{"id":154025,"date":"2025-09-22T23:05:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T23:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/154025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T23:05:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T23:05:16","slug":"a-new-school-jewish-deli-brings-latkes-and-matzo-ball-margaritas-to-the-marina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/154025\/","title":{"rendered":"A new-school Jewish deli brings latkes and matzo ball margaritas to the Marina"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chef Adam Rosenblum, who\u2019s been running Chestnut Street\u2019s favorite burger destination, Causwells, for more than a decade, is no novice. But things have never felt more high-stakes for him than this week, as he prepares to debut his newest project: Super Mensch, a modern take on a classic Jewish deli.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a single concept that I\u2019ve done that\u2019s more personal, so there\u2019s that layer,\u201d he says of the Marina District restaurant, which opens Wednesday, the second day of Rosh Hashanah.\u00a0 \u201cIt resonates with people on a different level.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blame nostalgia or cultural pride or maybe a bit of both \u2014 but there\u2019s something about matzo ball soup and bagels that elicit unusually strong opinions<\/a>. At Super Mensch, Rosenblum and beverage director Elmer Mejicanos are hoping to pay homage to iconic Jewish delis, including Katz\u2019s in New York and Langer\u2019s in Los Angeles. The food, much of it cooked in the restaurant\u2019s tiny hoodless kitchen<\/a>, blends straightaway classics with modern interpretations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The restaurant takes over the space formerly occupied by the duo\u2019s cocktail bar Lilah.\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

As for the drinks? They\u2019re unlike any you\u2019ve had at a deli.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, tell me, when was the last time you went to a deli and ordered a martini?\u201d Mejicanos says. That goes double for his matzo ball soup margarita.<\/p>\n

For the menu, Rosenblum drew inspiration from the New Jersey delis he visited as a child and from family dinners, when his grandmother pushed plates of pickled herring. He\u2019s long had a fascination with smoking and curing meats, so the recipe for the pastrami \u2014 which stars in, among other dishes, a $36 eponymous sandwich that\u2019s so big it feeds two \u2014 has been years in the making. Rye bread, pita, bagels, and showstopping slices of decadent chocolate cake will all be baked, not quite on-site but just one door down at Causwells.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the latkes, he admits, might get pushback. Though the crispy potato pancakes are usually fried, the Super Mensch kitchen doesn\u2019t accommodate that cooking method. Instead, it will offer rectangular planks of thinly sliced potato that are compressed and baked to a crisp before being garnished with cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche, apple butter, and wild salmon roe \u2014 it hits all the usual flavor notes, but in a nontraditional package. In a similar vein, for the matzo ball soup, he has opted to swap a single, large ball for a trio of smaller ones, which he says are easier to share and more likely to cook evenly.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re definitely setting ourselves up for criticism, but what we\u2019re putting out there, we\u2019re proud of,\u201d he says. \u201cBut if I get second-best after Bubbe\u2019s, then we\u2019re in good shape.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Mejicanos has created a \u201cconcept cocktail menu\u201d that takes inspiration from deli classics like borscht, bagels and lox, and matzo ball soup. \"\"The Super Mensch sandwich features house-made pastrami on fresh-baked rye.\"\"Rosenblum\u2019s matzo ball soup sticks close to tradition.<\/p>\n

The beverage list gets even more experimental, in keeping with Mejicanos\u2019 reputation for \u201cconcept cocktail menus.\u201d<\/a> Case in point: the aforementioned matzo ball soup margarita, which sees tequila infused with the herbs and spices you\u2019d typically find in the soup: parsley, star anise, black pepper, and dill. He adds a Mexican orange liqueur and lime, plus a schmaltz cracker in the shape of a chicken. \u201cIt just made sense for me, because I\u2019ve been leaning on very savory cocktails lately,\u201d Mejicanos says. \u201cAnd I still wanted to give the visual of a matzo ball, so we decided to infuse a clear sphere of ice with all the herbs that you would see inside a matzo ball.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also riffs on a classic celery soda with the Cel-Ray, a tequila-and-mezcal concoction that uses \u201cevery single part\u201d of the celery plant, from the seeds to the leaves, plus the Dutch herbal liqueur Cloosterbitter. Even the egg cream gets a boozy update: Mejicanos merges the deli beverage with a gin fizz, layering cacao liqueur and corn-flake-infused milk with gin, seltzer, and a touch of kosher salt. There are three varieties of martinis, a clarified bloody mary, five classic cocktails, plus beer and wine. Three nonalcoholic cocktails round out the menu, alongside a booze-free celery soda, pickle lemonade, and a creamy strawberry matcha.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The shoebox-sized space, which previously housed the duo\u2019s short-lived low-ABV cocktail bar Lilah<\/a>, has been rejiggered to squeeze in 32 seats, up from Lilah\u2019s 28. That meant constructing a communal table in the center of the room, plus three tall-backed wooden booths, all of which the partners built themselves \u2014 \u201cunfortunately for our mental health,\u201d Rosenblum says. Jewish delis have often sprung up around theater districts \u2014 think Carnegie Deli in New York \u2014 so the pair leaned into the fact that Super Mensch and Causwells sandwich the Presidio movie theater and built a towering, illuminated marquee menu sign. On the east wall, they\u2019ll project classic Jewish-themed films and TV shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rosenblum is hesitant to put Super Mensch in any single box, be it \u201cdeli\u201d or \u201ccocktail bar\u201d or \u201cneighborhood lunch spot.\u201d It\u2019ll open at 11 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends for brunch, when the menu includes challah French toast, matzo brei quiche, and a pastrami bagel sandwich. Rosenblum says he mostly hopes Super Mensch feels like a place to celebrate Jewish American culture. \u201cFor me, this is not a place about religion; this is a place about connecting with the traditions I grew up with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Date and timeOpens Sept. 24Copy link to this article<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>