London’s Bloom’s is finished…bollocks!
Friday, June 11th, 2010
Well, if this isn’t the worst week on Save the Deli, I don’t know what is. First I write about Ottawa’s Nate’s closing. Then about Joan and Ed’s. But what comes next is surely the worst…
Our UK correspondent, Anthony Silverbrow, sent me a note this morning, informing me that London’s flagship kosher delicatessen, Bloom’s, has closed down. This is an immense tragedy for salt beef lovers. Silverbrow pointed me to an article in London’s Jewish Chronicle, which confirmed the end of Bloom’s:
Bloom’s restaurant closes in Golders Green
By Robyn Rosen, June 10, 2010
Bloom’s restaurant in Golders Green has gone into liquidation.
It has been closed since Sunday and a notice on the door asks creditors to contact insolvency firm David Rubin and Partners. A creditors’ meeting is being held on June 25.
The iconic Bloom’s restaurant in Whitechapel opened in 1920 and closed in 1996. The Golders Green branch opened in 1965 and was renovated in 2007. An Edgware outlet launched in 2007 lasted only a year.
A Bloom’s waiter, who asked not to be named, said he had not been paid for six weeks - and some colleagues had gone unpaid for longer. “I turned up on Sunday and talked to the manager who said it had closed down. Some staff had refused to work because they weren’t being paid so they had to shut. I just had to go home after that.”
Rabbi Jeremy Conway of the London Beth Din kashrut division said: “Bloom’s has flown the flag for kosher restaurants for the best part of a century. We are saddened to learn of its demise.However, we must see this sad news in the context of the constant growth of the kosher restaurant scene in London. There are now some 15 kosher establishments lining the block for so long dominated by the Bloom’s emblem. The ever-increasing number and variety of kosher restaurants is exciting and testimony to the vitality of Jewish life in London.”
Jonathan Tapper, the last link with the Bloom family, said the closure was “very sad and the end of an era. But it’s nothing to do with the family since the business was sold. It’s a shame that the name could not continue.”
For most of the 90 years, Bloom’s was the best known kosher delicatessen in London, and likely outside North America. It began in the hardscrabble east end, on Whitechappel St, center of the garment workers, and the area where London’s Jewish immigrant population settled in the same way they did in New York’s lower east side. Run by Morris and Rebecca Bloom, Lithuanian immigrants, it was a gathering spot for housewives, boxers, bookies, dockworkers, garmentos, gangsters, and others craving hand carved salt beef sandwiches. Yet its fame reached beyond the community, introducing deli to Brits of all creeds and classes, and making salt beef a nationally recognized institution. Celebrities and royals rubbed elbows with rabbis and cockney street toughs. Its fame was on par with Katz’s, and it was renowned for having the rudest waiters in all London.
Much of the East End was heavily damaged during the Nazi Blitz, and many Jewish families moved up and out to the city’s north end in the decades following the war. The suburb of Golder’s Green became London’s New Zion, with a high street boasting delicatessens, bakeries, and other smart shops, close to row houses with proper gardens. Bloom’s opened an outpost here in 1960, though the original Whitechappel location survived until a kosher inspection scandal forced it to close in 1996 (it’s now a Burger King).
I first visited Bloom’s back in the fall of 2002, with my parents, and my mom’s elderly aunt Betty, who is still kicking and kvetching in her 90’s. It was hardly the best deli meal I hate, and the waiters were indeed as rude as their reputation, but it was an iconic institution nonetheless. But things were sliding. Customers were aging and dying off. The food had been outsourced, and the salt beef wasn’t what it once was. In 2007, when I visited it last, the family had opened another outlet in Edgeware, the next suburb up the line, but it didn’t last too long. They renovated the Golder’s Green store, made it more funky, but it was just a change of window dressing.
And so Bloom’s passes like so many others into the night. Could it have been saved? Perhaps. The deli business is a game of long term strategy, and somewhere along the line, the owners made some crucially wrong moves. The focus shifted away from the food and the tradition. Quality decreased for one reason or another. Or perhaps there just wasn’t room anymore for London’s oldest Jewish delicatessen.
Either way, we hang our heads in shame, and mourn its loss.
