Dana Point: Surfing, seders and Shaq at St. Regis’ posh Passover

New York kosher restaurateur Joey Allaham is taking over the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point for a kind of extravagant Passover meets luxury summer camp. The weeklong all-inclusive event is set for the 400-room hotel from April 14 to 22.

“From a toddler to an 80-year-old man, there’s something you’ll want to be a part of,” Allaham says of the Prime Passover Experience he has planned in detail.

Kitchens will serve kosher California farm-to-table cuisine. Guests will be entertained with CEO business lectures and cooking classes, singers, educators and even a mentalist. Mini sports clinics for children and adults will feature sports pros like basketball great Shaquille O’Neal and Antonio Cromartie of the N.Y. Jets.

It’s the first time Allaham has produced a large-scale kosher holiday event. Since 2000, his company Prime Hospitality Group has pioneered upscale kosher restaurants in NYC that include Prime at the Bentley and the Prime Grill.

And he admits some things are difficult to pull together. Chefs and cooking staff will start two to three weeks ahead of time to prepare the kitchen for exclusively kosher cooking. Hotel executive chef Frederic Castin will work with Allaham’s team to make the conversion work. Other staff will be busy sculpting an 8-foot likeness of Moses parting the Red Sea for the lobby entrance -- made entirely of chocolate.

Of course, rabbis will be present, including Rabbi Meyer May, executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, to oversee Sephardic and Ashkenaz services at the hotel.

When: Guests may stay from April 12 to 22 or selected nights.

Price: Per person costs are $5,400 for nine nights, $4,400 for six nights and $3,400 for four nights. Also, $390 for seder dinner only, $1,500 for two people for one night only. It includes lodging, meals, activities and religious services.

Info: Prime Passover 2014 St. Regis or call Jonathan Arbisfeld, (212) 335-0828, jon@primecateringny.com.

Mary.Forgione@latimes.com
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