- A look at the history of delicatessens in the United States.
- This documentary focuses on Ziggy Gruber, who co-owns a large deli in Houston and is also the grandson of the original owner of the Rialto Deli, the first Kosher deli to open on Broadway in New York City in the 1920s. The deli is the main love in this man's life. While the film also covers other famous Jewish delis in Manhattan, Queens, Los Angeles and San Francisco and their histories, the emphasis is on the cultural aspects of the food and how the culture and the desire for this food is disappearing. There were once thousands of these delis and now there's fewer than 150 left in the entire U.S. Such luminaries as Larry King, Jerry Stiller, Fyvush Finkel, Freddie Roman and Alan Dershowitz as well as various deli owners express their love for the culture and the food.—ZoetMB
- The documentary tells the story of the New York Delicatessen. The 'Delikatessen' began in Germany then came to the U. S. with German immigrants. Following a large Jewish immigration, the delicatessens were taken over and remade to follow Jewish laws for food preparation. Thus, the Kosher Deli was born. At the high point, over a thousand Kosher delis existed in New York City. Today less than a dozen remain. The difference is that the delis which remain own their buildings. The delis which closed were priced out by rent increases as the areas became yuppified. Closed are the Carnegie Deli, Katz's and about a thousand other delicatessens.
This film follows Ziggy Gruber, who grew up in a family-owned deli in New York city then went off to the Culinary Institute of America, Le Cordon Bleu in France, and eventually a 3-Star Michelin Restaurant. But Ziggy missed the people and especially the deli food, so he moved back to the United States. Eventually he landed in Houston where he opened Kenny & Ziggy's.
Today the New York delis aren't found in as many places in New York city. They are found around the country: Manny's in Chicago, Canter's in Los Angeles, Wise & Sons in San Francisco, even in Toronto, Canada - Caplansky's.
At Kenny & Ziggy's in Houston, Ziggy treats his employees like family. The warm and comfortable feeling draws customers in. Ziggy even says "When I cook, I feel my ancestors around me." Some of his ancestors were driven out of Hungary. But turnabout is fair play. The documentary ends with Ziggy getting married in a cathedral in Hungary.
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