Matzo Project: “Eat Something. You Look Skinny.”
“Would it kill you to try something new?” asks the grandmother of Matzo Project, co-founder Ashley Albert, in one of her many humorous queries supporting Albert’s “surprisingly delicious matzo chips.” With your charming grandmother on your side, how can you go wrong? Plus the chips are vegan, nut-free, dairy-free, and all-natural.
Perhaps because the matzo chips are so good or perhaps because Albert (owner of the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Gowanus) and co-founder Kevin Rodriguez are so charming, the chips have gotten highly favorable press. Not to mention they have earned industry acclaim from the James Beard House, Balabouusta Soho, and the Conan O’Brien Green Room. “People (who aren’t even related to us!) are saying such NICE THINGS!!” says Kevin.
As the Wall Street Journal‘s Charles Passy points out, matzoh isn’t your typical epicurean delight: As the “bread of affliction,” it has been compared with everything from toasted cardboard to hardtack. The matzo chips are tasty, but also, unlike matzo itself, have year-round appeal.
Like so many food entrepreneurs, Rodriguez and Albert started small, making a trial batch in Kevin’s kitchen. The partners released a tiny batch to three stores in Brooklyn and Manhattan that sold out within hours. They now operate out of a large Kosher bakery in Sunset Park.
Today, you can buy the chips at 100 stores in 20 states, including notable markets like Zabar’s, Schaller & Weber, Whole Foods, Murray’s Cheese, and Foragers City Grocer, not to mention hipster meccas like Dylan’s Candy Bar. If you prefer to make your own matzos you buy their Matzo Ball Mix and Soup Kit. Oprah Magazine writes, “Do not Passover these treats.”