Deliman: A Nostalgic Look At The Past

If you live in the San Diego area like I do, you're always looking for a good Jewish deli, and longing for your favorite deli from your hometown.  When I was growing up in L.A., it was either Junior's (our local Westwood deli, now gone), or Nate n' Al's in Beverly Hills.  Both offered mature women waitresses who would schmooze with you, and probably knew you by name.  They made the deli experience something you wanted to enjoy again and again.  The food, of course, was fantastic.  Great rye bread, delicious sliced meats like pastrami, salami and corned beef, well done pickles, and all kinds of fish salads to die for, were the mainstays of the Jewish deli.

The Jewish deli has its roots in New York.  In the 1840's, German Jews who settled on the lower east side of New York, opened delis.  Later, around the 1880's, Russian, Latvian and Polish Jews arrived, and introduced their own brand of the deli.  In the movie Deliman, the early years of of New York Delis was beautifully portrayed, using black and white pictures from that time.  By 1931, there were thousands of delis in America, but currently there are only 150 Jewish delis in operation.  Part of this is because of the high cost of meat, the primary food source of delis.  In the early part of the 20th century, Hebrew National would give credit to many entrepreneurs, to help them get their deli started.  At one time there was a deli on every corner of the lower east side.

One thing I noticed in the movie Deliman, was that all the owners (now second or third generation families) were passionate about what they did.  They loved the food, the customers, and their employees.  They treated everyone like family.  Every major city still has  a deli, and in New York, more delis have survived than anywhere else.  Stage Deli, Carnegie, Wolfies, Rialto, Katz's and Lindy's are just some of the many delis that made New York THE place for deli food.

The movie Deliman gave the viewer  a look at the history of the American deli, and made me hungry for a good deli in San Diego.  Anyone want to open a restaurant?