This is a Guest Post by Nadia Maccabee-Ryaboy.
If you haven’t heard the news yet, Fishman’s Deli in Saint Louis Park says it’s shutting its doors in a month. Here are the Nine* Reasons Why I’m Devastated that Fishman’s Deli is Closing.
- Fishman’s delivers amazing challah, conveniently, to local Jewish day care programs such as the Gan at Adath and the Early Child Care Center at the JCC. What a great service to the community!
- Fishman’s is stock-full of Israeli products. Whether it’s Israeli chocolate (second only to the Swedes’) or Israeli feta for a salad, Fishman’s has enabled us to bring Israel into our homes.
- Fishman’s has THE BEST parve’ apple pie. With a dollop of soy ice cream, you can’t beat this.
- Fishman’s staff is incredibly friendly; I always find myself chatting it up with baker Jeff Sherman or one of the lovely women checking out my groceries.
- Fishman’s has a huge variety of fresh kosher meat that I can’t get other places (e.g. Cub or Target), such as Israeli “pargiot” meat (boneless chicken thighs) and kosher lamb chops (on order, these are much cheaper than when ordered from Byerly’s in St. Louis Park).
- Fishman’s has killer chicken pate’ and other deli delights. This morning my 18-month-old daughter asked me to put the pate’ on a piece of waffle (I did and she cried when I wouldn’t eat it), BUT on a whole-wheat cracker, that stuff is scrumptious.
- Fishman’s has great Jewish stuff: whether it’s those stickers for kosher dishes that say “dairy” or “meat,” or Jewish books/toys/games around Holiday time, this is a Jew’s one-stop-shop.
- Around Purim time last year I was having trouble figuring out exactly what to fill my Hamentashen with (dozens of cans of pie fillings at the Cub overwhelmed me), and Fishman’s simply filled up some deli containers with poppyseed and jam filling- – voila! However, I still need to figure out how to keep my hamentashen from falling apart…
- While they may have kosher food at big grocery stores (a convenience I do appreciate), the feeling of being in an intimate Jewish market, surrounded by other Jews who wish you “good shabbos” on a Friday afternoon is a rare luxury in Minnesota. And one I will miss.
- ………
*Nu? Just nine? What else are you going to miss when Fishman’s Deli closes?
(Photo: Facebook)
10. The egg bagels.
Check out this really interesting article by local Rabbi Hayim Herring – http://toolsforshuls.com/?p=948
Challah…*drool*
Nadia,
I think you hit the nail right on the head with # 2 & 7!
Sure, I can buy kosher food at Trader Joe’s or Byerly’s, but it’s the other stuff that Fishman provided that I can’t replace, and that many of us will miss the most.
It’s the surfeit of Israeli goods – from prigat juice to frozen burekas – and the extreme variety of non-food Jewish stuff that will be a real loss to the community.
Where else can we buy the clear tablecloth covers, the oil-turning Shabbat candles, the pomegranate guaranteed to be “in season” for Rosh Hashana even in early September, the real sufganiot, and all those other items that you always knew you could get at Fishman’s, even the morning of erev chag?
Those will be the irreplacable loss to our community, and the things I will sorely miss once they’re gone.
May I humbly recommend we all go and stock up on our favorites while we still can? I hear some of that stuff freezes rather well….
~Jenna
Full sour pickles. Pastrami Jack’s was the last place in town where I could find barrel-cured full sours (trucked in from the Bronx), leaving only the jar version at Fishman’s. Now we’re losing even those. Anyone know a local purveyor I haven’t found?
YES! The sour pickles! I’ve got a container of Tuv Taam from Fishman’s in my fridge right now. Does anybody know where else we can buy Tuv Taam or Flaum full sour pickles? Mort’s carried full sours the first year they were open, but no longer. Cecil’s doesn’t carry them. Pastrami Jacks’ were great! Before the security madness at the airports I used to bring a cooler with me when I flew home to NY, pack it with Jewish delicacies including quarts of sour pickles, and haul it back on the plane with me. That’s no longer permitted. Sigh…
only having beyleys must stink
what will the building become
at least u save money with dry kosher at super target