In 1992, Vance Dingfelder arrived in Seattle from New York and experienced some culinary culture shock. The grandson of a Brooklyn taxi driver, Mr. Dingfelder is one of those native New Yorkers who feels like a physical extension of his city. More than 30 years after he moved there, he still has more than a trace of his Brooklyn accent and signature New York chatterbox. “There’s something. [living in New York] It gives you something you can’t get anywhere else,” he says. “Be aware of what’s going on around you.”
Seattle isn’t New York in many ways, but there wasn’t much food available in the environment Dingfelder grew up in, especially in the ’90s. The only bagels of note were made by Seattle Bagel Company and Bagel Oasis (founded by another East Coast immigrant). Seattle’s pizza industry was so dire that Dingfelder would drive to Mukilteo to buy New York-style pizza. There was also smoked salmon, but not the kind Dingfelder was accustomed to. But white fish? never mind. It was incredibly difficult to find foods commonly sold in New York’s Jewish delicatessens, such as knishes, kugel, matzo ball soup, and pastrami sliced to order.
Since 2018, Mr. Dingfelder Mr. Dingfelder’s, a Jewish deli on Capitol Hill, offers all of this and taps into latent demand. “There’s a lot of Jewish people living here, and there’s never been a place like this,” says Dingfelder in the decades he’s lived in Seattle.That store and the Pinehurst store Zilberstein’sopened in 2019, and with the closure of Ben and Esther’s and Ballard’s Schmaltzy’s on Capitol Hill, there are now only two true delicatessens in the greater Seattle area. Matzoh Momma, the popular deli on Capitol Hill, has long been gone. Brenner Brothers Bakery on the East Side closed in his ’90s, and Goldberg’s closed in 2018, too. If you’re a Jew who doesn’t want to cook the entire Seder dinner, there are few options when looking for options this Passover.
“There’s a real demand and appetite for Jewish deli food,” Josh Grunig, owner of Zylberschtein’s, told Eater Seattle. “People come from all over Puget Sound.”
Grunig believes part of the reason Seattle doesn’t have a true delicatessen is that the Jewish community here is spread throughout Seattle and its surrounding suburbs. There is no true “Jewish neighborhood” where Jewish delis naturally cluster. (There used to be many Jews living in the Central District, but now only Jews live there. Traces of that era remain. That said, there are still areas with large Jewish populations, such as Mercer Island. ) But also Grunig and Dingfelder agree. Running a deli is really, really hard. Traditionally everything is made from scratch.
“We make all our bread, we make all our bagels, we make our own pickles, we make our own meat, which is pretty standard for a Jewish deli,” Grunig said. say. “It’s a lot of work to do what we do.”
“There’s very little margin for error. The cost of doing business is very high. And you’re not cheap,” Dingfelder added. “There are no cheap ingredients here.”
The cost of doing business for Schmaltzy was high. Closed in 2022 After just three years in business, owner Johnny Silverberg recently said, seattle restaurant podcast. “You can’t charge $30 for a pastrami sandwich,” he said. “They’re going to lose their minds, even though I have to charge you for it for it to actually work.”
In fact, Zylberschtein’s charges $30 for an 8-ounce pastrami sandwich. Both delis have to make concessions to practicality. Zylberschtein’s doesn’t make any fish products, and while Dingfelder’s cooks the meat itself, it doesn’t make pastrami from scratch.
Some people may be disgusted or confused when they see the price tag. But some people are willing to drive long distances just for a pastrami sandwich, so it’s clear there’s a fascination with this type of food.
“There’s a lot of room for more bagel shops, there’s a lot of room for more Jewish delis,” Grunig said. He knows firsthand that there is an audience hungry for Jewish food. When Zylberschtein’s first offered a special Hanukkah menu in 2019, “we weren’t ready for the crowd,” he says. “We sold out within 30 minutes,” Dingfelder said.For Passover, his deli “in a few days he gets over 200 orders.”
Mr. Dingfelder’s and Zilberstein’s Offering a Passover to-go menu a la carte, the star of the show at both delis is brisket, a traditional special day dish in many American Jewish homes. At Zylberschtein’s, the meat is braised and slow-cooked in the oven, then sliced and cooked again in the oven with a tomato-based sauce.
The owners of both delis say their customers appreciate the careful preparation of dishes they can’t find anywhere else in the metropolitan area. Dingfelder says that many of his customers, just as they did 30 years ago, come from East Coast cities with strong deli cultures, and they often treat visiting parents as if to say: He says he sometimes brings them with him. Look, there’s a deli here too!
“People say, ‘Thank you for being here.’ We remind people of the times they went to the deli with their grandparents. There have been times when people cried because of Glibben disease.” says Dingfelder, referring to the crispy chicken skin. “They remember their grandmother making them when they were children.”
“I always talk about movies.” Ratatouille” says Grunig. “Finally, when a food critic takes a bite of ratatouille, they go back to being kids. And I’m trying to create food that takes me back there. If people can relate to that, that’s really great. is.”
