A new kosher cafe is coming to Silver Spring — Cafe K on Spring Street will open its doors to customers in early June, offering fresh bagels, kosher eats and gourmet coffee.
The business will take the place of the former David’s Cafe location inside an office building.
Cafe K is a family business, with owner Dan Kugler working to open the eatery for his son-in-law, Shai Kornblau, who Kugler said has always wanted to have his own cafe.
“This has been a dream of his for many years, and we’re now making it into a reality,” Kugler said.
Kugler aims to serve food using only the “highest-quality kosher ingredients,” certified kosher by the Vaad Harabanim of Greater Washington. The cafe has a chef flying in from Israel — Nachum is “one of the top chefs in Israel,” Kugler said.
Customers can expect to choose from a kosher dairy menu of fresh bagels, omelets, paninis, salads, fish and more. Upon its opening in June, the cafe will offer breakfast and lunch menu items, then expand to include dinner options about four to six weeks after opening, Kugler said.
Cafe K will serve gourmet coffee through its partnership with Silver Spring’s Nagadi Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster just down the street from the cafe.
“They find the best coffee from all around the world,” Cafe K’s project manager said. “They have a huge following. I went on a Saturday morning to test out all the flavors; it’s delicious. All of them are top-notch.”
It was important for Kugler to collaborate with a fellow small business in the area.
The “high-end coffee” and “real food” will set the cafe apart from similar local eateries — most cafes offer only drinks and small bites rather than full meals, according to the project manager.
Soft-serve ice cream will appeal to young customers, Kugler said — “We want it to be kid-friendly” — and alcoholic beverages will entice adults.
Kugler is also looking to obtain a wine license to add to the cafe’s ambience, which he said is “unbelievable.” Every detail, from the interior design to the tables, silverware and dishes, is intentional: “We spent weeks on just the wallpaper.”
He sourced Cafe K’s “magnificent” designer tables from a refinished restaurant up in the Hamptons.
“Our goal is to be one of the finest quality cafes in the area,” Kugler said.
At the moment, the Cafe K team is working on obtaining permits and is in the last stages of finalizing its menu, which will be available online. The team consists of five staff members, including a chef and two baristas. Kugler said Cafe K will soon begin a search for two new hires: a chef’s assistant and a server.
Kugler is notably new to the food service industry, having owned and worked in a local window treatment and design store for the past four decades. But the business owner said running Cafe K is hardly different than the work he’s used to.
“I like to be able to make my customers happy and give them the things that they want,” Kugler said.
A Washington, D.C.-area resident of 60 years who keeps kosher himself, Kugler has found that it’s difficult to find kosher dining, especially in Silver Spring.
“There are very few options we have right now,” he said. “There are very few dinner [kosher] dairy options right now where you can sit down [and eat]. There’s a kosher pastry place, but I’m not sure it’s open at night.”
The Kosher Pastry Oven, a bakery, cafe and restaurant in Silver Spring, is open for dine-in from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Its dinner is carryout only, according to its website.
But Kugler hopes that Cafe K becomes “the place to be” for more than solely kosher clientele.
“When you walk into this restaurant, whether you’re kosher or not kosher, this is where you say, ‘This is where I want to be,’ where everybody knows your name,” he said. “We want this to be their restaurant.”
