{"id":680422,"date":"2026-09-09T14:13:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T14:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/680422\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T14:13:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T14:13:29","slug":"innas-kitchen-chef-owner-alex-khitrik-bakes-gluten-free-challah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/680422\/","title":{"rendered":"Inna’s Kitchen chef-owner Alex Khitrik bakes gluten-free challah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since then, Khitrik has built a devoted following for homemade kosher foods that are also gluten-, dairy-, and nut-free. His mom still contributes recipe ideas, along with her gefilte fish, while working at Women\u2019s Lunch Place in Boston, where she prepares nourishing meals for vulnerable women<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today, Khitrik runs the business and wakes up early to bake the bread, including gluten-free challah made with organic oats. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to stop when we have so many people who tell us: Where else will they get [this] food? That makes it worthwhile. That\u2019s what fills my cup,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

We discussed his favorite challah, his most-missed Watertown restaurant, and his first overnight gig at a well-known bagelry.<\/p>\n

What do you do?<\/b><\/p>\n

Our niche is allergy-friendly, prepared, and baked foods. But I\u2019m passionate about baking bread, so I\u2019m trying to do more of that \u2014 artisanal sourdough is what I enjoy. Our business is very much focused toward helping families and friends share meals together, regardless of allergies. It\u2019s home cooking.<\/p>\n

I gravitate toward making artisanal bread and sourdough. At the store, we\u2019re gluten-free. Trying to reach those standards of what I want from bread and getting rid of off flavors eventually led me to get my own grain mill. I mill my own flour. I totally geek out with people who like baking and the chemistry of it, because it\u2019s very different when it\u2019s gluten-free.<\/p>\n

How did you come to take over Inna\u2019s?<\/b><\/p>\n

We opened in 2011. Inna \u2014 my mom \u2014 and I were in between jobs. We\u2019ve both always been interested in having our own food business. We\u2019ve always cooked together, baked together, and we thought: \u201cThis is our opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

I always thought I\u2019d do something in tech, be successful, get a bunch of money, and then do what I really wanted to do, which is open up a gathering place, a food business, and create really good food \u2014 and to be in community with the growers of the food and the ingredients. That\u2019s what I imagined as a dream sort of place, and I realized: Maybe here\u2019s a chance, instead of waiting.<\/p>\n

The [concept was] inspired by \u201cDiners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.\u201d We were actually looking at places that were for sale, breakfast and lunch places, cafes, and then [my mom] called me and said, \u201cI have a great idea. Let\u2019s open a deli,\u201d after watching a show about delis and how there aren\u2019t so many of them anymore. <\/p>\n

It would be our own type, which combines our traditions. We have family in Israel, Russia, Belarus, the Soviet Union. Obviously, there\u2019s a very strong history of deli traditions here in the United States. \u201dJewish cuisine from around the world\u201d was the tagline. We would serve matzo balls, and we\u2019d serve shakshuka, and we\u2019d cure our own meat for corned beef and pastrami. We\u2019d have falafel. It was a very big menu, covering a wide variety.<\/p>\n

How did Inna\u2019s evolve?<\/b><\/p>\n

It goes back to challah, in many ways. I was always interested in cooking and baking from a very young age. Challah wasn\u2019t on our radar except for Shabbat. But I did Birthright, where I was first introduced to baking challah, especially in a traditional way, as a community. We braided the bread; learned the history.<\/p>\n

Actually, Rosenfeld\u2019s Bagels was my first introduction to baking. I worked there briefly as a teenager, for one summer, overnights. I\u2019d go in at 10 or 11 p.m. I\u2019d be done at 3 or 4. I eventually started braiding the bread, which was very fun. And, I mean, I loved eating it warm out of the oven. <\/p>\n

After [Birthright], I was looking to continue. How can I find a Jewish community here? In trying to continue my connection in the community, I was referred to Kavod House, a Jewish social justice organization for young Jews in their 20s.<\/p>\n

It was my people. It made me feel very welcome. And I loved baking bread, and I started baking challah, and suddenly I learned about gluten-free through that community. Down that rabbit hole I went, and I got pretty good at it and taught workshops.<\/p>\n

When we were opening up our shop, full circle, I was already very familiar with gluten-free preparation, and I convinced Inna. I\u2019m used to calling my mom Inna.<\/p>\n

Do you call her that all the time, or just for the purposes of work?<\/b><\/p>\n

Usually work-related. It just starts to feel pretty odd saying \u201cmy mom\u201d this; \u201cmy mom\u201d that.<\/p>\n

I was able to convince her to keep the kitchen by default gluten-free, actually even dairy-free, and nut-free. We had a small corner where we kept separate sets of sugar, salt, and various ingredients, where we would prepare the few glutinous things. We just defaulted to keeping things allergy-friendly, and it allowed us to serve more people. <\/p>\n

People who have allergies sort of get singled out. People would tell us: \u201cThank you. We were all able to share the same meal.\u201d<\/p>\n

