ABOUT US
Everything there is to know about us
OUR STORY
The idea for Just Rugelach was conceived while working at The Fifth Avenue Epicure in Manhattan’s Flat Iron District. I developed a recipe loosely based on a cream-cheese and butter pastry that my Slovak grandmother used to make, and rugelach that was served at a predominantly Jewish country club in NJ where I was cooking years earlier. After many years in fine dining, I developed a love for baking and was determined to strike out on my own, after receiving rave and encouraging reviews.
Rugelach, an Austro-Hungarian, filled, baked confection, has been enjoyed since the late eighteenth century originating in the Jewish communities of Poland, is savored by people of all backgrounds and cultures across the globe nowadays, and has found a home in many non-Jewish bakeries and households.
My goal was to provide the highest quality, hand-made products, and to wholesale to New York’s fine foods stores, cafes, coffee bars, delicatessens, caterers, hotels, and country clubs. Sharing a small kitchen space with a good friend who owned a catering business, I baked by night and walked the streets of the city peddling my freshly baked goodies by day. In no time we had a thriving wholesale business, several locations at the city’s “Green Markets”, and began shipping decorative tins for every occasion. After nearly fifteen years, and partly due to the tragic events 9/11, my wife Roselie and I and our four young children relocated to Wake Forest, NC, to find a gentler, softer, way of life.
Since that time, our family has been part of the fabric of the Wake Forest community. In 2010, we opened The Main Street Grille, and later, The Main Street Grille Pizzeria, The Bake Shoppe, and The Catering Company. As our family grew, so did the Halik enterprise, deeply ingrained in the day-to-day life of many local and out-of-town visitors. Sadly, the business became a casualty of the pandemic.
Ever optimistic, and looking ahead, I am pleased to announce the e-commerce, re-launch of Just Rugelach! We are now shipping decorative tins of our beloved, freshly baked, handmade Rugelach, nationwide. From just one tin to corporate gift giving, nothing expresses your thoughtfulness like sending a gift directly from our ovens to your front door!
Remember, the best things in life are sweet! You won’t be able to eat Just one!
Tom Halik
Baker
MEET THE BAKER
Tom Halik was a pre-med student at The George Washington University, where he began cooking at his fraternity house in exchange for room and board, and found part-time work at the gourmet food store inside the Watergate complex in Washington DC as a sandwich maker. He quickly learned the ropes of the fine foods counter, and while serving the distinguished diplomatic clientele there, he was encouraged to pursue formal culinary education.
Tom graduated from the famed, La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris, France, where he served several apprenticeships while abroad including the renowned Parisienne landmarks, La Tour d”Argent , Chez Renee, and Patisserie Lerche. While attending classes, he served as the personal chef to the Public Affairs Officer of the United States Information Service at the State Department. Completing his training, his first position was as the personal chef to the US Ambassador in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he served for two years.
Upon returning to the US, he worked in fine dining at several French restaurants in Northern New Jersey, Newport Rhode Island, and New York City. Tom taught the culinary arts curriculum at The New York Restaurant School before finding a home at Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue Epicure in the Flatiron district for the next five years, where he met his wife Roselie, and he first developed the recipe for his soon to be signature Rugelach,
Attempting his first solo venture, baking by night, each morning he would load his backpack with samples and roam the streets of the city, soliciting every gourmet food store, café, coffee bar, delicatessen, restaurant, caterer and hotel. They soon had an impressive wholesale clientele, and a thriving presence at many of New York City’s Farmers’ markets, as well as a modest mail order business. After relocating to North Carolina with their four young children, they opened The Main Street Grille in Wake Forest, and later The Pizzerria, The Bakeshoppe, and The Catering Company. Tom has recently re-launched Just Rugelach once again, exclusively as an e-commerce business, shipping decorative tins of freshly baked Rugelach nationwide for every occasion.