{"id":287329,"date":"2026-09-16T13:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T13:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/287329\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T13:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T13:48:16","slug":"local-jewish-womans-recipe-selected-for-new-restaurants-menu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/287329\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Jewish Woman\u2019s Recipe Selected for New Restaurant\u2019s Menu"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Wendy Stahler (Courtesy of Wendy Stahler)<\/p>\n

Recipe Philly is a new restaurant concept on Arch Street that sourced its menu from home cooks in the area.<\/p>\n

Wendy Stahler, 82, is one of those home cooks. She\u2019s a longtime member of Old York Road Temple-Beth Am, known for making challah on Friday nights for onegs.<\/p>\n

She submitted her challah to Recipe Philly\u2019s open competition, but it wasn\u2019t the Jewish bread that ultimately swayed the elite panel of culinary judges \u2014 chef Jennifer Carroll, a former \u201cTop Chef\u201d contestant on Bravo; chef Clara Park, a former Food Network \u201cChopped\u201d champion; and Josh Moore, a popular local food influencer known for his persona Josh Eats Philly.<\/p>\n

It was her other Jewish staple: brisket. Stahler\u2019s brisket sandwich, affectionately labeled Bubbe\u2019s Brisket Sandwich, is part of Recipe Philly\u2019s lunch and dinner menu, and her brisket sliders are available on the restaurant\u2019s happy hour menu.<\/p>\n

Recipe Philly opened in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took a chance,\u201d Stahler said.<\/p>\n

Stahler\u2019s journey to the menu of a buzzy new restaurant began on Dec. 31, 2024. That night, she had seen a movie with two friends \u2014 Vicki Richman and Bobbi Lustig \u2014 when they decided to drive over to Phil\u2019s Tavern in Blue Bell for dinner.<\/p>\n

There were no parking spots available in the lot outside the restaurant, so the women drove across the street. They had to walk back across the road to get to Phil\u2019s. The road was clear, so they started walking.<\/p>\n

The women held on to Lustig, who was \u201ca little more frail\u201d and \u201cstarting with dementia,\u201d Stahler said. They were walking steadily but not too fast. Then, Stahler looked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Brace yourself. We\u2019re going to get hit,\u2019\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

A truck knocked them to the ground. Lustig died on the spot. Richman later died at Jefferson Abington Hospital.<\/p>\n

Stahler landed on the ground and remembers a man coming up to her and asking her questions. She was pounding her chest.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018You\u2019re going to be fine.\u2019 I said, \u2018How are my friends?\u2019 He said, \u2018They\u2019re fine,\u2019\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

Stahler was transported to Abington Hospital, where she spent the next 10 days. She had nine broken ribs, a broken sternum and a broken right ankle.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m alive. I have a second chance. I found out the next day both of my girlfriends were killed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s not a day that goes by when she doesn\u2019t think about it. Richman\u2019s three children, whom Stahler knows well, visited her in the hospital. She apologized profusely, but they told her it wasn\u2019t her fault.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted to know what happened when we were crossing the street,\u201d Stahler said.<\/p>\n

Last September, almost a year on from the tragedy, Stahler was given a flyer by Randy Leib, the wife of Rabbi Robert Leib at Old York Road Temple-Beth Am. It was for the Recipe Philly competition.<\/p>\n

Home cooks had to submit a recipe and a personal story. Stahler was among 250 people selected from 1,000, according to Rory Balkin, Recipe Philly\u2019s marketing director. Later, the restaurant narrowed the field to 60 home cooks for the competition with the judges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018What the heck?\u2019\u201d Stahler recalled. \u201cAnd the woman called me back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tragedy with her friends was covered in the news prior to this competition,\u201d Balkin said. \u201cShe definitely has one of the most heartwarming, emotional stories of all the home cooks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Wendy Stahler, standing, center, with her friends. Vicki Richman is sitting in the chair, and Bobbi Lustig is to their left. (Courtesy of Wendy Stahler)<\/p>\n

Stahler\u2019s challah recipe was also part of the initial attraction, according to Balkin. But during the competition with the judges, they realized that it wouldn\u2019t quite fit with the rest of the menu.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to think, \u2018How does it taste? Can it be replicated in the kitchen? And will that recipe make sense next to the other recipes?\u2019\u201d Balkin explained.<\/p>\n

There was one wild-card spot available, though, according to the marketing director. Stahler got the first crack at it with her brisket, which was a hit with the judges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a somewhat separate happy hour menu, which uses some of the dishes from the lunch-dinner menu that would appeal to a happy hour crowd,\u201d said Balkin. \u201cAnd just from an appeal standpoint, a lot of people like brisket sliders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through a production company called Homebred Hospitality, Recipe Philly filmed the competition and included the personal stories of the home cooks. Homebred Hospitality and Recipe Philly are in the process of trying to distribute the documentary through a streaming service.<\/p>\n

Either way, Stahler is now a permanent fixture on the menu of a Center City restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t just get prize money and glory. You actually get featured on a real restaurant\u2019s menu,\u201d Balkin said.<\/p>\n

Stahler said her friends are still with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my heart they\u2019re with me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were best friends,\u201d she said of Richman in particular. \u201cWhen I lost my husband, she stayed. She stayed around the corner and came in. When she lost her husband, I stayed. I taught her how to make challah with the ladies from Temple-Beth Am.\u201d<\/p>\n

jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wendy Stahler (Courtesy of Wendy Stahler) Recipe Philly is a new restaurant concept on Arch Street that sourced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[182,139,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-287329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}