Caplansky’s is coming to Toronto
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008Oh joy of joys!
Here in Toronto, sweet as the deli may be, it is unfortunately all rather far from where I live. Though deli began in the downtown Kensington Market area, which later became Chinatown, the last deli to leave the city core did so decades back. Downtown Toronto is largely deli deprived, save the New Yorker Deli, which I’ve been to a few times.
But in the areas where the Jewish core of Toronto once grew…Chinatown, College, the Annex…there ain’t a knish in sight. (more…)
Knish Press
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
+ 
= knish press
I read something in the New York Times today (honestly other newspapers…why do you even try?) that blew my socks off. It was nestled in an article about new, unknown sandwiches, and it was simply a revelation.
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Sadie Katz Delicatessen brings haymish tastes to Vermont
Thursday, April 10th, 2008
Photo courtesy of Emily J. Nelson, Free Press
If you, like me, spent the better (or worse) part of your adolescence listening to the wayyyy out guitar solos and instrumental mashups of 1990’s Vermont jam band Phish, you’ll have a soft spot for the city of Burlington, Vermont. A hippy paradise on a lake, close to the ski hills of Stowe and Mad River, with a rocking college scene draped in tie dye and reeking of bong hits, it remains a musical mecca for mellow heads.
Sure, Vermont’s a goyish place, but it’s goyish in that friendly, milk drinking, butter churning, maple syrup sipping way. It’s a land of Subarus and bumper stickers, and probably one of the nicest states in the whole union. Now, Vermont can boast a Jewish deli of its own, after the Sadie Katz Delicatessen recently opened. (more…)
Rascal House: The Final Indignity
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Barbara P. Fernandez for The New York Times
I know, I know. Enough with the Rascal House already. It’s done, dead, finished. Toyt Fahrtik Gishtorbin.
But what can I do? This was THE deli of south Florida, and its death is pure tragedy. It’s been closed for three days, but I was sent this story in the New York Times from my publisher, and there was something inside that just ground my gears. (more…)
Death of a Deli: Rascal House
Monday, March 31st, 2008
DONNA E. NATALE PLANAS / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
The historic Wolfie Cohen’s Rascal House, an institution in what is now Sunny Isles Beach since 1954, is closing its doors. Pictured here is waitress Lorraine Willow wiping tears from her eye thinking about leaving her job of 22 years.
What I found most disheartening about last weekend’s death of Miami’s famous Rascal House was what little public outcry there was in the area before it happened. I searched in vain for articles or editorials lambasting Jerry’s Famous Deli’s decision to first turn the Rascal House into condos, and then into a luxury supermarket…all to no avail. I think using the words “death” to describe the end of a deli’s life is appropriate. To us lovers of deli, they are more than simply food service businesses. Because they contain the warmth of family, with a vibrant, organic feel, they are more like living creatures than buildings. We feel their hot, garlicky breath, we kiss their meaty lips, and we feel their pains. A business closing is sad, but death we feel in the heart. (more…)
Sunday is Rascal House’s last
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Wolfie Cohen’s Rascal House 1954-2008
And so this sunday it will come to be.
The Rascal House, arguably the most famous of all Florida’s numerous Jewish delicatessens, will go into the sunset after one final brunch. Friends who have been in the past weeks have said it’s deserted, and many thought it was already closed. I just called and spoke with the cashier, who, in her wisecracking, war-weary voice, told me that Sunday would be the final day of business. Then the sticky buns and buttery rugelach would go away, as would the towering corned beef sandwiches and platters of lox. In a few months a new Epicure market will open in its place, serving overpriced Jewish goods and exotic fruits from all over the world. Gone will be the soul, the taste, the schmaltz and the Tam, and I don’t think it will ever return to Miami Beach again. Wolfie Cohen’s empire, once encompassing Wolfie’s, Pumpernik’s, and Rascal House, is done.
It’s the end of an era, but at least I had the chance to taste it. Sad to see one of the great American delis dying, though it should renew us all with a sense of purpose as to what we’re here to save.
Alef Hasholem Rascal House.
Rest in Peace
Purim’s Triangle Treats, plus Refuge correction
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
Two gorgeous specimen from Max & Benny’s in Northbrook, Il
Today is Purim, literally the sweetest of the Jewish holidays. To those who don’t know, it’s basically a celebration of an averted Holocaust when the Jews were living in the Persian empire during the Babylonian exile, around 6 BCE. The short story is that the Persian King Ahasuerus / Xerxes (yes, the villain from “300″ all painted in gold) had an advisor called Haman, who didn’t like a guy called Mordechai, who was a Jew. And like all good anti-Semities, his best solution was to plot the death of all Jews, and get the king to support it. But Mordechai, who was the palace guard, had a secret weapon: a stunning Jewess called Esther, who he’d adopted as an orphan. The king falls in love with Esther, and like all good Jewish women, she gives him sound advice in his business affairs, averting a genocide, resulting in Haman’s hanging, and the salvation of the Jews…Amen.
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Stage Deli (NY) closed by health inspector
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
Believe me friends, it gives me no joy to report this, but news is news and Jews love nothing more than a sanitary toilet. The New York Times is reporting today that 7th Ave’s famous Stage Delicatessen has been closed by New York’s health department for violation including vermin (that’s rats and roaches folks), since last weekend.
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San Francisco’s new Refuge: Gourmet deli/wine bar
Monday, March 17th, 2008
Last year when I was in San Francisco, I saw traces of an emerging gourmet deli scene. The city has long been a central player in high end American gastronomy. Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, Thomas Keller and the French Laundry, and the recently opened Ferry Building Marketplace. It is arguably the starting point of Asian food in America, and remains the best place in the country to live on a 100 mile diet (what with Napa and Sonoma so close by). Northern California is blessed with ingredients, culinary talent, and a willingness to step it up in the kitchen.
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Matzo Balls by the Dozen at Kenny and Ziggy’s
Monday, March 10th, 2008In the whole world of Ashkenazi cuisine and deli foods there’s nothing I love more than matzo ball soup. Last year, as I drove around the United States, eating at delis coast to coast, I ate a lot of things. Usually I took several bites and moved on, careful not to fill up on pastrami, corned beef, knishes, Reubens, brisket, cabbage rolls, etc… But I always had time for matzo ball soup. It was the one thing I never tired of, and often the most enjoyable part of any deli meal. This must go back to childhood memories, or simply feelings of comfort, but at the end of it, matzo balls are just great in my opinion, and I feel like I could eat them endlessly.
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