In recent years, Bestor Plaza has played host to an annual food festival in Week Nine. While the festival went on pause this year, the food certainly didn’t.
All summer long, three food trucks and tents have been fixtures along Pratt, keeping Chautauquans filled with good food and good energy over the course of the nine-week season.
Tabouli Street-Eatz, Yakisoba’s, and Chabad’s Kosher Food Tent have been dietary staples of anyone craving variety and convenience, on top of the several other food and beverage options on the grounds. All are family-owned businesses, and all bring something a little different to Chautauqua’s table.
Tabouli Street-Eatz co-owner Abdelrazzaq Haswah stands in front of his food truck Wednesday on Bestor Plaza.
Tabouli Street-Eatz
The owners of Warren, Pennsylvania-based Tabouli Street Eatz, Samantha Free and her husband Abdelrazzaq Haswah, first met in a heavy metal online chat room. The chance meeting, years later, has led to a traveling family enterprise.
They started their restaurant careers in Florida, but quickly became homesick for the New York area, Free said. At first, the couple ran their own diner, switched locations a couple of times, and finally found a location they loved. But, they ultimately decided to go with a food truck since “with a brick and mortar, you need more staff, more inventory, and more prep work,” Free said.
Free and Haswah appreciate Chautauqua’s safe nature; their children, Salma and Adam, build skills by assisting with the truck — running the window, stocking silverware and napkins — and Adam even wants to open his very own food truck one day. When they’re not lending a hand, they create their own fun at the beach or in the library. Next year, Free said she’s signing them up for Chautauqua’s youth programs.
“They just seem really happy here,” Free said.
Tabouli Street Eatz offers an array of Middle Eastern fare, from shawarma to baba ganoush, for Chautauquans making their way from one program to the next — Free and her family among them.
“We get to go to a lot of really fun events. This year specifically, we got to do a lot up here in Chautauqua Institution — great concerts and seminars,” Free said. “The people here seem to really appreciate different food than burgers and Buffalo chicken salads; they want to taste something different.”
Esther Vilenkin and her family, hosts of the Zigdon Chabad Jewish House at Chautauqua, serve patrons at the Kosher Food Tent Wednesday.
Kosher Food Tent
Esther Vilenkin and her family, hosts of the Zigdon Chabad Jewish House at Chautauqua, run the Kosher Food Tent; she said they often hear from customers how much they love the tent’s menu — bagels with lox, blintzes, knishes, and more. Vilenkin described the food as nostalgic, and the twice-a-summer Community Kosher BBQs in Miller Park bring in large crowds for everything from carnival games to Klezmer music. The Vilenkins started pop-up tents on the plaza a few years ago, and this summer they’ve been set up on Pratt nearly every weekday. The tent features foods that abide by the Jewish dietary restrictions of Kashrut; over the course of the family’s 24 seasons on the grounds, they’ve become a trusted source for Chautauquans keeping kosher. On top of the Kosher Food Tent and daily programming at the ZCJH, Vilenkin also hosts a Challah bake every Friday for anyone who wants to learn about the symbolic importance of the Jewish staple.
Building up the Kosher Food Tent over the years and making even more connections in the community has led many customers to attending programs at ZCJH as a result, she said.
Dave and Rong Yager and their daughters Eliza, Emily and Ella stand in front of their Yakisoba’s Noodles & Teriyaki food truck.
Yakisoba’s Noodles and Teriyaki
Like the Vilenkins, Dave and Rong Yager, proprietors of Yakisoba’s Noodles and Teriyaki, have also found community connections to be a huge, invaluable aspect of Chautauqua. Now in their 10th year serving food on the grounds, the Yagers love what they do, and their three kids — Eliza, Emily and Ella — see this place as something of a wonderland, Rong said.
“My husband and I have enjoyed so many new friends coming back to talk with us each year,” she said. “This is the place where we are not only doing business but also educating ourselves, learning new things, and chatting with old friends.”
Having owned restaurants before, both Rong and Dave figured out early on that Chautauqua is “the place we want to be.” They aim to be “conscientious to the needs of the people” and so they try different menu items to see what works.
Always keeping their eye out for new opportunities despite their already demanding schedule, Dave Yager is already thinking about adding menu items next year, like crepes to bolster breakfast food options on the grounds. Fresh-baked cookies come courtesy of Dave; homemade chili crisp from Rong. Between food prep, set up, and business hours, the Yagers are going from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. most days in the summer.
“These are the most intense nine weeks — but it’s worth it,” Dave Yager said.
As their girls grow up here, Rong sees Chautauqua as part of their future, and the future of the family.
“May all of these traditions continue on, knowing and sharing the best values of our lives,” Rong Yager said.
