Mile End Opening Night: Beginning of “The End”
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Though it once boasted hundreds of Jewish delicatessens, it’s been a long time since Brooklyn has celebrated a new deli opening in the borough. Most now exist in the southern reaches of the BRK, down in Mill Basin, Flatbush, or Coney Island. But last night, Jewish deli returned to downtown brownstone Brooklyn, when Mile End finally opened its doors.
It’s been a long time coming, ever since Brooklyn Law School student, and Montreal Jew, Noah Bernamoff began curing smoked meat in his Park Slope apartment, smoking on his roof, and serving it to friends last year. There were months of experiments, lease negotiations, construction headaches, and inspection delays. But finally, yesterday, Mile End was in business. (more…)
LA Times: Dual Duty Waiters at Langer’s and Canter’s
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Salvador Lopez, photographed during his lunchtime shift at Langer’s. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times / January 7, 2010)
This has to be one of the coolest deli stories I’ve seen in a long time:
Double-dipping waiters sandwiched between two delis
Langer’s and Canter’s share workers, who contend with different clientele and menus. Which pastrami is better? Don’t ask.
By Robert Faturechi Los Angeles Times
Salvador Lopez, a waiter at Langer’s, has the routine down pat. After a hectic lunch shift serving sandwiches on rye at the pastrami mecca next to MacArthur Park, he negotiates a series of surface streets — up Normandie, across Beverly — to make his way into the Fairfax district.
He beelines into the locker room of another renowned Jewish deli, shedding the signature Langer’s bow tie for a tight-fitting black T-shirt that reads: I ♥ Canter’s.
Lopez is not a delicatessen double agent, funneling trade secrets on Russian dressing and blintzes. The 29-year-old is one of several waiters who openly works at two of the delis that compete for the title of Los Angeles’ best.
The delis’ unique shared employee pool speaks to the changing demographics of their neighborhoods. Langer’s, surrounded by drug dealers and vendors selling fake IDs, is open for lunch only. Canter’s, in a once-sleepy neighborhood now home to cafes and clubs, draws a younger crowd well into the wee hours.
Sharing workers makes sense, the deli owners say, because top talent is rare. A good waiter who understands the makings of a mean Reuben is hard to find.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY OVER AT LATIMES.COM
Passing of a great deli man: Arnold Dworkin
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Sad news today. Arnold Dworkin, the gregarious deli man who headed up Kaufman’s Bakery and Deli in Skokie, Il, passed away yesterday.
Arnold had been ill for the past several years, and the deli was (and remians) in the hands of his daughter Bette and wife Judy.
He will be missed.
The funeral will be on Thursday, at 11:00 a.m. at Am Yisrael Congregation, 4 Happ Road, Northfield, IL.
For the shiva, please call 847-835-2081
Alef Ha Sholem Arnold. You brought joy and corned beef on rye into the lives of many.
As always, the best tribute to the man is through his deli. Please pass by for a visit.
Happy “Special” Birthday Ruth Wilensky
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Yesterday I wrote about a great deli man. Today, I’ll toast a great Deli Woman. Possibly the greatest of all.
Tomorrow, Oct 3rd, Ruth Wilensky, of Montreal’s venerable Wilensky’s Light Lunch, has a very significant birthday. How significant? So significant I have sworn not to reveal the number, but let’s say it ends in a 0 and most of us only dream of getting there. So happy birthday to you Ruth! (more…)
Sam Brummer: The Meaning of Mentch
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
There are deli owners and there are Deli Men. How do you measure the worth of a Deli Man? He lives deli, he makes no compromises, and he preserves it for future generations.
By any accounts, Sam Brummer would be a certified Deli Man par excellence. After fleeing the Nazis from Poland in 1939, Brummer found himself in the Bronx, and learned the deli trade at Clifton Deli in Lakewood, NJ; Kartzmann’s in Newark, and the Globe, near Wall Street. Over the ensuing decades he moved into Hockey’s Delicatessen in Newark, turning it into Hobby’s, which he still runs today, with his sons Marc and Michael. When other white businesses fled downtown Newark, especially after the 1968 riots, Brummer stayed, an anchor of the community. When other delis supplanted homemade meats for stuff bought from purveyors, he insisted on curing corned beef and tongues in the store…slowly…in a low cure of salt, sugar, and spices. He works there every day, even after recovering from a recent open heart surgery.
By all accounts, a Deli Man of great renown.
But there’s a few crucial details left out. (more…)
The New Caplansky’s
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Living in New York has many advantages. Theater, museums, opera…all the cultural accouterments I can read about in New York Magazine and never go to.
But it also has its disadvantages. Rats, traffic, and rent that makes Tokyo jealous.
Here’s another one, being away from my hometown Toronto, I don’t get to Pancer’s, Yitz’s, Wolfie’s, Center Street, Steeles Deli, or other local delis as often as I used to, and that’s a real shame.
So it’s taken me a few weeks to check out the new Caplansky’s, which I did on two visits back. Here’s my impression:
Me and Perlow down by Pastrami Queen
Friday, July 17th, 2009
Yesterday I had the pleasure to meet up with a longtime virtual friend in this deli crazy world, and have a nosh. Jason Perlow is an extremely well known food blogger from New Jersey, and was an early supporter of Save the Deli. His blog, Off the Broiler, is massive, and the man can eat!
We met at Pastrami Queen, an excellent little kosher deli on the Upper East Side, so that Jason could interview me for his site about the book. You’ll see the interview (actually podcast) come October, but I want to share with you the joys of our meal, as written by Jason himself in Off the Broiler. (more…)
A Tribute to Eiran Harris
Monday, January 19th, 2009
My occasional tributes on this site are to deli men, those who make, cook, and serve delicatessen foods because of a love for the tradition, the flavor, and the people who inhabit that world. Today I’d like to make a tribute to a fellow deli lover and researcher such as myself. I’d like to pay tribute to Eiran Harris.
(more…)
Mill Basin Kosher Deli
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
Well over two years ago, I was touring around Brooklyn with official borough historian Ron Schweiger, a real mensch of a guy. We were trying to cover the history of Brooklyn’s delicatessen scene, which, considering it once held more Jews than Tel Aviv, is saying something. Brooklyn’s a massive place, yet Ron, myself, and my friend Chris Farber managed to touch many of its corners, while Schweiger regaled us with tales of deli greatness, including the long lost Grabstein’s.
We stopped in at several delis that day, ate at a few, but one we didn’t was the Mill Basin Kosher Delicatessen. I swore I’d go back, and thankfully yesterday the chance presented itself. (more…)
First Taste of Lansky’s
Monday, November 17th, 2008
With so few delis opening up in New York, those that do are often greatly anticipated. They carry on their shoulders the burden of a city that loves deli but has few outlets for that love. And in Jewish neighborhoods like the Upper West Side, that love, and the few delis to receive it, makes the opening of a new deli there very significant. (more…)