More tsuris: Joan & Ed’s in Framingham to close in less than two weeks
Thursday, June 10th, 2010From one deli closing to another, oy. This time in Framingham, Mass:
Joan & Ed’s Deli to close forever after Father’s Day
By Charlie Breitrose/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News
Posted Jun 10, 2010 @ 10:56 AM
Last update Jun 10, 2010 @ 12:05 PM
NATICK —
A culinary icon in the Golden Triangle will shut its doors for the last time on Father’s Day, the owners of Joan & Ed’s Deli announced today.
Ed and Joan Sanderson have run the deli in the area along Rte. 9 at the
Framingham/Natick line for 33 years, but have decided it’s time to retire.
“We hate to call it quits but there comes a time to hang it up,” Ed said.
“We will be closing (at the end of) Father’s Day, June 20, so we can give people time to come by and say goodbye.”
Joan and Ed’s is the longest running restaurant in the Golden Triangle,
besides Ken’s Steakhouse, Ed said. The Sandersons prided themselves in serving many products made right there in the restaurant, such as pastries, knishes, briskets and kugle.
The deli started in Framingham’s Shoppers World in 1977, and then moved
across Rte. 9 and across the town line to Natick’s Sherwood Plaza (now near the Christmas Tree Shops) in 1994.
Running an independent restaurant has become more difficult, too, Ed said.
“It’s harder to fight the battle with the economy, with insurance, government programs, health insurance and regulations,” Ed said. “Years ago when we first opened, there were dozens of delis, now can count on one or two hands.”
This morning, the Sandersons told their 32 employees about their plans to
close the deli. The couple, who lives in Framingham, plans to spend more time
with friends and family, and enjoy their home in Maine.
Go while you can.
Joan & Ed’s Deli Restaurant
www.jedeli.com
Sherwood Plaza - Route 9 East
1298 Worcester Road, Natick, MA 01760, United States
(508) 653-4442
Nate’s in Ottawa finally closes
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010Back from my honeymoon and cleaning out the inbox. It’s not the best way to start my new married life as a deli lover, but I did come across some sad and important news relating to the final days of Nate’s deli in Ottawa. I’ll let the Ottawa Citizen take up the rest of the story:
Nate’s Deli closes its doors after half a century
By Jennifer Green, The Ottawa Citizen May 25, 2010
OTTAWA — As the fluorescent lights went dim and the lineups finally diminished, the staff at Nate’s Deli on Rideau had nothing left in them but sore feet and sighs. The Ottawa landmark had closed for good on its 50th anniversary.
“We made it,” said Tony Paolino, leaning on the counter where he has sliced and served smoked meat since 1979. “These last few weeks have been crazy.”
Ever since word got around that Dave Smith was hanging up
his apron, customers have been streaming into 316 Rideau St., getting that last smoked meat, wishing the staff well.
Etna Greening — her intravenous line tucked into her purse beside her — was enjoying a final Reuben at 7:40 p.m., just 20 minutes before closing. Against her doctors’ advice, she left the hospital for one last sandwich at Nate’s. “It’s so damn good.”
Dave Smith, in a white T-shirt, apron, and his Order of Canada pin, leaned back, exhausted, as Maureen and Emile Arial made their way out. They had dated at the deli and now, years later, they had to come back to say goodbye for one last dinner. Of course, Smith ever the host, gave them both great hugs.
As waiter Blake Robertson slid her order in front of one woman, she said to him: “It’s so sad. Where will I get my smoked meat?”
“Sad! I’m unemployed,” he replied with a laugh. “I got a bigger problem. Where am I going to get my rent money?”
Robertson had worked at the place on and off since he was 13 or 14, starting by washing dishes.
Now, at 52, he’s going to take a few weeks off, drive around in his new convertible, and then look for work.
Not everyone lasted that long. One guest book entry recalled: “I was an employee in 1975. Maybe one week.”
Smith said younger wait staff often struggled. “It was hard for them to understand the menu. The knishes and the latkes. They didn’t know what they were.”
READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE
CHECK OUT THE PHOTO GALLERY FROM NATE’S FINAL DAYS HERE
photo credit: Christopher Pike
So long Nate’s. You’ll be missed dearly.
