 OCTOBER 1 • 2020 | 45

Sid Neuman transformed a tiny 
deli into something magnifi
 cent.

the best of everything
Raskin

From Siberia 
to Southfield

P

eople never had to wear 
face masks or be afraid 
to leave the house as 
ordered by a higher up … but 
residents were lucky then to 
even get a piece of bread … 
And tuna salad? 
… Forget it! … 
The closest they 
came to any 
kind of fish was 
an occasional 
drawing of what 
it looked like.
They didn’
t 
have corned beef sandwiches 
in Siberia either … The closest 
that people living there, such as 
Sid Neuman, came to a corned 
beef sandwich was his first one 

in 1956 after coming to the 
United States from Poland.
During World War II, Sid 
was sent to Siberia by the 
Russians … And after six years, 
they finally allowed him to 
return to Poland only because 
of his being a Polish citizen … 
He ran away to the American 
occupation sector in Germany 
and received permission to go 
to the United States.
Sid bought Star Deli on 15 
Mile Road, west of Telegraph, 
coming here from Chicago 
to take over a little carryout 
operation whose kitchen, 500 
square feet, was as big as the 
entire front.
But oh, what that tiny 
1,200-square-foot carryout 
delicatessen had become … 
eventually ranking, today, 
as one of the largest volume 
carryout-only Jewish delica-
tessens in the nation … open 
seven days a week with regular 
hours.
Imagine this little carry-
out deli selling almost 1,500 

pounds of white Albacore tuna 
a week … a salad that contin-
ually received rave notices.
Sid changed all that …
remodeling it with four refrig-
erated cases … a large walk-in 
cooler …and everything imag-
inable in Jewish traditional 
foods among many other 
items that could be jammed 
into its crowded but neat 
areas.
Those refrigerated cases 
are now filled with tradition 
Jewish dishes … smoked fish, 
sable, kippered salmon, her-
ring in both cream and wine 
sauce, etc.
Star cooks its own corned 
beef, pastrami, tongue, roast 
beef, etc. … Makes its own 
seafood salad and potato salad 
… plus coleslaw, pasta salad, 
rice pudding, fruit salad, etc.
The story of Star Deli is an 
amazing success tale … No 
one could ever foresee that 
this little operation would 
someday produce so much 
volume surrounded by enough 

food now to feed that entire 
camp in Siberia.
Certainly, Sid can only 
shake his head when looking 
around at the untold amount 
of food carried by Star Deli 
and recall those lean days in 
Poland and Siberia.
OLDIES BUT GOODIES… 
The doctor held a stetho-
scope up to a man’
s chest. The 
patient asks, “Doc, how do I 
stand?” … The doctor says, 
“That’
s what puzzles me! 
A drunk is in front of the 
judge … The judge says, 
“You’
ve been brought here for 
drinking” … The drunk says, 
“OK, let’
s get started.”
There is a big controversy 
on the Jewish view of when 
life begins … In Jewish tradi-
tion, the fetus is not consid-
ered viable until it graduates 
from medical school.
CONGRATS …To Denice 
Dunn on her birthday. 

Danny’
s email address is 
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com.

Danny Raskin
Senior Columnist

Sid Neuman

STAR DELI FACEBOOK

Contact Larry Al
l
an
 

 

 can’
t enj
oy j
ewel
ry i
f i
t’
s si
tti
ng i
n your safe 
deposi
t box.
 Sel
l
 or borrow on i
t for i
mmedi
ate cash.
 
We deal
 i
n j
ewel
ry,
 watches,
 di
amonds and coi
ns.

A Service to
Private Owners,
Banks & Estates

248-644-8565

Coins & Jewelry

