The area's first kosher Subway sandwich shop is expected to open in Livingston within the next few weeks, company officials told NJJN.

The Livingston store, at 523 South Livingston Ave., and a second kosher Subway in Teaneck will be owned by franchisee Aaron Dobrinsky of Teaneck.

Dobrinsky owns the executive management consulting firm Dobrinsky Management Inc. He will hire professional managers but will play an active role at the restaurants as well, he said. Each will be under the kosher supervision of its respective local va'ad, or rabbinic committee.

Les Winograd, public relations coordinator for the Subway brand, said the New Jersey stores will be among 15 kosher franchises Subway hopes to have opened within the next year.

"We believe the kosher consumer is a vast untapped market," said Winograd. Kosher Subways in Baltimore, Miami, Chicago, Boston, and Queens are in the works, he said.

The first kosher Subway opened in a Cleveland suburb in 2006 at the Mandel Jewish Community Center. Kosher franchises followed in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Cedarhurst, NY.

Offerings at the kosher Subways stay as close to the nonkosher version as possible.

"We try very hard to make it as seamless as possible," said Winograd. "The appearance and the menus are the same to provide the same dining experience. Franchisees must follow Subway procedures and offer the same menu items.

"Of course, kosher certification will be required," he added, "and obviously there will be a lack of pork products on the menu. And because franchisees are running their own locations, they are free to make certain adjustments. For example, in Cleveland, they serve pareve [nondairy] cheese, but in Brooklyn, they don't."

The Livingston menu is still being finalized but will be similar to those in Brooklyn and Cedarhurst, Dobrinsky told NJJN.

The prices are generally higher at the kosher locations than at typical Subway stores, Winograd acknowledged. In addition to the cost of kosher supervision and kosher ingredients, the kosher locations do not benefit from the economies of scale that keep prices down at many of the 21,000 nonkosher locations around the country, he said.

The original idea for the kosher Subway at Cleveland's JCC came from the local franchisee, and the company, a trademark of the Connecticut-based Doctor's Associates Inc., ran with it.

Adapting the menu to local diets is not new for the company. The menu at many of its locations in the Middle East, Asia, and Great Britain offer foods that are halal, or permissible under Muslim law. There are no franchises in Israel.

Yogesh Dave, regional development agent for Subway's Northern New Jersey territory, said he arranged the transaction between the Livingston Subway's former owner and Dobrinsky. Dave said Dobrinsky originally approached him with the idea of opening a kosher Subway in Teaneck, and Dave proposed his taking on the Livingston location as well.

The Livingston store will be the first Subway franchise to switch from nonkosher to kosher.

"There are a lot of Jewish businesses in that area and a large Jewish population," said Dave. "It makes sense to convert that location," just three doors down from the former home of Moshavi, a glatt kosher meat restaurant that closed in 2006 after nine years.

Dobrinsky is optimistic. "One reason the [nonkosher] Subway is not doing well there is the demographics of the community. I believe the Subway brand will resonate in the Jewish community. And the lower- to mid-tier kosher restaurants are doing well," he said.