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What the dad of five noticed was that the Jewish community had plenty of kosher food options from around the world.
What he couldn't find, though, was kosher Mexican food.
So, 34-year-old Jimenez opened a spot of his own: Blue Star Cafe in Hackensack, a kosher Mexican restaurant under the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County.
"The Jewish community will eat anything, like Italian or Indian," said Jimenez. "But they don't have kosher Mexican here and the challenge for me is to give flavor. To show my culture."
Blue Star Cafe opened Monday, Aug. 5 on the first floor of 2 University Dr.
The menu offers plenty of American fare including a variety of eggs, toast, salmon and salads. But Blue Star has an extensive list of kosher-dairy Mexican options, such as tostadas, tamales, tacos, guacamole, and more.
Much of what's on Blue Star's menu are authentic staples that Jimenez grew up eating in his mother's kitchen back home in Oaxaca, and learned to make himself at a young age.
Jimenez said Blue Star Cafe helps keep the memory of his mother alive. Martina Morales died in 2008, months after Jimenez immigrated to the United States.
Jimenez even named one particular dish on the Blue Star menu after his mother, Martina's Enfrijoladas: Homemade corn tortillas covered in a black bean sauce, cheese, and topped with a fried egg. It's a dish that Morales always made, Jimenez said.
Blue Star is cholov yisroel, milk products made under Jewish supervision. Sometimes, if he doesn't have a cholov yisroel product, like condensed milk or cheese, he makes it himself, he said.
Blue Star's introduction into the community has been well-received so far, said Jimenez, who held a soft opening last month.
How does he know? Easy.
"The plates are almost always empty," Jimenez said. "That's something any chef wants to see."
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