AMINE ZAITZEFF

1946 - 2021

ZAITZEFF--Amine Wefali. Amine Wefali Zaitzeff, writer, and beloved co-founder, with her son Zachary, of Zaitzeff Burgers in lower Manhattan, New York City, passed away on Monday, December 13, 2021. Amine and Zachary opened the burger shop in the fall of 2004 and it quickly became a lower Manhattan staple. Zaitzeff Burgers was awarded the "best burger" by New York Magazine. Critic Alain Ducasse noted it as the only place to eat a burger. Amine was born May 23, 1946 in Mittenwald, Germany to Katherine Kovalenko and Abdullah Wefali. Abdullah, a World War II tank commander for the Russian Soviet Army, was captured by the German Army, and was taken to a POW camp near Berlin. Katherine, the daughter of a Soviet General, was sent as a teenager to slave labor in Berlin after the German Army captured her hometown of Minsk, Byelorussia. Katherine's grandfather had been a General in the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Revolution of 1917. After the collapse of Berlin in 1945, Abdullah and Katherine were relocated to a camp in Mittenwald, where they met and where Amine was born. The family came to the United States in the early 1950's as displaced persons. Amine went to Nyack High School in Nyack, NY, where she graduated. She later worked as a bookkeeper in the accounting department for I. Magnin & Company in San Francisco. Amine met Roger Zaitzeff in the hills of Berkeley California, in the spring of 1968, where Roger was attending law school at the University of California at Berkeley. Amine and Roger moved to New York City in June of 1969, where Roger practiced law. Amine and Roger later moved to Westchester, New York, where they raised their four children. Amine's secret to cooking was to get the best ingredients and fuss with them the least. She spoke four languages. She was a great conversationalist and a world-class listener. She understood the importance of filling life with passion, love and conversation. Amine went on to write a book, "Westchester Burning," published by Dial Press, and a group of short stories, in Open City Magazine. Amine wrote a manuscript before her death. Amine is survived by Roger, four children, eight grandchildren, and her sister Leyla. Amine died with her family by her side. A service for Amine will be held in the spring of 2022, NYC.