‘Many, many black-and-whites:’ these are the most popular Jewish eats during the pandemic
A masked customer carries a takeout bag from Katz’s deli. Image by Getty
By Irene Katz Connelly May 28, 2020
Customers at New York’s Russ and Daughters can no longer browse the counter, peek into the bakery, or drop in for an impromptu coffee and rugelach. New Yorkers in dire need of a schmear have to place orders by phone and wait outside until a masked and gloved employee hands their food over.
But while appetizing store ambiance may be a casualty of coronavirus, some things never change.
“We’re making 100 babkas a day, and everything gets used,” said Russ and Daughters co-owner Niki Russ Federman.
No one knows when sit-down dining will return to New York, but the uncertainty hasn’t stopped New York’s delis and appetizing stores from dispensing large quantities of Jewish comfort food. At Russ and Daughters, it’s baked goods and brunch essentials like bagels and nova lox, and customers eager to stock up are buying in larger quantities than before.
Barney Greengrass is selling plenty of fish, plus cheese blintzes and “many, many black and whites.” At Sarge’s Deli, it’s pastrami sandwich “kits,” complete with pickles. Katz’s Deli is shipping frozen containers of matzo ball soup across the country.
“For those of us who are still able to work and get the food out, the work feels not just essential but elemental,” said Russ Federman (The “Russ” in Russ and Daughters). “We’re nourishing people literally, but we’re [also] nourishing the emotional need to feel secure, to feel that some things stay the same.”
Many businesses are receiving traffic through orders from outside the city. Andrew Wendover, the owner of Sarge’s Deli, said that shipping had doubled since the pandemic’s onset, and Russ Federman reported a fourfold increase. Katz’s Deli owner James Dell hypothesized that many customers are sending iconic foods to cheer up relatives they can’t see in person or to commemorate occasions like birthdays or graduations.
“To show someone you love them, what says it better than food?” Dell said.
Other shipping requests come from New Yorkers weathering the pandemic outside the city. Barney Greengrass owner Gary Greengrass has noticed an uptick in orders from vacation destinations favored by affluent New Yorkers, like the Hamptons or Martha’s Vineyard.
To be sure, an increase in shipping — no matter how dramatic — doesn’t compensate for the loss of in-person customers. Wendover said that business overall was “significantly down,” and other delis and stores contacted by the Forward agreed.
Supply chain hiccups are adding to the complications and have put some staples in short supply. Earlier in May, Zabar’s manager Scott Goldshine told the West Side Rag that the market had run out of chopped liver and was unable to obtain more raw livers from suppliers. “If you want chopped liver, you ain’t gonna get it,” he said.
In an email to the Forward, Goldshine confirmed that he has since replenished his stock, but others are grappling with similar issues.
Anticipating shortages, Wendover recently purchased 150 pounds of chicken livers (Sarge’s makes its chopped liver on site). He estimated that his supply will last about a week. But after that, he admitted, “we’re not going to have chopped liver until [suppliers] have chicken liver again.”
Dell said that specialty items like chicken liver are especially likely to be impacted by interruptions in meat-packing plants. “The shortages in the meat plants are affecting the more obscure items, like tongue and liver,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean the outlook for deli meat lovers is all doom and gloom. Delis contacted by the Forward were confident in their supplies of staples like corned beef and pastrami. “That stuff always moves, pandemic or no pandemic,” Wendover said.
Irene Katz Connelly is an editorial fellow at the Forward. You can contact her at connelly@forward.com.
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