Culinary talk and tasting featuring Jeff Morgan, acclaimed winemaker and co-author of the cookbook, The Covenant Kitchen, Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table..

Featured Presentation

Jewish Arts and Bookfest
Sunday, May 4, 2025

at UC Berkeley’s Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley,  CA

Most people know me as one of the foremost producers of kosher wine in the world (Covenant Winery in Berkeley). But many don’t know that I have written (with my wife, Jodie) 9 cookbooks. The last, The Covenant Kitchen, Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table (Schocken Books), is an ode to Jewish culture and heritage through the food we eat and the wines we drink. Both wine and food are part of the core of Jewish life.

My books and my wines are meant to open doors to both Judaism and community. Join me for a talk that features a personal history of how wine and food brought my family and me back to Judaism. We’ll talk about the symbolism in our foods, snack on a few items from the cookbook, and sip a bit of Covenant wine too. Books will be available for sale. Food and wine will be my treat…

About The Covenant Kitchen, Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table

The Covenant Kitchen, Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table (Schocken Books) is a collection of some 100 recipes that reflect authors Jeff and Jodie Morgan’s peripatetic culinary journey living in Europe, California, and Israel. It also tells the story of Covenant Winery, founded in Napa Valley in 2003 and now an urban winery located in Berkeley, CA.

The book explains how best to pair wine with meals, and every recipe has several suggested wine options.

This is the Morgan’s ninth and last cookbook, and the only one that is fully kosher. It is hardly “traditional,” but rather sets the stage for a new age in Jewish dining.

About the Author: Jeff Morgan

Jeff Morgan is the only commercial winemaker who has also been a critic for the prestigious Wine Spectator magazine, where he worked as West Coast Editor from 1992 to 2000. He has also written for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, Elle Magazine and—with his wife, Jodie—has penned 10 books on food and wine. Their most recent book is The Covenant Kitchen; Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table (Schocken Books).

In 2000, Jeff started America’s first winery dedicated solely to rosé—SoloRosa—which he ran until 2008. Concurrently, in 2003, he founded Covenant Winery in California’s Napa Valley, where he and his late business partner, Leslie Rudd, created a new high-quality paradigm for kosher wine. Covenant wines are now sold worldwide, from the U.S. to Israel, Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico and South America.

Prior to his wine-related activities, Jeff was the court musician, saxophonist and bandleader for Prince Rainier of Monaco in the 1980s. Eventually he decided he was more interested in what he was drinking than what he was playing.