Preserving noshing life
Long live the Jewish delicatessen, ‘a hallowed temple of salted and cured meats’
By JENNIFER GOLDBERG, JOSH SAYLES and DEBORAH SUSSMAN SUSSER
A
moment of silence for Katz's, please. A Phoenix institution, the Central Avenue
deli found itself the victim of a combination of factors, including light-rail
construction and a devastating death in the family, and closed for good this
summer. Phoenicians old and young miss its haimish atmosphere, its fire hash
and its endless opportunities for kibitzing.
The demise of Katz's is part of a trend, says David Saks, founder of the Web site savethedeli.com. Saks devotes much of his time to visiting and writing about delis around the country - he's just written a book called "Save the Deli," due out from Houghton Mifflin in the fall of 2009 - and he's billed on his site as a man with a vision: "to save the corned beef sandwich and egg cream from culinary extinction by preserving their natural habitat - the Jewish Deli." (His is also the site that calls the deli "a hallowed temple of salted and cured meats.")
The best delis, according to Saks, are those that do things the old way. "If they're cooking the food the way their grandparents did when they arrived - it's going to be better." But the deli life is not an easy one. "It's a calling," he says simply. "It's a 24-hour-a-day job and you don't get a day off."
Fortunately, there are several good delis left in the greater Phoenix area. We urge you to frequent them. Be part of the tradition, and help keep that tradition alive.
So go, nosh, kibitz. You won't be sorry.
-Deborah Sussman Susser
Chompie's
Many delis are family affairs, and Chompie's, a Valley institution for nearly
30 years, is a case in point. Founded by transplanted New Yorkers Lovey and Lou
Borenstein, Chompie's began as a strip-mall bagel shop and today has three Valley
locations, plus a downtown wholesale bakery.
Still, the restaurants maintain their homey feel.
"The other day, my mom stood in the center of the restaurant and yelled at me," says Mark Borenstein, the middle of the couple's three adult children (all are involved in the family business).
The family atmosphere is echoed in the extensive menu, which features large portions of Jewish family favorites, including brisket, knishes and matzah ball soup, plus a full breakfast menu, salads, burgers and more.
Locations: Paradise Valley Mall, Tatum Boulevard and Cactus Road, Phoenix;
9301 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale; 1160 E. University Drive, Tempe
Hours: 6 a.m.-9 p.m. daily, Phoenix and Scottsdale; 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and
7 a.m.-8 p.m. Sat. and Sun., Tempe
Customer favorites: Bagels, mile-high sandwiches and Mish-Mosh soup (chicken
soup with noodles, kreplach and matzah balls)
Contact: 602-710-2910, Phoenix; 480-860-0475, Scottsdale; 480-557-0700, Tempe;
chompies.com
Goldman's Deli
There are restaurants in Scottsdale with the word "deli" in their name,
but real deli lovers will be disappointed by many of them.
Not so Goldman's Deli. It may look from the outside like just another generic strip-mall restaurant, but inside, it's 100- percent authentic Chicago-style Jewish cuisine, as billed. Chicagoan Gregory Goldman and his wife, Rozalia, own the place, and their daughter and son, Anat and Sam, work there with them.
The food is homemade (Rozalia does the baking), the portions are generous, the meat is sliced while you wait.
The difficult part about eating at Goldman's is deciding what to order, because it's all so good: The whitefish? Delicious. The matzah ball soup? Fragrant. Or today's special: leg of lamb, served with rice? Rich with tomatoey goodness. Maybe a little of everything - and of course some hamentaschen for the road.
Location: 6929 N. Hayden Road, Suite C-2, Scottsdale
Hours: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
Specialties: Brisket, chopped liver, kreplach, matzah ball soup
Customer favorites: The dinner specials are popular, as are the soups and sandwiches.
Contact: 480-367-9477
Kashman's Place
It was definitely a first: We've never been in a restaurant where the owners
urged us to "try the water - it's delicious."
