Special to the Ledger

At Brooklyn’s Pomegranate Market: (l to r) Crown investor Ann Pava, Rabbi Brahm Weinberg of the Young Israel of West Hartford, Pomegranate’s general manager Avi Gants, Crown general manager Roger Keroack, Crown investor Alan Lazowski, Crown butcher Tommy DeForge, Crown produce manager Mark Selzer, Crown investor Henry Zachs and Rabbi Yosef Wolvovsky of the Benet Rothstein Jewish Center in Glastonbury.

They hit the road at 7 a.m. Monday morning.  New investors and managers of West Hartford’s Crown Market and rabbis representing the Hartford Kashrut Commission, and Crown managers took a field trip to three of the finest and most successful kosher markets in the tri-state area to see how they do what they do so well.

First stop was Aaron’s Kissene Farms in Queens, N.Y., then off to Brooklyn for a stop at the famous Pomegranate Gourmet Market and Gourmet Glatt, and putting the finishing touches on the day in Teaneck, N.J. at Cedar Lane, Glatt Express and Grant and Essex Kosher Market.

“The day was a delicious learning experience,” said Ann Pava, a Crown investor and organizer of the trip. “At each stop, not only did we sample the food, but the management took the time to meet with us, give us tours of the front of the stores, and showed us their kitchens, butcher rooms, warehouses, coolers, etc. They shared with us their success stories and also tips on what has not worked for them and why. We also expanded our knowledge of distributors, vendors, gourmet kosher items, machinery, architecture, store design, kashruth, you name it, we learned about it. “One of the markets had a nice little cafe attached and all the stores had a sushi concession.”

“The real purpose of the trip was to begin the dreaming process of what the Crown could be and to get ideas as to how to make that happen,” Pava continued.  “What became clear to me is how wonderful the Crown already is.  I didn’t see a single bakery that was nicer – or a deli counter that looked more delicious, or a staff that was nicer and more attentive than the one we have at the Crown.”

“We have all the ingredients to turn the store around and make it spectacular,” she added. “We just need the community to support this dream of having a top class kosher market and I think we have that too!”