After viewing this lively and humorous documentary on Jewish delicatessens, I wanted to immediately run out and get a corned beef sandwich on rye. However, that's easier said than done, because as the film notes that there are only about 150 Jewish delis left in North America, whereas there were thousands in the 1930's.The movie's centerpiece is "Ziggy" Gruber who really captures the screen with his larger-than-life persona. He owns and is a hands-on manager of Kenny & Ziggy's Delicatessen, surprisingly located in Houston, Texas. Although Gruber has had fine dining training at some of the top European cooking schools, he has returned to his roots and where his heart is, namely in the Jewish deli business. When he was just a young boy, his grandfather Max put him to work at his deli, and now Gruber is very much determined to maintain the old-school traditions that were taught to him.There are also interviews with other deli owners in the U.S. and Canada, who admit they love the business but lament how the high cost of food and low profit margins make it a real struggle. Such notables as Jerry Stiller, Fyvush Finkel, and Larry King, among others, give us anecdotes of some of their long time deli experiences. There's also an interesting history of how the Jewish deli arose in immigrant neighborhoods, and how as the Jewish people became more assimilated into the culture, so did their restaurants become more mainstream.All in all, this documentary, most capably directed by Erik Greenberg Anjou, is well-paced and a worthy tribute to the Jewish delicatessen, and I would highly recommend it.

. . . so much so that it sometimes detracts from a viewer's ability to give thought to food, the ostensible subject of this documentary. This flick is crammed full of interviewees too numerous to keep straight (without a giant scorecard, at least), but one of them observes in the opening minutes that the Confederacy had more Jewish generals during the American Civil War than the Union Army. In DELI MAN's final minutes, another of the contemporary title characters talks about his annual Seder dinners to commemorate the Jewish People's flight from slavery in Egypt. Between these two passages, I was sensitized to look hard for the presence of African Americans among the deli patrons and workers pictured. Though there was a healthy sprinkling of Hispanic People and Asians mixed among the many Jews and non-Jewish White People, I honestly could not spot a single Black person. DELI MAN leaves me with the impression that because most of the descendants of Jewish slaves in America fought to PRESERVE Black slavery here, most of today's African-Americans won't touch kosher food with a ten-foot pole.

Here's a fun Documentary on the Deli business and the unusual and interesting men who make the Deli business their life. In addition to the Deli men there are some good cameos that add to the insight.There's a romantic element that ends in a destination wedding. It is interesting that the business is very similar in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Houston. The basic message of good food and a hands on warm welcoming personality seem universal elements of success.The movie like most Documentaries is in very limited release. Watch for it soon on a home platform. Seek it out, it is interesting and entertaining.

This documentary is about a deli man, the Ziggy of Kenny & Ziggy's in Houston, TX, really David Gruber, a professionally trained chef following in the footsteps of his grandfather who started the Rialto Deli in Manhattan in 1933. David is a 3rd generation deli man. The documentary presents the history and sociology of delis interspersed with brief interviews of owners, patrons and 1 waiter. We visit one of David's purveyors for whitefish.The decline of the deli parallels the acculturation of Eastern European Jews. At one time, there were 1500 kosher delis alone in NYC. Today, there are 150 delis in the US. Anyone who lives in a large urban area has seen the change.Pastrami was created by Romanians. Who knew? Thank you Romania!