Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
John F. Kennedy Intl (15 miles/24km);
Newark Liberty Intl (16 miles/27km);
LaGuardia (8 miles/13km).
L
$$
The Lucerne,
201 W. 79th St.
(
&
800/492-8122
or 212/875-1000; www.
thelucernehotel.com). $
Belleclaire Hotel,
250 W. 77th St. (
&
877/HOTEL-BC
or 212/
362-7700; www.hotelbelleclaire.com).
original Zabar's doesn't carry. East Side
shoppers have become just as addicted to
Eli's interpretation of the Zabar formula as
West Siders are to the Broadway original.
Gourmet stores they may be, but these
are gourmet stores where the neighbor-
hood regularly shops too.
2245 Broadway (
&
212/787-2000;
www.zabars.com).
Gourmet Emporiums &
Specialty Shops
29
Zingerman's Deli
Deconstructing the Deli
Ann Arbor, Michigan
There's no reason why a New York-style
deli should have taken off in the middle of
Michigan, even given the college-town
sophistication of Ann Arbor. But take off
Zingerman's did—and how.
Founded in 1982 by two University of
Michigan grads, Paul Saginaw and Ari Wein-
zweig, Zingerman's doesn't look like much.
It's still just a two-story brick storefront, a
1902-vintage former grocery on a street in
the historic Kerrytown district, near the
Ann Arbor Farmer's Market. There's usually
a line out the door, and crowds mill around
the narrow aisles inside.
But the business has been a rousing suc-
cess almost from the start, and it wasn't
just because you couldn't get Jewish spe-
cialties anywhere else in Ann Arbor. Zinger-
man's was shrewdly designed to cover all
bases. On one hand, the deli serves out-
standing examples of the traditional Jewish
dishes that Saginaw and Weinzweig had
grown up with in their respective home-
towns of Detroit and Chicago—corned
beef, pastrami, chopped liver, and smoked
fish. But alongside that, they peddle trend-
ier gourmet offerings such as farmhouse
cheeses, estate-bottled olive oils, varietal
vinegars, and single-origin chocolates—
but never in snooty, museum-like displays.
(Not that there'd be room for such a thing in
Zingerman's cramped quarters.) Sand-
wiches are notoriously huge and messy,
though they're not bargains; Zingerman's
mantra is high quality, not low prices. Coun-
ter staff freely offers samples, believing
that a fine food's taste will sell it better than
anything else. And on the theory that an
educated customer will spend more money,
Zingerman's friendly, enthusiastic workers
hand out chatty flyers to customers and
slap wordy, colorful handmade posters on
the walls.
Though Zingerman's has steadfastly
resisted the urge to clone itself in other
cities, Saginaw and Weinzweig have
extended their brand with their own bread
bakery and cheese-making operation, as
well as a popular casual restaurant next
door and a phenomenally vigorous mail-
order business. Weinzweig also publishes
a remarkably knowledgeable food news-
letter and food guide, incidentally posi-
tioning the Zingerman's guys as food
experts—which, of course, they are.
