44
Friday, May 30, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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THE JEWISH NEWS
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That good
old corner
delicatessen
is putting on
a new look.
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BY JUDY GOLDWASSER
Special to The Jewish News
Picking up an order at the new
Lou's fast-food deli in Pontiac.
T
o those who consider the
shmooz at least as impor-
tant as the shmaltz, the
terms "fast food" and "del-
. icatessen" may appear
mutually exclusive.
But a Detroit delicatessen
owner, working with a Southfield
food service designer, has recently
opened a prototype fast-food deli
where patrons can have it their way
— pastrami on rye, beef barley soup,
carry-out knish.
Although other delicatessens
have tried limiting their menus, and
catering to carry-out customers,
Lou's Deli in Pontiac's Tel-Huron
Mall is the first created specifically
as a fast-food operation.
"Most delicatessens today are
trying to imitate Darby's, but that
end of the spectrum is well satu-
rated," said Marty Goodman, who
also owns two Lou's in Detroit.
"We're looking at McDonald's as the
competition."
Designed as a prototype by
Gluckman Designs of Southfield, the
quick-serve Lou's comes complete
with computerized cash registers,
sprawling counter, seating for 68
and waitresses for none.
"People in the delicatessen busi-
ness have talked about doing some-
thing like this for years," said
Goodman. "I think the time has
come. People are getting awfully
tired of hamburgers."
Fast-food delicatessens in De-
troit are the latest in an evolution-
ary process which began in 1896
with the opening of Lefkofsky and
Sons on Gratiot and Hastings, the
area's first delicatessen.
"What we think of as a delica-
tessen today is nothing like the old-
fashioned delicatessen," said Sam
Piaseczny, great grandson of Lef-
kofsky founder Joseph Lefkofsky.
"Today's delis are restaurant-delis,
with waitresses, cooks, complete
meals and real dishes instead of
paper plates. Back in the old days,
you'd just give your order to the
countermen and they'd slice a little
meat to go with a roll or bread."
One of those countermen was
Ben Tate of Troy, who took his first
job in 1925 at age 16, working 11
a.m. to 11 p.m. for Sam Moscowitz at
Sam's Delicatessen on Philadelphia
and 12th Street.
At the time, corned beef was 90
cents a pound, bologna and hot dogs
35 cents.
"Corned beef sandwiches were
only a dime," Tate recalled, "but the
bread was much thicker than the
meat. I remember my friends would
ask for me when I moved on to
Gunsbergs on 12th and Gladstone.
They'd tell them I was in the back
room practicing splitting newspapers
so I could cut the meat thin enough."
Duva Tate, Ben's wife of 46
years, remembers her own fascina-
tion with the way corned beef was
sliced.
"I used to give piano lessons
above London's Delicatessen (on De-
xter) to Mr. London's two children,
Janette and Leon," she recalled.
"Then I'd come down and just stand
and watch the men slicing. Oh what
fleet of hand! It's just like we go to
Japanese restaurants today to watch
the waiters chop and slice. It was a
real show."
Mention delicatessen in Detroit
and it's a good bet that anyone over
40 will respond with memories of
Lefkofsky's, a Broadway Market
(Grand River and Broadway) fixture
from 1911 to 1966.
"Up until about 15 years ago,
every deli man in Detroit had
trained at the Broadway Market,"
noted Piaseczny, whose grand-
parents, Lillian and Harry, ran the
market for years.
"The whole idea behind the
Broadway Market was revolution-
ary," he recalled. "It was really the
beginning of supermarkets as we
know them today. There were 42
stalls under one roof where people
would buy ready-made and bulk food
to take home. It was the place to be