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Alan Rosen (restaurant owner)

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Alan Rosen
Born1969 (age 54–55)[1]
New York City, U.S.
Alma materCornell University School of Hotel Administration (1991)
Occupation(s)Restaurant and bakery owner, and author
Years active1993–present
EmployerJunior's Restaurants and Bakery
Board member of
Children3

Alan Rosen (born 1969) is an American restaurant and bakery owner, and an author. He is the third-generation owner of Junior's Restaurants and Bakery, which is known for its cheesecakes. The company, founded with an initial restaurant in Brooklyn, New York, in 1950 by his grandfather, has six restaurants and outposts, a mail order business, a wholesale business, and a licensing operation.

Early and personal life

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Rosen was born and initially raised in New York City, and is Jewish.[2][3][4] He is the son of Walter Rosen and Sandy Puro, and the grandson of Harry Rosen and the former Ruth Jacobson.[3][4][5] He later grew up in Great Neck, New York, and lived in the town of Harrison, New York, and is a member of Temple Emanu-El in Harrison.[6][2] He now lives in Purchase, New York.[6]

He attended the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, as the first in his family to go to college, graduating in 1991.[6][7] Rosen is now on the Dean's Advisory Board of the school.[6][8] In January 1998 he married Leslie Beth Finkelstein, and he and his now-ex-wife have three children.[9][6]

Career

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Junior's Restaurants and Bakery in Brooklyn, 2009

Rosen is the owner of Junior's Restaurants and Bakery, initially with his brother Kevin, since the 1990s.[10][4][11] He is the third generation of his family to run the company.[5][11] His grandfather, Harry, the Jewish son of immigrants from Ukraine and born on the Lower East Side, founded the original restaurant in November 1950.[10][12][3] His father, Walter, started running it in the 1970s with Walter's brother Marvin.[3][4][12] Rosen oversees the restaurants and operations, which as of 2023 generated over $100 million in sales annually, served over 5,000 customers daily, and sold five million cheesecakes every year ranging in weight from 4 ounces to 14 pounds.[13][5][14] It is known for its cheesecakes, for which it uses the same recipe created in 1960 by Rosen's grandfather and by baker Eigel Peterson.[6][12][15] In 1997, The New York Times reported that critics had called it "the best cheesecake in the material world," and "edible ivory, like some new element on the atomic chart."[16] Rosen has promised never to change the recipe.[14]

While in high school and college, Rosen worked as a manager at the restaurant's original Brooklyn location.[6][5][17] After graduating from university, Rosen worked for three years at other restaurants and at nightclubs.[6][5] He then returned to Junior's in 1993, first as a floor manager and then as its director of marketing.[6][14][18]

The company has six restaurants and outposts, a mail order business, a wholesale business, and a licensing operation.[14][7] It has locations that include its original and now flagship storefront on the corner of Flatbush Avenue and DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn, in Grand Central Terminal and Times Square (in the Theater District) in Manhattan (Rosen said that when the location opened, its "Brooklyn NY" sign confused subway riders who thought that they had exited at the wrong subway stop), in the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, and in Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn.[19][5][7] It also has a baking facility in Burlington in southern New Jersey; Rosen moved from a baking facility in Maspeth, Queens, when the owners sold that space.[20][14][7] In November 2023, Rosen opened up a restaurant in Resorts World Las Vegas.[21][11] Junior's cheesecake is also sold in Japan, France, and South Korea.[5]

Rosen appears on QVC 50 times every year, and has also appeared on national television shows, including ABC's Good Morning America, The Chew, NBC's Today, Food Network's Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, and Emeril Live.[5]

In September 1996, he sold 2,400 cheesecakes in four minutes on QVC.[16] He was named to the Crain's New York "40 Under 40 Class of 2002" when Rosen was 32 years old.[22]

In 2014, Rosen turned down a $45 million offer ($450-per-buildable-square-foot) from JDS Development Group to buy the two-story Brooklyn building of the flagship Juniors restaurant.[23][24][25] He said his family's business was too important to him and to the community.[26]

In 2020, he joined Romacorp's (Tony Roma's) board of directors.[27]

In December 2021, Rosen said that a cream cheese shortage was badly hurting his business. He said it was a major ingredient in his cheesecake, and demand had increased 43% while at the same time there was a labor crisis at some dairy plants.[28]

In August 2022, Rosen announced a partnership with candle company Literie on a strawberry cheesecake-scented candle. He said that "With this partnership ... our fans from all over can still be enticed by our famous scent – but without the calories!"[29][30]

Civic activities

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In May 2021, Rosen sponsored a program that bought back guns in Brooklyn; the program yielded 69 weapons.[6] Rosen said he thought the buyback program was a success, and that "It may not be the most efficient way to solve gun violence issues, but it's what I can do right now."[2] In 2023 he sponsored his third gun buyback, partnering with the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.[31]

Rosen is on the board of the Fulton Mall Improvements Association as part of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.[5][12]

In June 2024, Rosen said that he was considering running in the 2025 New York City mayoral election, and was gauging political and public interest in him running for mayor.[32][33] He describes himself as a fiscally conservative and socially liberal moderate Republican.[34][33] The election is scheduled for November 4, 2025.[33] He is hoping to attract the backing of the Republican Party, as he said: "I don't have the kind of bread or cheesecake to do this on my own".[33] His concerns about New York City have included shoplifting at pharmacies, safety of residents, cashless bail, quality of life, and the cost of living.[35][36]

