Deli Man’s take on the decline of the urban eatery’s ubiquity is not just about chopped liver, but the loss of Jewish culture.
Do Jewish delicatessen owners have a gift for the gab? Like a tongue sandwich.
Erik Greenberg Anjou's friendly documentary on the fall of the traditional Jewish deli stars David (Ziggy) Gruber, an enthusiastic bubala who bleeds borscht and keeps Yiddishisms and Jewish culinary conventions alive (in Houston!).
"Since he was a little kid," says his filmmaking brother J. Mackye Gruber, "he's been an 80-year-old Jew."
Sadly, they don't make 80-year-old Jews like they used to, and they don't make corned beef on rye like they used to either.
Anjou is not chintzy with the upbeat schmaltz – again with the bouncy klezmer music! – but his chatty story on the decline of the urban eatery's ubiquity is not just about chopped liver, but the loss of Jewish culture.
"An empty deli," says Larry King, one of several recognizable eaters interviewed, "is a sad day." The death of the deli man, then – not kosher at all.
Brad Wheeler