Jewish Star: Kosher Subways hit roadblocks
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
A few months back, someone interviewed me about the significance of Subway opening a kosher store. Now, someone interviewed me on the significance of Subway closing a kosher store in Queens (different location). I personally could care less about Subway, one way or another, but some of you have strong opinions on it. Is kosher Subway a force for good? Or evil? Or meh?
In a story from the Jewish Star, of Long Island:
Kosher Subways hit roadblock
By Michael Orbach
Some latter-day Biblical critics have suggested that Jews and deli may have been the 11th Commandment. Broad generalities aside, given the Jewish fondness for pastrami on club and its sandwich siblings, who would think that a kosher Subway franchise in a heavily Jewish neighborhood could be a bad idea?
Alas, reality is bitter. Two kosher versions of the national restaurant chain have failed in this region. A Subway on Ave. J in Midwood, blocks from the real subway, closed months ago; the other, on Central Avenue in Cedarhurst, shut last month.
“A lot of that is related to our inability to take advantage of the economies of scale,” explained Les Winograd, a spokesman for Subway. Each restaurant is individually owned but franchisees tap into the collective buying power of 23,000 stores in the U.S., said Winograd. That is of limited value to kosher stores.
“With kosher locations we have to source kosher products from suppliers that are in the region, and so they only might be providing food for a very small number of locations,” he said. “Also, for a kosher store to be operating, it has to follow local rabbinical supervision and go to a different supplier than one in another area.”
The store’s owner then goes on to blame the local kosher authorities for ruining his business, and the Vaad tosses the blame back his way. But there’s more interesting stuff further down, about the failure of kosher fast food outlets worldwide:
“I think it was a fad,” Krevat said of a kosher Subway. “When we landed in Israel the first place my daughter wanted to go was Burger King. It’s a forbidden fruit. That will get you trial but unless you can deliver a fair product at a fair price, it isn’t going to last.”
As it happens, Orgad Holdings, which owns the Burger King franchise rights in Israel, announced this week that its 55 locations would become Burger Ranch restaurants this summer.
My own opinion? I really don’t think the fate of Subways make any difference in the greater Jewish food story. It has nothing to do with our traditions, our flavors, or our communities. It’s just business. Brought in, made kosher, and then just trying to survive like everyone else. There’s a lot of people in the kosher world who think that fast food style service, operations, and franchises will save kosher delicatessens. They all realize that there’s no magic answer. At the end of the day, people will go to a kosher Subway (or McDonalds, Burger King, etc…) the first time out of curiosity. But to get them to come back, you have to serve good food for a price that people are willing to pay.
Deli Street Food Meets San Francisco
Friday, May 7th, 2010
(credit: stacey palevsky and nina lau)
San Francisco’s time is at hand. You heard it here folks.
The city is on the fringes of deli greatness. Saul’s in Berkeley is leading the sustainable deli movement nationwide, while local stalwarts like Miller’s and Moishe’s Pippic are keeping the city stocked with corned beef. Down in San Carlos, the Refuge is boasting world class pastrami. So far, these are the green shoots of something. We’re flirting with wonder here. The city, which boasts deli lovers, great ingredients, and serious foodies, has just lacked that kick to bring the great Northern California deli movement to the forefront.
Well, it’s here. And it’s right on the streets. Reports J Weekly:
(credit: Emily Savage)
Takin’ it to the streets: Jewish vendors add deli favorites to S.F. mobile food scene
by emily savage, staff writer
San Francisco’s Madame Bubbles was on her way to teach Hebrew school a few weeks ago when a small crowd of curious bystanders gathered around her.
Riding her 1950s-style adult tricycle, Madame Bubbles, aka Amelia Nahman, had a large basketful of chocolate syrup, milk and seltzer — for making egg creams, the classic East Coast deli beverage.
Nahman typically serves her nine-ounce egg creams at bar or bat mitzvahs, in municipal parks or on the sidewalk in front of bakeries. But on that particular day she was shlepping her ingredients to Congregation Sha’ar Zahav to whip up some samples for her students.
It seems that the inquisitive passersby had a different idea.
