If you were to ask family members, almost everything about Rothchild’s Coffee and Kitchen, located at 76 Middle Neck Road in Great Neck, has to do with to Lois and Walter Roth.
“The family name is Roth. My parents are Roths,” Donna Trappler, whose family has been involved in Great Neck business for decades, said. “They’re all around here and, as you now know, it’s a family business and we are the children of Walter and Lois Roth.”
“More than anything else, they were about the family,” Trappler later added of her parents. “That was number one in their lives and that was imparted on us – that we were family first. There were a lot of other things in their lives, but it all came back to us.”
But beyond naming the restaurant after them, family members said, it was also about embodying who they were through good service, an array of fine dining options, and a desire to improve the Great Neck area.
The black and white pictures encasing the restaurant, meanwhile, are of the couple in their younger days.
“Donna designed this restaurant, but really it epitomizes Walter and Lois,” said Mervyn Trappler, the Roths’ son-in-law. “It’s all about family and people coming in here can feel that. We want them to feel that.”
Nephews Daniel and Shir Nahum, the head chef and general manager, respectively, came to Great Neck to help with the restaurant. They brought with them several years of experience working in the Israeli restaurant business, the Trapplers said, primarily in fine dining.
“It’s more than a business to us,” Shir Nahum said.
Mervyn Trappler said Rothchild’s also aims to fill the void between the area’s many Asian, themed, kosher and Italian eateries in the area, as well as one from when Starbucks left many years ago.
Rothchild’s offers all-day dining and a variety of wholesome food, Trappler said. Among the options are Mediterranean and American food, infused with some middle eastern influences, vegetarian dishes, quality coffee and pastries, as well as a myriad of appetizers, Trappler said.
“We wanted to fill a void in the market,” Trappler said. “There’s a requirement and a need in Great Neck and in the neighborhood for a restaurant that is more of a meeting place.”
Lois Roth, who was visiting Great Neck to see Rothchild’s, said the tribute wasn’t something she’d initially expected, but “very sweet” and “very touching.” Ultimately, she said she hopes the restaurant will “be a place where people gather and feel good” and expressed confidence in her family’s ability to deliver good service and hospitality.
“It’s kind of overwhelming,” Roth, 87, said with a laugh as her eldest daughter Ruthann Nahum sat next to her.
But for Ruthann Nahum, who has been involved with Israeli dining for more than 30 years with her two sons, the opening of a restaurant dedicated to her father and mother seemed like “a natural progression.”
“He was always a big supporter of the town and he believed in Great Neck,” Nahum said. “I think he would have been a major supporter of this because he was always very proud of his children and grandchildren and I think this bares the proof.”
And, of course, there was his love of dining.
“My father loved to go out to eat and he taught all of us to love to go out to eat and to really appreciate good food,” Nahum said, then speaking to her mother. “I think it’s because of the two of you, from the very beginning, we went into the restaurant business in Israel.”
After Passover the restaurant will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but likely extend their hours later on.
