IDT Megabite Cafe (also known as IDT Mega Bite Cafe) was a cybercafe and sushi bar in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

History

IDT Megabite Cafe is located in

's Diamond District. Originally the

internet café An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generally ...

was a kosher cafe and

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

restaurant. In February 1997, the cafe restaurant was converted into a cybercafe, incorporating a new interior and a kosher sushi bar at a cost of what was about $135,000 at the time. When the cafe reopened in 1997, it had one computer per dining table, plus two that were exclusively for checking email. In total, there were about a dozen public-use computers. A spokesperson from the

IDT Corporation IDT Corporation (originally standing for International Discount Telecommunications) is a multinational provider of cloud communications, point of sale systems, unified communications, and financial services for businesses and consumers, headqua ...

, Howard Jonas, said a wider range of patrons came to the cafe because of the addition.

Orthodox Jews Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Jewish theology, Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Or ...

, who worked in the Diamond District of New York city, had been the traditional customers, but now that it was a cybercafe, it began to serve a more diverse crowd. To accommodate the new clientele, the Megabite Cafe stayed open two extra hours every night, except Fridays. On Fridays, the cafe closed one hour before the sun went down and did not reopen until Sunday in observance of the

Jewish Sabbath Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

. IDT Megabite Cafe was founded by 31-year old Gaddy Haymov who worked the cash register during active lunch times. He was from Israel and partnered with

to establish a kosher cafe and restaurant. Initially, a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

was the inspector to make sure the food on the menu coincided with both the Jewish traditions and the Jewish dietary laws. The café became popular for Orthodox weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other Jewish ceremonial events. There was a separate

sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...

rabbi who made sure the sushi did not contain shellfish or crustaceans. The cybercafe's computers had to follow certain Jewish traditions, as did the cafe's menu. The Jewish ideal is ''a clean body and a clean mind.'' When the café was full at lunch time, patrons could look at a large poster behind the computers giving them a list of approved items to surf when they got access to a computer. This list included web addresses for the

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs for ...

and Project Genesis, an educational program for those who follow the

Jewish faith Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the M ...

References

{{reflist Internet cafés Jewish American cuisine Jews and Judaism in New York City Restaurants in Manhattan 1996 establishments in New York City

History

See also

References