etc, etc….. In other words, the establishment owns you and you become their personal shamesh (shmata). Hey, if you don’t do what WE tell you to do, we won’t pay you your weekly salary. What’s the Mashgiach supposed to do? Go on unemployment? So he puts his head down and does whatever his “boss” commands him to do. The Kashrus agencies couldn’t care less. It’s a business. As long as the establishment’s checks to US are clearing, that’s all thats important. If you can’t handle the job, we’ll get a bachur to do it for half your salary.
      So the cycle continues………..until the next scandal.

  14. As a kashrus professional for over 30 years I will state that it is absolutely IMPERATIVE, before sitting down and eating in an establishment, no matter what type of establishment, restaurant, ice cream store, etc., that you verify the t’euda hanging to make sure it CLEARLY CLEARLY CLEARLY states the correct name and address of the location you are at. If it does not for any reason, if it is not EXACTLY the same, the odds are very high that it is not legit in one way or another.

    If you choose to eat there anyway, you are playing Russian roulette with your Neshoma!

  15. It is serving cheeseburgers, lobster and bacon. There are items (meat) marked as kosher on the menu: are they coming properly sealed and with disposable dishes / cutlery? if so, then we inquire about the establishment listed on the kashrut certificate, else, it is quite obvious they can not possibly be kosher, regardless of the certificate. Maybe one can order fresh fruit in there (sides / 5$).

      • Not at all true. The kashrus of an establishment owned by non-Jews – under a reliable hashgachah – shares the same chezkas kashrus as one owned by Jews. In fact, there is reason to say, based on my personal experience and the advice I was given by a widely respected posek, that a food service owned by a non-Jew is less likely to have many of the common kashrus issues that Jewish owned restaurants have. That is because the non-Jew has only one yetzer ha’ra and that is to make money. If buying only cholov Yisroel or yoshon is required by the hashgachah and that will bring in customers, that is what he will do. The Jewish owner knows there’s another shitah, it’s all political, this other brand is just as kosher, a pilot light is fine for bishul Yisroel, pas Yisroel is only a chumra, etc.

  16. McDonald’s had to pay $700,000 in 2011 for falsely seeking of halal meat. A few states, including California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, and Virginia, have passed laws penalizing businesses for false advertising of halal products.
    Why can’t there be lawsuits and laws about kashrus, l’havdil? The problem is, at someone mentioned, the conservative movement.

  17. What a Joke. Fake conspiracy. What happend to you lost $$$ on the slot machine OR. Poker table. What in the world are you doing gambling in a Casino a shonda.
    Can’t you Read a lot up menu on the wall outsider the server: Lobster, Bacon, Shame on you and the knitwits who believe you.

  18. They have a Giant light up menu. outside.
    They Serve Lobster,clams,bacon,pork,ham.
    This is fake news. What a conspiracy. Are we sure the person didn’t plant it ? What do you think about it?

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