...when Mr. Gray, the chef and owner of Equinox Restaurant in Washington, down the street from the White House, became engaged to Ellen Kassoff in 1994, her father decided to acquaint him with Jewish culture in a way they could both relate to — through food.
They traveled from Washington to New York, where they ate pastrami, corned beef, gefilte fish and herring at Katz’s, the Second Avenue Deli and the Carnegie Deli.
“They bonded over food,” said Ms. Kassoff, now Mr. Gray’s wife and business partner. “I think chefs have more of an appreciation of Jewish culture than most intermarried couples. Since we live and breathe food all the time, my dad isn’t so mad I didn’t marry a Jewish guy.”
On holidays like Hanukkah, which begins this year on the night of Dec. 11, gentile chefs with Jewish spouses bring epicurean interpretations to simple dishes, but also enjoy culinary traditions they’ve taken to heart.
Even since their divorce, the Austrian chef Wolfgang Puck, a Roman Catholic, continues to hold a charity Seder at his restaurant Spago in Los Angeles with his business partner and ex-wife, Barbara Lazaroff, who is Jewish. “The food is so similar,” Mr. Puck said. “My grandmother made potato pancakes, but they were rösti with cooked potatoes and then fried with onions. We had semolina dumplings like matzo balls.”
For Hanukkah, Mr. Gray, who is Episcopalian, takes his father-in-law’s 24-hour braised brisket and cooks it sous vide for 36 hours. He makes a citrus-infused gravlax, as well as the matzo ball soup of Ms. Kassoff’s Aunt Lill.
“I dice the carrots, celery and onions into a mirepoix,” he said, “rather than keeping them in big chunks.”
At the annual Hanukkah latke party that Tom Colicchio of “Top Chef” and the Craft empire holds with his wife, Lori Silverbush, he makes potato and sweet potato latkes that are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
“I kind of figured out the recipe myself,” said Mr. Colicchio, who is Roman Catholic. “I didn’t have a Jewish grandmother to show me. You take potatoes and onions, a little potato starch, you mash them together and fry them up. It’s fun to do. A lot of kids come by. When we got married, we agreed to support each other.”
For about a dozen relatives and friends, Mr. Colicchio conducts a latke assembly line in his home kitchen and serves the latkes with toppings like sautéed mushrooms, caviar, braised short ribs, smoked salmon, sturgeon and, of course, sour cream and applesauce.
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