Jacobs Catering

In certain areas of Toronto, when someone asks which company is catering a simcha, people don’t reply with the name of a company, but rather, the name of a person, “Kalman.” “Kalman” of course is Kalman Lowenthal, the owner of Jacobs Catering, the exclusive caterer at the BAYT, Shomrei Shabbos, Toras Emes (Viewmount) and the Embassy Grand. But it wasn’t always Kalman who ran the show; Jacobs Catering was started by his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jacobs.

In 1958 Mrs. Jacobs saw a need for catering simchas in the city and so she started working out of the kitchen at Congregation Toras Emes (Viewmount). After a number of years she realized that she needed some assistance, so she brought her son-in-law, Kalman, into the business in 1978. Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Jacobs became ill and after her passing Kalman took over the company.

Kalman learned early in his career that when planning and executing events, you have to be ready to adapt to whatever comes up. One incident that sticks out in his mind was a simcha that was scheduled for the first day of Sukkot. There was some confusion with the date and Kalman had understood it to be for the second day of Sukkot. When the baal simcha asked Kalman where his staff was on that first day of Sukkot, he didn’t panic. He did whatever he had to do to pull his staff and the food together, and the simcha was a success. When asked how he was able to pull things off in those early years, Kalman gives all the credit to his mother-in-law who he says was an excellent teacher. To this day he is still guided by Mrs. Jacobs’ high standards and continues to look for ways to bring his business to new heights.

Over the years, Kalman has seen his catering business grow significantly. He can accommodate over 1000 people at the Embassy Grand and runs events at a number of shuls and venues across the city. He notes that over the years he has seen changes in the preferences of kosher consumers. People today have access to a lot of information and are familiar with what is happening in different cities, so they are looking for new food ideas to enhance their simchas. Kalman also invests significant resources into new plates, platters and cutlery, ensuring that he continues to raise the bar not only with the food but with his presentation as well.

After working with and inheriting the business from his mother-in-law, Kalman is happy to welcome the next generation to the business with the addition of his son, Ari. As Kalman puts it, “I am pleased to know that my son will continue the legacy.”

In 1949, Harry Maierovits together with his family moved from Romania to Canada. Owning a bakery in Romania, Harry found a job at a non-kosher bakery. The owner of the bakery paid him very little as Harry wouldn’t work on Shabbos But Harry gained the trust of the owner, who decided that he wanted to sell the bakery to Harry. Unfortunately, Harry had no money. But after working a few odd jobs and with the help of Shia Wortzman, who co-signed for him, he was able to secure a loan from the bank. So in 1953 he purchased the bakery on Bloor Street and changed its name to Carmel Bakery.

After some initial success, Harry and his partner bought a nearby production facility; the old Dempster’s building on Palmerson and Bloor. Eventually the partnership dissipated, and the partner got the Bloor bakery and Harry kept the production facility and changed its name to Hermes, which was a derivation of the name of his bakery in Romania.

In 1955, Harry opened a bake shop on St. Clair Avenue. Thanks to continued success, a few years later he added another bakery at Sheppard and Bathurst. In 1958, he opened a location at Bathurst and Glengrove, and purchased the property in 1968.

At one time, there were six Hermes Bakery locations: St Claire, Glengrove, Sheppard and Bathurst, Vaughan Street, Yonge Street, and Bathurst and Baycrest. But after a time, business realities changed and Harry decided to consolidate his operations under one roof at the Bathurst and Glengrove location where Hermes is today.

Hermes Bakery

When the story of the history of Toronto kosher establishments is told, Hermes Bakery is a main player in that story. In fact, Hermes Bakery is the longest running COR certified establishment in the city.

When Harry opened his first bakery in 1953, COR was not yet fully up and running, so Harry retained Rabbi M. Gruenwald to provide kosher supervision. But the Maierovits family lived on the same street as Rav Gedaliah Felder ZTz"L and they developed a close relationship. Harry felt that the community would benefit from being united under one hashgacha so he obtained COR certification. Hermes Bakery was one of the first food service establishments to obtain COR supervision, and the rest, as they say, is history. g