In fact, she ended up selling so many egg creams — made with homemade seltzer and served in compostable potato-starch cups — that she didn’t have enough left for her students. But don’t feel too bad for the kids; they’ll get to taste a real New York egg cream soon enough, at a Sha’ar Zahav picnic in Dolores Park on Saturday, May 8. Nahman has been invited to pedal over and serve up her treats.
Nahman’s egg cream business, named simply “Egg Cream Cart,” is part of an ever-expanding group of specialty food-cart vendors popping up across the nation, primarily in San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles and New York. Call it a movement if you will, and it’s growing at a “gastronomical” rate thanks to a perfect storm of social networking and an active foodie community. CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST
The story goes on to detail other Jewish street food vendors in San Francisco, like Pearl’s Kitchen:
(credit: Nina Lau)
The menu for Pearl’s Kitchen consists of corned beef hash and egg salad sandwiches on homemade dill bread during brunch hours; and sweet noodle kugel and carved corned beef sandwiches on rye with mustard slurry at evening gatherings. The Bownes charge between $5 and $7 per item, and some of the food is cooked on-site, such as fried eggs in the mornings, made to order on a portable burner.
When Lauren and Jon arrive at street-food gatherings, they set up a large table, a propane gas burner and a variety of chafing dishes, along with a board listing that day’s menu. People amble by and typically have one of two reactions: “What is noodle kugel?” or “Oh my God, I haven’t seen kugel like that since my grandma made it.”
And this is just the start folks. When I was in San Francisco, I heard from several young foodsters who were interested in starting trucks, carts, and stands that will feature Jewish foods. A revolution is brewing in America’s most beautiful city. Get out there and taste it!
Forward asks “Can Pastrami Conquer the Palate in the Land of Hummus and Falafel?”
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
(there’s a deli on those shores)
From today’s Forward, a look at the new Jewish deli that’s become a bit of a sensation in Tel Aviv:
Can Pastrami Conquer the Palate in the Land of Hummus and Falafel?
by Gil Shefler
At Ruben, a new restaurant with a distinctly American Jewish flavor, there’s almost no need for a menu; the thick smell of pastrami is like a business card for the eatery’s unabashed focus on smoked meats. Patrons can choose among freshly sliced heaps of pastrami, turkey or a mix, placed between two thin slices of rye with sauerkraut and a schmear of mustard, horseradish or harrisa — a Tunisian hot sauce that is one of the few concessions made to suit the local palate.
Since it opened several months ago, Ruben has carved out a following for pastrami on rye in the land of pita and falafel. While American-themed restaurants have been around for a while, Ruben is the first to devote itself entirely to cold cut sandwiches and has won the distinction of being called Israel’s first authentic Jewish deli by the local press. This month, in fact, Ruben will become a chain when a new branch opens at another Tel Aviv location, with one more new opening planned soon after.
“Ruben’s success has exceeded our expectations,” bragged Gavriel Zilber, 31, one of the restaurant’s owners. “I think we’re successful because Israelis recognize the quality of our product. But also, it reminds them of visits to New York and Montreal.”
It may come as a surprise to some that it took 61 years for Israel to be able to boast its first deli. But it shouldn’t. Despite impressions, this is not quite Ashkenazi food from “the Old Country.” Delis serving hallmark fare like oversized sandwiches and matzo balls larger than baseballs are a distinctly American creation. Eastern European Jews invented them only after their arrival in the New World, around the turn of the 20th century, and combined Old Country staples with local favorites and ingredients. Similar variants developed among Jewish communities in places like France and the United Kingdom but not in Israel, where local cuisine evolved in a different direction.
David Sax, author of “Save the Deli,” which tells the story of the increasingly endangered Jewish delicatessen, says there are a number of reasons that the deli never made it to the Holy Land.
“The climate made it very difficult for people to grow the produce, especially raise cattle for such a meat-based food,” Sax said in a telephone interview from New York. “Also, the food itself doesn’t suit the climate as much. Then there was the clear philosophical break Israel’s founding fathers made with the Diaspora, and [the indigenous] falafel became the official food of Israel.” CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE
Hebrew National discontinues Mustard
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
(Adios amigo)
This just in. Word from the deli world that Hebrew National is discontinuing their branded deli mustard, due to declining sales.
