Zaftigs
Zaftig Deli in Brookline is not your Zayde’s Deli. It's almost more like a Jewish diner serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week plus brunch all day, every day. There's a saying in the restaurant business, never trust a skinny chef. Well, I don't trust a restaurant that has skinny models on the walls. Here, the art salutes zaftig women, and I salute that. “Zaftigs means, in Yiddish, voluptuous. So it's the embodiment of the Jewish grandmother, that person that you go over to their house and open up the door and you smell all these amazing things coming out of the kitchen.”
I've been coming here so long. I remember when Bob Schuman ran the show, but now his son Evan has taken over the deli reins. “I would say it's a place that just feels like home. When you walk in, immediately over to your left, you're gonna see our bakery. We make our own bagels, all of our own baked goods. We have a full bar here. So even though most people join us on the weekends for a mimosa and a Bloody Mary with their meal, we do have a full bar all week. Dark panel booths, comfortable seating, great colorful artwork on the wall. It feels like it's been here for like, 150 years, even though we've only been here for 28.”
For breakfast, I love the Challah French Toast. They use traditional braided Jewish bread with a golden crust that has a rich flavor from the eggs and sugar that’s in the dough. Here, they top it with powdered sugar, fresh strawberries and a drizzle of real Vermont maple syrup. “It's amazing. It's to die for. We use a thick cut piece of challah. The beautiful thing about making French toast with challah is there's just a touch of sweetness to the bread, so it just adds a whole other dimension to the bite. It is like the perfect combination of everything that you want on your fork. It's like fluffy french toast, Vermont maple syrup, little bit of fresh fruit, powdered sugar.
You can’t go wrong” Most delis don't make their own bagels, but at Zaftigs, they make them. And they make them the old fashioned way. They boil them, that's what makes them nice and chewy on the inside. Then they bake them, making them crispy on the outside. “I'm biased, but I think they're the best in the area. We make them fresh every morning. They're that perfect crunchy exterior. If you're going to get a bagel, I recommend the everything bagel, toasted with a generous smear of chive cheese. The key with boiling the bagels is there's a little bit of sweetness in the water, and that gives us this just hint of sweetness that mixes with the savory. New York, eat your heart out.
Zaftigs serves a traditional potato pancake. They fry it in chicken fat, so it really has extra flavor. I like to add sour cream and applesauce. It really brings out the deliciousness of that potato pancake. But like I said, this is not your traditional deli. They put a different spin on the potato pancake here, adding scallions, cheese and bacon. Bacon, definitely not a traditional Jewish deli item, but it tastes great. “That first bite reminds me of home. We cook our potato pancakes with chicken fat, which gives us this incredible depth of flavor. They're nice and soft on the inside, and like I said, Before, we cook them to this crispy… golden brown, they pair well with so many things in the restaurant. They’re honestly good so many ways.”
If you've never been to a Jewish deli, I think you have to get the combo platter. It starts with the potato pancake served over applesauce. Then there's the knish.. You can get that either with potato or meat… kind of like a Jewish dumpling or meat pie. It is delicious. Then you have the cheese blintz with a little dollop of sour cream, almost like a French crepe, and then you have your noodle kugel. This is kind of like an Italian lasagna, but extra sweet. “It's a great opportunity to try some of our core items on the menu, and it's a great thing to share. You have to come in and try it.”
I eat more Mediterranean food than I do Jewish food. So I love this dish, Chicken Kabobs with onions and tomatoes, a Greek salad with feta and olives. That really tasty toasted pita bread, tzatziki sauce and falafel, which is fried chickpeas. Put those fried chickpeas in the tzatziki sauce, and It is so delicious. "You really taste the fresh lemon in the chicken that we marinate it with, and then pairing with a little tzatziki on the plate, you get this great tanginess from the yogurt mixed with the falafel. It's just a really good time.”
The New Yorker features maybe the top two greatest Jewish deli meats of all time, corned beef and pastrami. They add Swiss cheese. It's on light rye toast, and they add Russian dressing. That's old school. You don't see it that much anymore, but trust me, that dressing really pulls out the flavor of that brined meat. “It is absolutely a head turner as you're walking through and you may. Need a little help having to take your first bite, but yeah. It's 12 ounces of corned beef, pastrami, some Russian dressing, Swiss cheese on our light rye. One of our iconic items that's been on the menu for the last 28 years, and like the Zaftigsombo, but more on the lunch side of things. It just gives you a great taste of what we have to offer.”
I know a lot of you miss the old Jack and Marion's Deli in Brookline, and I know this isn't your traditional Jewish deli, but I don't want to hear any kvetching. If I can get pickles and I can get pastrami, to me, it feels like Hanukkah every day at Zaftigs in Brookline, Coolidge Corner.