It became clear that we served a need. People learned to trust that we were extremely careful, so we developed a following. Feeding people is very fulfilling to us, for both my mom and me. I sort of joke that I\u2019m a Jewish mom, a Jewish grandma. That\u2019s my personality profile, I guess. <\/p>\n

Are you nut-free and gluten-free?<\/b><\/p>\n

I love nuts. I love gluten. <\/p>\n

How\u2019s your mom still involved?<\/b><\/p>\n

The primary way that Inna\u2019s involved is gefilte fish. She\u2019s still helping around the holidays, and I\u2019m not sure if I would continue making gefilte fish if she didn\u2019t come and help. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s your opinion of the Greater Boston food scene? <\/b><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t get out that much, but I hear about awesome places I would like to go to. The one that most comes to mind is The Mushroom Shop<\/a>, a store that\u2019s just focused on mushrooms, and it\u2019s awesome. I\u2019m a huge fan. I\u2019m going to be making a pot pie for Sukkot, actually, using their mushrooms, which I\u2019m really excited about. <\/p>\n

Another business that\u2019s very unusual but awesome that I still have not been to \u2014 that I really need to \u2014 is Lehrhaus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s kind of a dream sort of library, Jewish space, restaurant, cafe. It\u2019s a nonprofit, which I learned recently, which is awesome. They\u2019re also doing a lot of stuff with local farms. There are definitely really interesting and mature businesses. I think of Joanne Chang from Flour. I saw their operation and how they get fresh food to all their cafes around town, their various routes. If you haven\u2019t been to their central facility it\u2019s worth checking out how they ensure quality and freshness at a bunch of different locations. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s the climate for Jewish businesses right now?<\/b><\/p>\n

Complicated, I think. Part of me wants to not avoid politics. But, for the business, I don\u2019t want it to be a political space.<\/p>\n

When the war with Gaza started, it was very difficult, because we are very forward in that we are a Jewish business. We\u2019re a kosher business. In some ways, when you\u2019re challenged, it makes you stronger. I hope things come out better, and I hope there\u2019s opportunity for growth from those challenges. My wife\u2019s a cantor. My kid goes to a Jewish school. So the amount that we see across the spectrum of the stresses on the Jewish community \u2014 I hope that there can be room for more conversation, because silence is really stressful, too.<\/p>\n

On a less political note, describe what goes on in the life of a baker. Do you wake up at crazy hours? <\/b><\/p>\n

Around the holidays. Thank goodness for Shabbat. Thank goodness for the Sabbath because that sort of forces a break.<\/p>\n

Today I was in at 5. For the holidays here, it\u2019s 12-hour days. But, normally, it\u2019s not so bad. I see Blacker\u2019s Bakeshop next to us. They\u2019re often here before me when they\u2019re baking the night before, but it\u2019s a much larger operation. I bake a fair amount of bread, but not huge volumes. <\/p>\n

Bread takes up a lot of space. It takes up the ovens. It\u2019s something that needs to get done when nothing else is being done, in a sense. Last night was good, because I went to sleep at 9. It wasn\u2019t so bad. <\/p>\n

What makes good challah? What\u2019s the secret? You can get opinionated.<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m very much into eggy, chewy, stretchy, like Rosenfeld\u2019s does, and Blacker\u2019s. I\u2019m not a fan of \u2014 I won\u2019t name names \u2014 but the cakey variety. <\/p>\n

More recently, I started making oat challah, specifically for people to say Hamotzi, and that one is pretty awesome. It has that chewiness of oats, and it has more of that mouthfeel that I like in my challah and bread. What makes good challah? I mean, it\u2019s not the shape. It\u2019s balance: not too sweet, not dry. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s your best-selling food?<\/b><\/p>\n

Latkes.<\/p>\n

How come?<\/b><\/p>\n

They\u2019re a pain in the butt to make at home in small quantities. We don\u2019t use seed oils. We use local potatoes. They\u2019re really convenient. They\u2019re versatile: breakfast, lunch, or dinner.<\/p>\n

Assuming you have free time, do you have any favorite restaurants?<\/b><\/p>\n

La Bodega is our go-to in Watertown. It used to be Strip-T\u2019s. It\u2019s fresh in my mind because for whatever reason we were talking about parsnips the other day, and my wife said, \u201cOh, I still think back to the parsnip cake that we had,\u201d possibly on our last meal there. La Bodega is our go-to nice restaurant, with amazing owners.<\/p>\n

Is there any food or drink that you absolutely cannot stand?<\/b><\/p>\n

Canned tuna. And we make tuna salad here, too.<\/p>\n

How do you do that?<\/b><\/p>\n

I guess I can stand it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best and hardest part about working with your mom?<\/b><\/p>\n

Decision-making, trying to have a cohesive plan, and not getting distracted.<\/p>\n

I love her. We\u2019re good team players, right? It\u2019s like when I play soccer with my brother: We grew up playing together, so it\u2019s like we can sort of read each other\u2019s minds. She\u2019s an amazing cook. She has great ideas. <\/p>\n

Interview was condensed and edited for clarity.<\/p>\n

Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @kcbaskin<\/a>.<\/p>\n