Author

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Rosen is the co-author of three books: Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook: 50 To-Die-For Recipes for New York-Style Cheesecake (Taunton Press, 2007), Junior's Dessert Cookbook: 75 Recipes for Cheesecakes, Pies, Cookies, Cakes and More (Taunton Press, 2011), and Junior's Home Cooking: Over 100 Recipes for Classic Comfort Food (Taunton Press, 2013).[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook; 50 To-die-for Recipes for New York-style Cheesecake; Rosen, Alan, 1969", City of San Francisco
  2. ^ a b c Julia Gergely (May 27, 2022). "Junior's, NYC's iconic Jewish cheesecake emporium, buys back guns to protect the city it loves", Cleveland Jewish News.
  3. ^ a b c d Eric Asimov (October 11, 1996). "Harry Rosen Is Dead at 92; Junior's Restaurant Founder", The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b c d Rick Rojas (April 14, 2016). "Walter Rosen, Longtime Steward of Junior's Restaurant, Dies at 81", The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Alan Rosen '91", Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liz Susman Karp (November 20, 2022). "Alan Rosen on Junior's Cheesecake & Life in Westchester", Westchester Magazine.
  7. ^ a b c d "Alan Rosen Q&A", Total Food Service, February 28, 2015.
  8. ^ "Dean's Advisory Board", Cornell University.
  9. ^ "WEDDINGS; Leslie Finkelstein And Alan Rosen", The New York Times, January 11, 1998.
  10. ^ a b Ben Chapman (October 31, 2010). "Brooklyn landmark Junior's turns 60, and slices cheesecake price to celebrate birthday", Daily News (New York).
  11. ^ a b c Sophia Hollander (August 11, 2013). "No Cheesecake for You!" The Wall Street Journal.
  12. ^ a b c d Julia Gergely (July 6, 2023). "Cheesecake Corner in Brooklyn honors the Jewish founder of Junior's restaurant", New York Jewish Week.
  13. ^ Baruch Shemtov (August 2017). "15 minutes with Alan Rosen", New York Lifestyles.
  14. ^ a b c d e Liz Sussman Karp (April 17, 2023). "How Junior's Became the World's Most Famous Name in Cheesecake", The Cheese Professor.
  15. ^ Michael Mayo (October 13, 2016 ). "Junior's brings Brooklyn to Boca", Sun Sentinel.
  16. ^ a b Randy Kennedy (February 19, 1997). "In Brooklyn, Passing the Torch of Success", The New York Times.
  17. ^ Marina Kennedy (June 23, 2017). "Interview: Alan Rosen Owner of Juniors Restaurant and Bakery", Broadway World.
  18. ^ Maria Minsker (February 26, 2018). "A homegrown business with billion-dollar ambitions ", Cornell Chronicle.
  19. ^ "Junior's (Times Square)", Restaurant Business Magazine, 2017.
  20. ^ Ivan Pereira (April 14, 2015). "Junior's to move baking operation from Queens factory to New Jersey," AMNY.
  21. ^ Andy Wang (November 21, 2023). "Junior's And Its Famous Cheesecake Debut At Resorts World Las Vegas", Forbes.
  22. ^ "40 Under 40 Class of 2002; Alan Rosen, 32, Co-owner, Junior's", Crain's New York.
  23. ^ "Junior's Cheesecake Owner Decides Not To Sell Flagship Building In Downtown Brooklyn", CBS News, September 9, 2014.
  24. ^ Andrew Marzoni (April 19, 2024). "Cheesecake in Barad-dûr", New York Review of Architecture.
  25. ^ Vivian Yee (September 8, 2014). "Junior's, Legendary Restaurant, Is to Stay in Brooklyn", The New York Times.
  26. ^ Ivan Pereira and Jordan G. Teicher (September 9, 2014). "Junior's won't be selling Brooklyn location for condos after all", AMNY.
  27. ^ "Romacorp, Inc. Announces New Talent to Executive Team to Oversee the Brand's Global Collection of Casual Dining Concepts", Franchising, March 3, 2020.
  28. ^ Stephanie Giang-Paunon (December 10, 2021). "Junior's Cheesecake owner on cream cheese shortage: Demand has increased amid labor crisis", Fox News.
  29. ^ Aaron Feis (August 10, 2022). "Junior's cheesecake inspires New York candlemaker's latest scent", Pix 11.
  30. ^ Karu F. Daniels (August 9, 2022). "New York's famous Junior's cheesecake has entered the scented-candle market", The Daily News.
  31. ^ "Junior's Restaurant sponsoring Brooklyn DA's pre-holiday gun buyback on Dec. 16", Junior's, December 13, 2023.
  32. ^ "Junior's Restaurant owner Alan Rosen is considering running for mayor", Brooklyn Eagle, June 24, 2024.
  33. ^ a b c d Kristen Altus (June 26, 2024). "Owner of popular restaurant chain considers running for NYC mayor: 'Not afraid to speak my mind'", Fox Business.
  34. ^ Erin White (June 23, 2024). "'The Hospitality Mayor': Alan Rosen, owner of Junior's Restaurant, eyes bid for NYC mayor", 1010 WINS.
  35. ^ Taylor Penley (May 26, 2024). "Iconic NYC restaurant owner fears city's 'unsafe' conditions threaten employees: 'When did this become OK?'; Junior's Restaurant owner Alan Rosen said there's 'no consequences' for crime in NYC", Fox Business.
  36. ^ Elisabeth Weaver (June 27, 2024). "Third-Generation Republican Owner of Junior's Restaurant Considers Run for Mayor", La Voce di New York.
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