With the Jewish High Holidays beginning next week, there is suddenly demand on the North Shore for trays of bagels, smoked fish and other deli staples.
There is a lot of smoking, curing and baking these days in Evanston - not only at a new deli, inspired by the owners’ own childhood memories of growing up on the North Shore, but a new bagel shop as well, where the owner was inspired by a trip to Montreal.
Hand-rolling, boiling and baking are the keys to a good bagel, and at Lefty’s Righteous Bagels in Evanston – which doubles as a coffee shop. The business plan is simple:
“The business plan is people love bagels; I love bagels,” said owner Brad Nadborne.
Nadborne was inspired by what he saw and tasted in Montreal.
“We hand-roll our bagels like they do in Montreal; we boil ‘em in honey water, which they do as well. And then it goes into a wood-fired oven, which is very Montreal," he said.
The only difference here is they proof the dough overnight, resulting in larger bagels, which will serve them well for sandwiches. Unique flavors like Kerrygold Cheddar, Giardiniera and Rosemary Pink Salt provide flavorful bases for schmears. The boil-and-bake method results in predictable outcomes.
“Denser on the outside, and chewy on the inside,” he said.
A half-mile north, Mensch’s Deli is the new kid in town, and if you don’t speak Yiddish, it translates as:
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“A good person,” said Jack DeMar, co-owner of Mensch’s Deli.
DeMar and his friends are trying to recreate childhood memories on the plate.
“I grew up at Kaufman’s and Max & Benny’s and Max’s and it’s food I’ve loved since I was a kid, and I was tired of having to drive that far,” he said.
Cheese blintzes with berries; crispy potato latkes; assorted pickles and fish platters, laden with house smoked whitefish salad or cured salmon – all of the greatest hits are available.
“We’re not gonna make everything in-house just to say we can, but if we can make a better version than what we can buy, we would,” said DeMar.
They rub and smoke brisket for their pastrami, sliced thin and piled high with mustard on rye; same goes for the turkey with coleslaw and Thousand Ilsand. Sometimes they import Acme Nova Lox, but they also make gravlax in-house.
“My dad has been making gravlax since I was a kid, so I use his recipe, and we cure that in-house and slice it,” said DeMar.
Matzo ball soup is a given; the broth alone will bring back memories for a certain segment of the population.
“People are coming in with their expectations, and they’re heartfelt. They’re things they grew up eating. Some people consider it a sin to put herbs in your matzo ball, but that’s what I grew up eating so that’s what tastes good to me,” said DeMar.
Here's where you can go:
827 Chicago Ave., Evanston
224-277-6690
1608 Chicago Ave., Evanston
847-859-6153
