Founder of Kosher Foodies LLC Rachel Lisbon was born and raised in the heart of Brooklyn, NY the capital of strictly kosher foods and restaurants. At 11 years old she was shopping alone for her parents always buying things from the list that was given to her and using the left-over money for the things she liked. Thursday nights was take out from Negev on Avenue J and Sunday night supper was at various restaurants in Bklyn and the city. This is when her appreciation, passion and love of food and cooking began. It continued to grow when she got married and lived in Silver Spring, MD, Israel and Surfside, FL. When an opportunity arose for Rachel and her family to move to Tampa, she did not realize or anticipate the reality and the shock of the limited strictly kosher choices there were. What Rachel also discovered was that there was not a one shop stop for everything strictly kosher. Not only no place for take-outs but no restaurants to eat at as well. When people would want to visit her cardinal rule was "if you come you have to bring food" (which still true). Her travels to Surfside and Brooklyn would always include two extra duffle bags to bring back not only prepared foods but simple items like spices, certain salad dressings and etc. over time with more strictly kosher eating families moving in and the help of the community leaders and the Jewish community the options have grown, but it's still not where it should be. She also realized that many people did not even know what Kosher was. When an influx of Orthodox (religious) Jewish families moving here, Rachel did not want them to go through what she went through. She would give some of the new family’s tips of what kosher items to bring with them when they move and advice on which places, they need to go to get certain kosher foods. In the Summer of 2022, Rachel came up with the idea of starting up a social media platforms to post all the strictly kosher foods she finds that some people may overlook as well as updates of food trucks that are planning to come to Tampa, events that includes food, establishments that are opening up and places that have a strict kosher certification. Now that she has a platform and with a following that keeps growing, Rachel has been busy answering people's questions and responding with advice. She also asks her followers what they want, what are they looking for in the supermarkets, types, or restaurants. Rachel reads and takes notes and does what she can to meet the needs of the community. She recently began consulting with some non-kosher places on the benefits of getting their establishment a strict kosher certification as well as educating them what kosher is. Rachel does get excited about the smallest things, and you can just feel her excitement through her videos and postings. However, to her nothing is better than reading and responding to messages she receives daily. Keep your eyes open because Rachel is not done yet. She has more stuff up her sleeves. Just keep your eyes out and follow her on her social media platforms.
