Editor’s Note: Editor Donald H. Harrison and his grandson Shor recently completed a 2,000 mile journey through California and Nevada, collecting and photographing Jewish stories along the way. This article is the first in a series generated during that trip.
Story by Donald H. Harrison; photo by Shor M. Masori
FRESNO, California – There are two dates that restaurateur Andy Karsh knows he will be cooking for many of his fellow Jews: Sukkot and Christmas.
Karsh is the co-owner and chef of the Zen Wok Asian Fusion Restaurant in Fresno, which serves Chinese food along with dishes from such other Asian countries as Japan, Korea, and Thailand.
His Reform congregation, Temple Beth Israel, schedules a Chinese food in the Sukkah night each year on the temple grounds. On Christmas, fellow congregants troop to his restaurant for Chinese food, a tradition among many Jews who like to combine eating out with a movie night on Christmas.
One year, Erev Shabbat fell on Christmas and the rabbi arranged for dinner at the restaurant to be combined with a short Kabbalat Shabbat service.
Karsh says people shouldn’t be surprised in this cross-cultural world that a Jew owns and cooks at an Asian restaurant. After all, he said, one of Fresno’s best-known bagel shops is owned and operated by a couple from Thailand. They purchased it from their mentor, the Jewish former owner.
Speaking of cross culturalism, Karsh has operated a variety of eateries over a career that had been influenced by his parents who owned a bakery that was renowned for its rye bread. At various times he operated a pizzeria, a sub sandwich outlet, and a barbecue place.
Karsh says he has loved to cook any type of cuisine since his childhood. When he was two years old, he recalled, his father let him crack an egg by himself. When he was about nine, he expressed dissatisfaction to his mother about what was planned for dinner, and she promptly told him if he didn’t like it, he should make dinner himself. He took up the challenge. He decided to make barbecue, even creating his own sauce. Friends and neighbors would ask for it, he said.
At age 18, Karsh said he catered his first event on his own. Two Jewish pathologists, who operated the county morgue, wanted a Thanksgiving Day luncheon for their employees. Years later, after leaving a position at a local restaurant, he was invited by a friend to cater a bat mitzvah reception at the temple, which drew him into the catering business.
That led eventually to Karsh signing an agreement with the temple to use its kitchen in return for a share of his revenues. After five years, he moved to an outside restaurant property, which also served as a base for his catering business and now is the site of the Zen Wok Asian Fusion Restaurant.
Zen Wok Fusion Restaurant is open for dinner Wednesday through Sundays.
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Harrison is editor and Masori is a staff photographer for San Diego Jewish World. They may be reached via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com and shor.masori@sdjewishworld.com .