Kashman's Place owners Nancy and Steve Kashman are proud of their water - which achieves a clean, fresh taste by an osmosis process that takes out most of the minerals and replicates New York City water - and the food they make with it.
The Kashmans moved out to Arizona nearly 10 years ago from New Orleans - both to be near their son and to create a business of their own. Their original idea was a bagel shop, since Steve worked in one in New York for many years, but the concept soon morphed into a restaurant.
Kashman's is open for breakfast and lunch, and serves its full menu all day. Many of the dishes evolved from family recipes; the matzah ball soup comes from Steve's mother, while the latke recipe is courtesy of Nancy's.
"Our philosophy is that people are coming into our home," Nancy says. "When you have guests, you welcome them: The place is clean, the food is fresh, and you want people to be comfortable."
Locations: Pinnacle Peak, 23426 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, The Summit,
32531 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
Hours: Pinnacle Peak, 6 a.m.-3 p.m. daily; The Summit, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily
Customer favorites: Bagels and breakfast "bagelwiches," latkes, matzah
ball soup and Steve's Reuben (corned beef or turkey with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut
and mustard on rye)
Contact: Pinnacle Peak, 480-585-6221; The Summit, 480-488-5274; or kashmansplace.net
Miracle Mile Deli
George Garcia went to work for Jack Grodzinsky at Miracle Mile Delicatessen in
1969, as a 15-year-old high school freshman, busing tables. He never left. Garcia
and his wife, Jill, who is Grodzinksy's daughter, eventually took over half the
franchise in 1992 when Jill's parents retired.
Though there have been many locations for Miracle Mile over the course of nearly 60 years, there are currently two, both of which are now owned and operated by the Garcias.
Grodzinsky opened his first restaurant, Pat's CafÇ, in 1949 in downtown Phoenix. In the early 1950s, he bought a second restaurant, Henry's Corned Beef Junction, on a stretch of McDowell Road at 16th Street known as "The Miracle Mile;" and Grodzinsky renamed his new business the "Miracle Mile Delicatessen." Little did he know that his restaurant would become a mainstay in the Phoenix deli industry.
Locations: 1949 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix; 7700 W. Arrowhead Towne Center,
Glendale
Hours: Phoenix, 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun.; Glendale, 10:30
a.m.-8:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sun.
Customer favorites: Corned beef and pastrami, including the "Straw" (hot
pastrami, melted Swiss and hot sauerkraut)
Contact: Phoenix, 602-776-0992; Glendale, 623-979-3430; or miraclemiledeli.com
Scott's Generations
When Scott's Generations opened its doors in 1989, Scott Snyder and his father,
Gene, were hardly new to the business. Scott, who has been the restaurant's sole
owner for just under two years now, remembers helping out in his father's New
York deli when he was just 5 or 6 years old.
"My dad was in the business," he says. "Three generations of us were in the business. My grandfather was in the deli business in New York."
Big is the name of the game at Scott's, from the triple-decker sandwich to the famous meatloaf to the cheesecake brownie, if you still have room for dessert.
"Almost all of my customers are regulars - twice, three, four, five times a week," Snyder says. "I have one customer who is here probably more than I am. I mean I take vacations and I take a day off, but he's here seven days a week, regardless. So unless he's out of town, he's here. If I don't see him by noon, I call his house to find out where he is. That's the relationship we have with the customers.
"We've been in the same location for almost 20 years now, and they've become family."
Location: 5555 N. Seventh Street, Phoenix
Hours: 6 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., Mon., Tues.; 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Wed., Thurs., Fri.; 6 a.m.-4
p.m. Sun.
Customer favorites: Corned beef and pastrami, including the "Scottwich" (pastrami,
melted Swiss and grilled onions served on garlic bread) and the "New Yorker" (corned
beef and pastrami, coleslaw and Russian dressing on your choice of bread)
Contact: 602-277-5662 or scottsgenerations.com