TRIBUTE David Sax at Hobby’s, one of two delis in Newark.
Posted on 10/07/2009 7:32:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
HOBBY’S DELICATESSEN & RESTAURANT in downtown Newark may have lost much of its more traditional clientele over the years, but it has held on to tradition. The corned beef and the tongue are cured for 14 days in stainless steel bins in the basement. The salamis hanging on the wall look as if they’ve been drying there, their flavor intensifying, since the Brummer family bought the place in 1962.
Samuel Brummer and his sons, Michael and Marc, even make their own matzo ball soup and potato pancakes.
But in Newark, as in so many cities, holding on has been tough for delis.
“In 1945, there were 12 delis in Newark,” said Samuel Brummer, 86. “Now we are only two.”
Old customers moved on, but new ones keep them going.
“Our clientele used to be 10 percent black and 75 percent Jewish,” he said. “Now it is 50/50.”
David Sax, a 30-year-old freelance writer, listened and nodded. Many delis are seeing more African-American customers.
“In many ways, deli owners in places like Detroit or Chicago have told me, they are better deli clients than Jews,” Mr. Sax said referring to African-Americans. “They accept it as it is. Take a corned beef sandwich. A Jewish customer will say, ‘I want the corned beef lean, from the middle of the brisket,’ because their grandfathers did. It’s like Jews going to a Chinese restaurant. They love it for what it is and they are better clients because of it.”
Mr. Sax loves delis for what they are and mourns the loss of so many of them around the country. For the last two years he has been writing the blog Save the Deli celebrating great delis and chronicling their demise.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
TRIBUTE David Sax at Hobby’s, one of two delis in Newark.
How long will be allowed to eat Salami?
Schools now have been mandated by Obama -meatless Mondays!
Can you send me a black & white?
As a Catholic, would I be out of line making that request?
Probably vote Democrat and Dems turned NJ and Newark into a sewer.
You cannot beat a good deli...or a great corner pizza place...
Lakehurst New Jersey, 1978, Lakehurst Pizzaria. They made their own sauce and sausage, and a killer Sicilian pie that five of us Airdales couldn’t eat at one sitting....they made it on a standard sheet pan and the thing was humongous...
I had a very good friend (God Bless you Russ Kolens, where ever you are...) who used to take a few of us up to New York and do the town on long weekends. He took us to a deli in the heart of Brooklyn, and they would slice you a taste of anything you wanted, then build you a sandwich that had to weigh five pounds.
Sliced hot pastrami, piled about a foot high, with German potato salad, a huge kosher dill and a beer...life was great...
What a contrast as going to a ‘Subway’ where they measure out a measly slice of meat that gets lost in the bread and lettuce. As a youth in suburban Long Island, NY we had small deli’s where roast beef, chicken salads, salami’s and all the condiments were fresh and piled high on the hero.
Really miss those little deli’s from yesteryears gone by.
I keep meaning to stop by Langer’s for a GREAT pastrami sandwich. Absolute heaven!
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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I was drooling over the Katz’s Deli footage on Travel Channel (or was it Food Channel...no matter). I can’t get a sandwich like that in Georgia. Corned beef brined for a month, and wood-smoked pastrami, hand-sliced, piled so high you can’t fit it into your mouth, with mustard or as a reuben. I want to Go There. They will airship all their meats, but it’s cost prohibitive.
No good Jewish Deli’s in KC. The old New York Deli on Troost is tired and about closed.
St. Louis Has Lester’s a sports bar and Jewish style deli in Ladue. Its quite good but the only thing Jewish is Lester.
As a Catholic, would I be out of line making that request?
You don't have to be *MOT
Most places will make it lean or fatty or in between....per your request
Lots of pastrami and corned beef connoisseurs want it on the fatty side because the fat is where most of the flavor is
*MOT= member of the tribe
He took us to a deli in the heart of Brooklyn........
That place may or may not exist anymore
Only on Fridays!...or has that changed too?
My brother used to take me to a Deli in Englewood, NJ, corned beef and tongue with Russian dressing, light rye. chicken soup with a matzo ball, and celery soda. If I lived in the area I would weigh 400#, Bobs brother try this or try that.
I love delis, but we just can’t afford them. Here in SoCal, we’re looking at $50 plus tip for two adults and three kids aged 5-11. If they cut their prices we’d go more often.
We hit Canter’s in L.A. Christmas morning on the way from one Grandma’s to the next. And that’s about it for the year.
Does the “Hat” still exist in Upland? Lordy, great pastrami
It does but I’ve never eaten there. (I haven’t eaten meat since 1991)
THANKS!!! (now to get the drool outta da keyboard)
I like it lean. Every time I click on this thread I get way too hungry. My friend had pastrami from the Carnegie Deli shipped to him in California.
I’m originally from Brooklyn. The pizza and the Italian bakeries were great.
Ratners on 2nd Avenue on the lower east side of New York was the best Jewish deli and restaurant.
Ratners! That’s the place! Is it still there, and do they still slice you free samples??
