As a part-time chazan and amateur opera singer, Moshe Tatz is a man of many talents. The South African-born Londoner is also a keen foodie and experimental home chef, renowned for his great barbecues and extravagant meat feasts.
Despite having lived in London since he was 11 years old, the father of four remained connected to his culinary roots. He’d perfected his braai (barbecue) techniques, but still missed biltong (dried meat).
He was not alone. In 2015, when Tatz was working for an insurance advisory firm he met fellow foodie, Marc Cohen. The pair connected over their South African roots. Instead of talking tax and business insurance, their real meeting of minds was over food, and in particular, biltong — which you could not find kosher in the UK. So they decided to make their own.
“We bought a tiny home-made biltong machine for £30, it was absolutely awful and stunk the house out,” recalls Tatz, explaining that they improved quickly, and started making biltong for family and friends before launching their company, The Biltong Factory, just a few months later.
The duo bought a shed to house the purchase of a bigger, more professional machine, but miscalculated the space needed and instead had to sublet a commercial kitchen. From there, they started producing sizeable quantities, attracting new customers, while building their brand.
“Our dream was to make it commercially, as there was definitely a market, but we were unsure whether to go for it,” explains Tatz.
They were cautious about giving up their insurance jobs, as both had families to support. After juggling their jobs with the biltong-making for a number of years, the pair agreed earlier this year, that Tatz would move full-time into the business.
Inspired by flat-packed coffee that could be sent via Royal Mail and posted through the letterbox, they developed packaging that would allow them to do the same for their fresh biltong and keep it in perfect condition.
Over the years, the range has grown and is now sold via Ocado, and many kosher shops as well as through their website. Varieties now include original, sweet chilli, peri peri, bbq, sweet pepper, as well as droewors — dried South African sausage. They have added a small range of fresh meats and meat lovers can now set up weekly subscriptions specifying their preferred cut, thickness and moisture level.
“The ultimate compliment was when a South African biltong lover, living in the UK, ordered a huge supply to take back home,” says Tatz.
The pandemic has been kind to their business, and biltong sales have doubled since March. There have also been other interesting opportunities. Earlier this year the pair launched a takeaway grill menu — ordered via Deliveroo or their own website — which has included slow-cooked sweet and spicy bbq beef ribs, pulled bbq beef baguette, and their boerewors (another type of sausage) roll.
Between the two lockdown periods came an unexpected opportunity, when a unit became available on a short-term basis next to their Hampstead Garden Suburb premises. Tatz’s childhood dream was to run a kosher restaurant but he had been dissuaded because of the challenges of making it profitable, so opening a pop-up restaurant in that temporary space seemed a low-risk option.
He contacted friend Dani Smolowitz of The Whisky Palate, who, together with business partner Adam Ziff, loved the idea. “Dani had been saying to me for years, we need a lounge, where we can serve whisky and biltong. I was making the food anyway, so we thought: ‘why not open a whisky lounge?’” says Tatz. “We were just going to do a little bit of food to go with the whisky, but Dani said: ‘we’re serving Jewish people…’”
The partnership resulted in the Suburban Whisky Lounge and Grill, which offered more than 100 whiskies alongside Tatz’s food.
Tatz says he enjoyed experimenting with the menu at home, before perfecting it on-site: “I was obsessed with getting the triple-cooked, hand-cut, glass-effect chips exactly right.” It was a family affair, as Tatz’s wife, Liz, a speciality cake-maker and pastry chef, was responsible for the desserts.
With the pop-up put on hold by the second lockdown, his attention is focused on conjuring up new creations. His latest has been to combine mince with biltong “dust”, which are the crumbs that naturally fall of the biltong. “I have added that to The Biltong Factory grill menu, and it has been flying.”
They are hopeful the pop-up will re-open after lockdown for a festive, endof-year run. The operation has been a priceless learning experience.
“I’ve realised in this business, that half is the food and half is execution,” notes Tatz. “Not everything can be commercial, it’s getting to that sweet spot where it’s scalable but still the highest quality food. Sometimes you go to a kosher restaurant which is trying to achieve too much. Rather, have a limited menu and execute it well.”
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