A letter from Hebrew National’s corporate owners ConAgra stated the following to delis on April 30th:
Due to declining sales, we will be discontinuing production of our Hebrew National branded mustard. The following three SKUs will no longer be available for sale as of May 1st, 2010:
• 74956-18512 HBN 4/1GAL DELI MUSTARD
• 74956-18507 HBN 12/12OZ SQZ BTL. DELI MUSTARD
• 74956-18517 HBN 12/24OZ DELI MUSTARD
This is just one more move away from traditional deli for Hebrew National. Since its purchase by food industry giant ConAgra in 1993, traditional deli products have disappeared on a regular basis. ConAgra wants to sell hot dogs to Cosco and Sam’s Club, not pastramis to small delis. Deli industry insiders say its only a matter of time before Hebrew National moves out of the deli business entirely.
Such a shame.
Save the Deli Wins A James Beard Award!
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
(Yes, that’s a Hawaiian tie)
Well deli lovers, we did it. Last night Save the Deli won a James Beard award in the category of Writing and Literature!
It was a wild night. I haven’t shvitzed that intensely since I was at a Russian banya. There was every kind of treyf you could imagine, great friends from the food world, and enough mixed alcohol to give me a hangover for the rest of today (hence, the late entry).
Thanks to everyone who made this happen. That means you.
We’ve Won a Canadian Jewish Book Award
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
Exciting news! Save the Deli has just won the 2010 Canadian Jewish Book Award for Memoir/Biography.
Now, while I don’t quite get the memoir/biography thing, I’m really honored and quite blown away.
The awards ceremony takes place in just under a month, on May 27th, at the Al Green theatre in Toronto’s downtown JCC (great shvitz there). I will not be attending (I’ll be on my honeymoon), but my dapper Canadian publisher and editor Doug Pepper will be there to accept on my behalf. Tickets are free.
This is definitely some great news, and a thanks to those who nominated and voted for Save the Deli.
Next up, the James Beard Awards, which take place this sunday in NYC, and where Save the Deli is nominated in the category of Writing and Literature. Hopefully it’ll be another dose of naches.
A deli saved in Calgary
Monday, April 19th, 2010
photo credit: Colleen De Neve, Calgary Herald
Sometimes it takes more to save a deli than just writing a book or blog post about it. Sometimes a deli’s salvation needs people to pitch it, help out, and take risks. Sometimes, just sometimes, it requires a community to step up to the plate and do what’s right.
That’s the story out of Calgary recently, when the owners of the Haifa Kosher Deli were hospitalized, and the deli threatened to shut down. In a small community like Calgary’s, where the kosher popoulation relies on a place like Haifa for much of their food, this would have been terrible. ShalomLife picks up the story:
In late December, co-owner Ivor Kavin underwent open heart surgery and his wife Denise was left all alone to run the deli. The job took a toll on her health and shortly after Ivor’s surgery, Denise came down with bronchial asthma and infected lungs. As soon as Ivor returned home from the operation, he took over the store but fell ill again and ended up in the hospital at the same time as his wife. That’s when the community stepped in.
“They are a group of angels,” Denise said about the volunteers to the Calgary Herald. “How do you thank them all?”
Sheila Martin led the pack after hearing about the couple’s misfortunes. She phoned the House of Jacob-Mikhev synagogue to recruit volunteers. Soon, about 20 volunteers signed up for rotating shifts.
There’s another story about the effort in the Calgary Herald as well.
This underscores more than anything I’ve heard, seen, or written about that the link between Jewish delicatessens and their communities are deeper than those of other businesses. It’s not just a restaurant, it’s a lifeline for kosher eating (if it’s kosher), lifecycle catering (bris’ to shivas), and love between patrons and owners.
Zay Gezunt to you all Calgary. Maybe my brother left your city too soon.
Haifa Deli
haifadeli.ca
3109 Palliser Dr. SW
Calgary, Alberta
(T2V 4W5) CANADA
TE: (403) 238-0525
FAX: (403) 640-1977