I swear, that was the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten, anywhere at any time, and I’ve eaten at places all over the World...
Ever notice how all Subway's sandwiches taste alike. It's like some sort of underlying chemical Subway's flavor permeates all their sandwiches whether they are roast beef sandwiches or seafood sandwiches. All the same. And I hate how the meat is carefully measured out.
Canter's. I knew one of the sandwich guys there. One evening he told me he needed to go to the airport to catch a plane and needed a ride. I quickly volunteered. As a resutl whenever I went to Canter's after that, he loaded up my sandwiches and food orders extra large and got charged the regular price. I also had the same deal at the Pantry Cafe because a manager there was a fan of a comix magazine I used to publish.
After that, you can die a happy man.
I’m sorry; I live in Tucson; haven’t been back there in over 30 years. I suppose we could google it.
There’s some awful dressing they put on their sandwiches; I never could understand how anyone could think this place is so great.... YECK!!
“As a Catholic, would I be out of line making that request?”
No, but we’d known you were really Jewish and just trying to pass as Italian.
Kosher meat has to be flown in to CA. Very $$$.
Have you tried Schlomo and Vito’s in Tucson? I know the folks who own it (and they fly in meat from NY) and they are originally from Long Island. Their matzo ball soup is good too.
Carnegie was ok but the staff incredibly sour.
Here in Nshville we had Wolfies and Goldies...not sure if they are still open.
We also have Noshville....it's not bad.....more a tribe restaurant than a deli...Jewish owned. One is a pretty good buddy of mine..one of my favorite liberal pals...we just talk about food and nani...not politics..lol
both the owners are southern Jews but they paid attention...
Katz’s was for sale last year (the neighborhood has been gentrified, and condos have been sprouting like kudzu), but the family took it off the block when they couldn’t get the right price. It survives...for now.
Ratner’s has been gone for five years now. Victim of the Lower East Side becoming tre chic and condofied.
There are only a handful of Jewish delis in Manhattan left (Mendy's, Sarge's, Ben's), and I can't think of any in Brooklyn. The Haredi neighborhoods have some kosher take out places, but most of those folks eat at home.
There used to be a great place on Lydig Avenue in the Bronx that was still hanging on in the 1990s, but it is most likely gone.
When I attended NYU, I lived on east 10th between 2nd and 1st Aves.Ratners was milchig. Great split pea soup with ersatz ham.
You had to go to Katz's for fleishig.
But on the corner of E 10th and 2nd southeast corner
was the best meat Deli in the village;
Barbara Streisand used to show up for Corned Beef
You are referring to the 2nd Avenue Deli, which is now in Midtown. The original location that you speak of is now a bank.
They would charge by the weight of the meat. Later I moved to Denver, went to the best Jewish Deli, My favorite was a turkey club all the way.
Loved it with Russian Dressing.
they served turkey roll not roasted turkey. Bllllaaakkkk.
Is Canter’s opposite that stupid LA farmer’s market? I think I once ate there
I like it lean. Every time I click on this thread I get way too hungry.......
I like it lean too. My days of eating fatty greasy foods are over....so I hope. Just too bad for the health
Not far. It's west of the L.A. Farmer's market. I also used to go to a place across the street from the Farmer's market just to the south. I forgot the name but they served a terrific spaghetti dinner at a low price. One day I was eating there when the whole restaurant shook slightly. Then a moment later it shook violently and we heard an explosion. Everybody poured outside and it was like a scene from hell. Fire erupting from the ground. Natural gas rushing out that caught fire. Soooooo...I called up the city desk of the Herald Examiner and told the guy about the huge fire. Surly desk guy told me it was no big deal and I argued this was very different than ordinary fires. Still the desk guy was reluctant to send anybody out to check on it. That evening the fire made the national news...and soon afterwards the Herald Examiner began publishing my columns more frequently.
If youre in chicago I recommend romanian kosher sausage company on clark and touhy on the north side. They have the best meats and the hot dogs are to die for. My goyish friends have me bring back for them everytime I go to chicago for my kosher food.
Good story. You are lucky you don’t have to live there now
One of the few things I do miss about California is spearfishing in the kelp beds. Just go to Malibu, swim out a few hundred yards to the kelp beds, and spear a bunch of rockfish or calico bass. I really enjoyed that despite the cold water.
D3 A K2 cod liver oil would help seasonal affective disorder....Don’t you think?
You think those fish are still there or gone due to too mnay spear fishermen. Isn’t it amazing how at least five guys get killed each year in Florida lobster season?
The only thing that helps SAD is artificial sunlight. If the kelp beds are still there, then the fish should be there. The first time I dove in the kelp beds I was amazed at the number of fish hanging out there. I immediately purchased a speargun and became addicted to that sport. I spent one entire August doing nothing but spearfishing every day. You have to go early, about 6 A.M. because by noon the wind kicks up and that causes the waves to churn which limits the visibility below the surface. On a few rare occasions, the visibility was good all day and I would stay out spearfishing all day, resting only by hanging onto a dive tube periodically.
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