Larry Topor holds some of his
famous product line.

C

GEORGE DILA
Special to the Jewish News

ome on up," a voice calls from the
top of the dark, dungeon-like
stairs.
"Larry, is that you?" I call back.
Cautiously, I start up the chipped concrete
steps. "Am I in the right place?"
I had become lost trying to find it — an
ancient red brick hulk of a building sur-
rounded by a wasteland of trash-filled empty
lots, tumble-down structures and weed
infested rail yards in the shadow of the skele-
tal Michigan Central Depot building. At this
far-western edge of downtown Detroit I had
driven in circles, run into dead ends, stopped
on deserted streets to peer at my inadequate,

computer-created map, all to no avail.
Frustrated, I went into the Third Precinct
police station on Vernor, where a friendly
desk sergeant pointed me in the right direc-
tion.
"One block that way," he said.
The building I'm looking for is on a street
that is so rough it rattles my car like a pair of
maracas. Finally I find the right door, around
the back, down an alley, up a set of rusting
metal steps to a loading dock, a dismal gap-
ing hole of an entrance, completely
unmarked, leading to that dark stairwell.
But wait.
In this unlikely spot, in this setting for
which the word "humble" seems like a kind
exaggeration, something wonderful happens.
On these lowly premises are made what

could be the best kosher dills in the world.
This is the home of Topor's Pickle Company
Inc.
Larry Topor, the antithesis of the pickle
tycoon, greets me at the top step and shakes
my hand. He is dressed in blue jeans, a
shapeless windbreaker and well-aged tennis
shoes. His curly hair, thinning a bit on top,
is mussed. He may not look the part of a
food industry executive, but in his head he
carries the secret — the right combination of
water, salt, garlic, dill and spices that turns
plain cucumbers into something extraordi-
nary — Topor's Natural Barrel Kosher Dill
Pickles.
"Welcome," he says.
If the first thing you notice at Topor's is
the inelegant environment, the second thing

From a dingy corner of Detroit comes the best pickle around.

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