Lox`d and Loaded - Charleston Bakery and Deli

Reel Deal
Daniel Nussbaum at the
Ladson plant; a Z-Man
lure in action
You have every right to be mad, my bubeleh. In fact,
there is every reason to go a little meshugeh about
the secret that your coackamamie friends have been
keeping from you. While you’ve been schlepping
across town for so-so breakfasts, uninspired lunches
and yawn-worthy dinners, they’ve been sneaking
off for morning cups of Charleston Barbedos Rum
Coffee and handmade cheese blintzes, mid-day
matzo ball soup and pastrami on
twice-baked Jewish rye, and late
afternoon duck liver mousse with
cognac to help wind up a long day.
Oy vey! You must feel like a schmoe!
SOUTHERNSPOTLIGHT
Charleston Bakery and
Delicatessen: Food
Lox’d and
Loaded
With time-honored flavors and the atmosphere
of a cultural gathering place, partners Kerry
Botz and Randy Jarvis bring a new
generation to the table.
by Susan Frampton
There are delis and bakeries in supermarkets, a little of this and that
scattered around the Lowcountry,
but only Charleston Bakery and Delicatessen offers the experience and
quintessential flavors of a Jewish delicatessen and bakery. You don’t need
a Yiddish dictionary to enjoy your
visit, but the expressive language is
so much fun, you’ll want to sprinkle
a few of the colorful words into your
vocabulary. (You can brush up on
your Yiddish at http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/slang/jewishslang-words.html, or just say “gefilte fish” out loud to add a little
zest to your day.)
The idea for the restaurant came to the partners while at the beach
one day five years ago. Randy Jarvis, a professional cameraman, had
come to town to film a documentary, and Kerry Botz was working
at a hip, downtown eatery.
“You need to open a place of your own here,” Randy observed.
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Lox'd and Loaded
Table Manners
Clockwise: Fresh desserts
made in-house; A Cuban
sandwich; The tomato pie
is a diner's favorite
Thinking back to his childhood in a large
Jewish family in Brooklyn and then South
Florida, he suggested, “Let’s open a Jewish
deli.”
It took plenty of chutzpah to envision the
success that the partners would find in a
niche market that had mostly become an
endangered species in America. New York’s
famous Zabar’s and Carnegie Deli aside, the
labor-intense Jewish delicatessen business
languished in modern times, with the staple
ingredients found in its iconic dishes, once
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celebrated as inexpensive and plentiful,
becoming expensive and difficult to find.
But with a new generation discovering the
cultural flavor, according to Ted Merwin,
author of Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed
History of the Jewish Deli, their timing could
not have been better. Merwin writes, “After
a long period languishing in the trenches of
the hopelessly old-fashioned, it (the Jewish
Delicatessen) is experiencing a nostalgic
resurgence.”
Despite
sixteen-hour
workdays,
the
delightful pair brings out the most
innovative side of each other. The
unexpected phenomenon they operate in
Summerville, opened when it outgrew their
original location on Ashley River Road in
Charleston, and they’ve never looked back.
They enjoy the ideal characteristics of a
perfect partnership, in that each does what
the other doesn’t like to do; but neither
hesitates to give credit for the restaurant’s
consistency and stability to their talented
and loyal staff.
Kerry’s 35-year restaurant background has
made her fearless in her culinary creations,
and the delight she takes in her job is
written on her face. Wrapping up samples
of the incredible fare, it’s clear that she’s
antsy to get back in the kitchen, confiding,
“The kitchen staff is trying out a new pork
chop dish today.”
Randy brings an electric enthusiasm to the
business, his garrulous nature the perfect
counterpoint to Kerry’s quiet demeanor.
He bursts with passion for the restaurant’s
diverse offerings, describing their ability to
deliver special order cakes complete with
birthday cards, and to meet ever-expanding
catering services. Their unique shiva, or
condolence catering, which delivers food to
the bereaved during their time of mourning,
involves a coordinator to ensure that a
variety of fresh foods are delivered daily.
Located in the small strip center at the
bustling intersection of Summerville’s
Bacons Bridge and Dorchester Roads, you’ll
find a steady stream of patrons dashing in
and out at all hours of the day for coffee or
milkshakes, sandwiches, pastries or desserts,
and many more who come to nosh in an
atmosphere that somehow manages to simultaneously encourage both quiet and
solitude, and conversation among friends.
Some come in to study or work on projects,
others meet to play chess, and Randy laughs
that there has been more than one divorce
settlement decided over knisches and
Matzo Brei.
The bakery alone is
an entire chapter
in the book of delicious. Lox and bagels,
French toast, omlettes
and Big Flippin’ Pancakes; salads, gyros,
mile-high tomato pie,
and The Almighty
Brisket are among the
dozens of choices.
With breakfast and lunch menus loaded
with options, there is no food group that
goes unexplored. The bakery alone is an
entire chapter in the book of delicious. Lox
and bagels, French toast, omlettes and Big
Flippin’ Pancakes; salads, gyros, mile-high
tomato pie, and The Almighty Brisket are
among the dozens of choices. The upscale
dinner selections literally include The Holy
Grail among its offerings, and a Wine
Spectator Top 100 List of wines with which
to toast L’chaim.
Though they aren’t open every day from
sunrise to sunset, Charleston Bakery and
Delicatessen’s hours of operation come
pretty close. Come to their table Sunday
and Monday, 7 am to 3 pm, and Tuesday
through Saturday 7 am until 9 pm, to
experience the best deli and bakery this side
of New York City. AM
10597 Dorchester Road,
Summerville, SC (843) 875-0630
charlestonbakeryanddeli.com
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