Tidbits and trimmings…
Monday, February 5th, 2007Chicago, Il, Day 6 of USA trip. Currently -20 C outsite (that’s approx cold as balls farenheight)
Just got back from a day of touring around Chicago’s old Jewish neighborhoods with Prof. Irv Cuttler, a Chicago and Jewish Chicago historian and real mensch. So far I love this town, though the deli unfortunately is a scarce commodity in the land of deep dish pizza. But more on that later in the week…
I’m just floored at the response the site has gotten. So far I’ve received a whack of support from all over Canada and the USA. We’re already featured on one website Jcarrot.com, and more is on the way (keep your eyes on New York Magazine and the Forward shortly). I’ve also received some tidbits from readers. Leah Koenig, in Brooklyn, pointed out this great interview with NY Food Maven Arthur Schwartz. Author Sherryl Bellman, also reminded me to remind you that her coffee table book on delis, America’s Great Delis, is a great way to educate yourself on what’s out there.
Keep em coming folks!
Also, please check out the new Save the Deli Facebook group. It’s all the deli loving of Savethedeli.com coupled with the annoying emails and high school antics of facebook. Save the Deli and hook up…what more could the Jewish people ask for?
That’s it for now…I have to get some genuine work done, but we’re off to a good start. Hopefully we’ll achieve critical mass shortly and then Google or Hebrew National will come knocking.
Supreme thanks to Daniel Malen, who designed this puppy and has faced an unrelenting string of emails when anything goes down. Kudos old chap!
bless,
DS
Sy, Rose, and Ari: legends of Motown
Sunday, February 4th, 2007Day 6 of Deli Road Trip-Chicago, Il
I’ve finally arrived in Chicago after a freezing white knuckle drive on icy roads where I saw more accidents than ever before in my life. Now I’m in the comfort of an airport hotel room, watching Da Bears fumble away a Superbowl.
Detroit and its surrounding suburbs provided a great start to the road trip, being a city full of character, quirky Yids, and a deep love of corned beef and double baked rye. I saw gleaming suburbs, quaint college towns, and the stark urban blight of an abandoned city, where the lines of race and economics are as stark as ever.
I’d like to use this post to start a feature I call “Profiles of a Deli Man”, and in this case a woman. A Deli Man is more than just a deli owner. He/she is the embodiment of the delicatessen’s ideal; someone whose very core is linked to their deli. A deli owner may run a delicatessen, but a Deli Man will live for their delicatessen. A Deli Man can work any job in a deli, from cooking the matzo ball soup, to cutting sandwiches and waiting tables. He is a tireless and selfless creature and the Jewish delicatessen exists today because of the Deli Men out there.
In Michigan I met a host of deli owners and workers, who were all very kind and interesting, but I want to talk about three figures in particular who stand out in my mind as exceptional Deli Men (and Deli Woman). (more…)
A 2nd Chance for 2nd Ave…
Saturday, February 3rd, 2007Ann Arbor, MI — Day 5 of road trip
It ain’t over until the fressers sing.
Stellar news coming out of New York. Rumors hit me a few days ago that the 2nd Ave Deli, the beloved East Village institution which closed just over a year ago, is going to reopen. The New York Sun reported the story here.
I immediately called the family and confirmed with Jack and Sharon Lebewohl, the former owners, that indeed the deli will resurrect itself under the hands of Jack’s children, Josh and Jeremy, sometime around summer/fall. The new location is going to be uptown, on 3rd Ave in the Murray Hill area of the city. The old manager of the original deli is reportedly coming on board, though no word yet on whether other staff, who are scattered at delis around New York, will be invited, and accept a return to the deli that shut them out without a goodbye when it closed last year.
When I asked Jack whether the original Yiddish lettered sign would hang above the new deli, he told me no. “Some things just can’t go in the new location.” New Yorkers and deli fans will eagerly await and see whether the 2nd Ave’s sequel can match the legendary status of the original.
Off to Chicago tomorrow just in time for superbowl madness. It’s minus a hell of a lot and blowing like crazy…looking forward to California.
DS
