On the edge of North Narrabeen’s residential streets, between mechanics and panelbeaters, Clinton Nitschke is putting the finishing touches on his sandwich shop. His mum, Jenny Nitschke, has been helping get ready for the opening, making the relishes and jams that line the shelves behind the counter.
“The past few weeks, me and my mum have just been peeling tomatoes, making strawberry jam, pickles, all that sort of stuff to go with the sandwiches,” he says.
Indie’s Deli is a new direction for the chef, who until recently was running his northern beaches-based burger joint Two Hungry Bears. After years of working nights, he wanted a change, and more time to spend with his daughter Indiana, the venue’s namesake.
Nitschke started smoking meat with a basic woodfired smoker at his parents’ house, experimenting and learning as he went before importing a Yoder pellet smoker from Kansas for Two Hungry Bears. Now it’s the centrepiece at Indie’s Deli.
It’s put to work in his take on a Reuben, featuring a pastrami made with grass-fed Angus brisket cured by his butcher, coated in a house rub, then smoked for eight hours and steamed for another four. It’s thinly sliced and served on an Infinity Bakery focaccia-schiacciata hybrid, the charred smokiness offset by the crunch of sweet, briny pickles.
The other signatures – chopped house-smoked Texas-style brisket, pulled pork and a schnitty – come on the same bread. The classics, on Brasserie Bread’s sourdough, keep things simple: his mum’s ham-and-cheese, a tuna melt and a four-cheese toastie. There’s also a konbini-inspired egg salad serve.
The brunch-style options stick to familiar territory: a smoked streaky bacon and egg roll, BLT and pastrami-and-egg number topped with hash browns, American cheese and barbeque sauce. It’s aggressively indulgent, the kind of breakfast that makes sense after a big night out.
All eggs come from Nitschke’s cousin Paul Mackie’s free-range Yahro Farm near Lake Macquarie, a 90-minute drive each way that Nitschke makes each week.
With three coffee shops nearby, the Indie’s Deli chef has chosen not to install an espresso machine. Instead, you’ll find hot batch-brewed coffee and two taps pouring cold brew and a salted caramel oat lattes, using beans from local roaster Smalltown Coffee. Both are finished with vanilla foam, and there are more flavour combinations planned.
This is Nitschke’s first opening in four years, and he admits he’s nervous. But not about whether people will come.
“All I’m worried about is it being too busy and us not being able to, like, you know, give the best that we can.”
A queue had formed by the time Broadsheet left on opening day, and the deli was sold out by 2.30pm – half an hour before its scheduled closing time.
Indie’s Deli
Shop 2/54 Garden Street, North Narrabeen
0418 122 114
Hours:
Mon to Sat 10.30am–3pm