A Thoroughly Modern Mensch

This New York food pro rediscovered his culinary roots. Now, millions of followers can't get enough of his interpretations of traditional Jewish dishes, including his fresh take on the Passover Seder plate.

- By Shelley Levitt. Photography by Matt Taylor-Gross

Long before his videos on how to braid challah bread made him an Instagram and TikTok star, Jake Cohen loved his Aunt Susie's tomato-braised brisket and his mother's matzo ball soup. But in the Cohen household, such traditional Jewish fare was reserved for High Holy Days like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when everyone would gather at the family's Queens, New York, apartment.

“Growing up, I didn't have a strong connection with my Jewish identity,” Jake says. In high school he became, he says, “obsessed with the Food Network and the concept of hospitality.” He started throwing dinner parties for friends, serving easy-to-prepare dishes like ratatouille and chocolate tarts made with a graham cracker crust. “Nothing was that great,” Jake admits. “But it wasn't really about the food. Food was the vessel for the community.”

Jake went on to study at the Culinary Institute of America, and he worked as a line cook at high-end Manhattan restaurants and then as a food editor and test kitchen director. Now, with millions of followers on social media and the publication of his first cookbook, Jew-ish: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch (a The New York Times bestseller), Jake is eager to share his rediscovered passion for Jewish culture and cuisine.

That passion was sparked when Jake met and married his husband, Alex. “When you're a young professional in New York City, it can be surprisingly lonely,” he says. “We discovered that hosting Shabbat dinners was a natural way to bring people together and to flex all of our interests within this overarching umbrella of celebrating Judaism.”