Re: New York Jewish Deli to the Rescue

Posted on January 29th, 2009 2:33pm by Nancy Nichols
Filed under Openings/Closings, Restaurant News

Hey, Jewish deli fans, Roasters and Toasters is officially on the way to Dallas. I just spoke with Dan Kaplan, president of R&T, and I am extremely encouraged by what he plans to do in the former Ed’s Deli location. “We are renovating the space and plan to be open by mid-March,” he said. “We will be open for breakfast and lunch and also be a full-service caterer.”

Smoked fish and rye bread will be flown in from New York. Knishes and bagels will be made on site; turkey and meats roasted daily. Pastrami and corned beef will be sodium phosphate-free. “We will offer some non-Jewish items like pastas,” said Kaplan. Roasters and Toasters will be run by Kaplan’s brother, Tevy Kaplan, who currently works for the family’s oil and gas company in Dallas.

Both Kaplan’s grew up in the restaurant business in New York. Their parents owned numerous delis in the New York area: Daphil in Roslyn, Long Island, Irving’s in Brighton Beach, The Round-Up in Monticello, and NY Deli in Manhattan.

Roasters and Toaster’s has six locations in Miami, but Dallas will be their “first hurrah.”

During the conversation, I mentioned to Kaplan that the SideDish nation had recently discussed the demise of the Jewish deli in Dallas. I asked him if he thought there was a generational element to their disappearance. “Sure, in the Jewish family, all the parents [who own restaurants] want their kids to become doctors and lawyers,” said Kaplan. “I have bought six [mom and pop] delis here in Miami who weren’t succeeding and gave these people a place to continue their business [after the kids left].”

29 comments

  1. The real question is this: how good, how authentic, will their bagels be?

    @ 2:43 pm on January 29, 2009

  2. I’m glad someone has the foreskin, i mean foresight, to revive this type of meat market.

    @ 3:04 pm on January 29, 2009

  3. Black and White Cookies? Please?

    @ 3:05 pm on January 29, 2009

  4. BAgels: The secret, if I may be so obvious, is letting the dough rest & rise for a solid hour (or very close) before fashioning the bagels, and then boiling them in a roiling cauldron very briefly before baking them.

    @ 3:06 pm on January 29, 2009

  5. Smart, smart move, the location is on the north side of a large Eruv ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruv ). But I don’t suppose it will be Kosher?

    @ 3:21 pm on January 29, 2009

  6. The knish, are they round or square?

    @ 3:30 pm on January 29, 2009

  7. Not sure the meaning behind the knish question :) But here is a picture someone uploaded on Flickr of one from Roasters’ n Toasters… looks round to me
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdern/3129064721/in/set-290755/

    @ 3:46 pm on January 29, 2009

  8. Was there no good space in Oak Cliff? We like bagels in Oak Cliff. There are roastbeefians in Oak Cliff. People in Oak Cliff have credit cards and cash.
    The difference between Dallas north of the Trinity and Dallas South of the Trinity? People from South of the Trinity will drive north, even though we might get shot at a mall or robbed at a liquor store or…

    @ 3:56 pm on January 29, 2009

  9. Oh thank goodness is all i have to say!!!

    @ 4:05 pm on January 29, 2009

  10. Somehow I believe this one is going to work (throwing yarmulke into air–no, wait, can’t do that.)

    @ 4:07 pm on January 29, 2009

  11. @publicnewssense: Is there a intense concentration of Jewish folk in Oak Cliff? Oh wait, that’s right. They’re all in North Dallas/Richardson.

    Can’t Wait!

    @ 4:13 pm on January 29, 2009

  12. This just made my day, my week, and my month and a half until this place opens! We will finally have a Sunday brunch tradition again. If the black and whites and matzo balls are hard we might have a big problem…..

    @ 4:23 pm on January 29, 2009

  13. a square one has four corners…

    @ 4:43 pm on January 29, 2009

  14. Oy veh, are you suggesting that there should be no catfish joints, no soul food restaurants, no Tex-Mex places on Hillcrest because “those people” don’t live there?
    Ah, the basic problem of Dallas oozes out of Oy veh’s comment: Bigotry.

    @ 5:01 pm on January 29, 2009

  15. Why is there no love for Carshon’s in Fort Worth?

    80 years old, and as New York as you can get in the TCU neighborhood.

    @ 5:28 pm on January 29, 2009

  16. Buck, plenty of love for Carshon’s and Fort Worth. Just tough to get lunch there if you live in Dallas.

    @ 5:56 pm on January 29, 2009

  17. Nancy, schlep over to Deli News or don’t you go above LBJ?

    @ 6:04 pm on January 29, 2009

  18. please keep it a Jewish delicatessen. you will

    be very sucsessful if it is a New York style

    deli and not if it isn’t. It’s up to you.

    Good luck

    @ 6:08 pm on January 29, 2009

  19. Thanks yehuda… i know the difference between a square and a circle… i don’t get why you care…

    @ 6:13 pm on January 29, 2009

  20. yes, bubeleh…there is a difference between a square & a circle. What does a square have that a circle doesn’t?

    @ 8:17 pm on January 29, 2009

  21. Can’t understand all the hoopla about a new deli when Deli News has been here for over 21 years and is still around; with the best Deli straight from new York!

    @ 10:15 pm on January 29, 2009

  22. Arthur, what is the difference between a Jewish Deli and a New York style deli?

    @ 10:18 pm on January 29, 2009

  23. publicnewssense, It’s not about being bigoted, it’s a matter of reaching a target audience. If you’re going to open a Jewish Deli, why not put it in the heart of the city’s Jewish community? Sure, lots of non-Jewish people love that style of restaurant, but R&T’s got a better chance of developing a dedicated following locating itself in an area whose residents are going to embrace it.

    Besides, how many restaurants come and go in Oak Cliff?

    @ 11:38 am on January 30, 2009

  24. I’ll reserve judgement until I drop one of their bagels on the floor and check the “thud” factor.

    $10 for an overstuffed pastrami sandwich = not a lot of meat.

    @ 3:53 pm on January 30, 2009

  25. If the new restaurant serves good food, gives good service, keeps the prices right and takes care of their customers they will do fine. We had the best customers in the world and were doing well but were burdened with many problems that we just could not solve. Our customers were loyal to the end and continue to contact us with good wishes and very kind comments…. Ed (owenr of Ed’s Deli)

    @ 11:36 pm on February 1, 2009

  26. have you seen the menu?? i can’t wait looks amazing.

    @ 9:21 pm on February 2, 2009

  27. We are also from the East, but have been living here for many years. My parents owned a deli for 45 years in DC. Deli News could’t hold a candle to the food that we ate from Ed’s. If the new owners continue to do the things that Ed did well, they will do well. My husband and I can’t wait for the new restaurant opens. Good Luck

    @ 11:10 am on February 15, 2009

  28. I’m a NYer with Dallas family. Daphil (Kosher deli) was down the road from where I was raised and my family ate there on a regular basis. It was great. Roasters and Toasters seems to take the best of the Jewish/NY/Kosher deli menu and combine it with things that appeal to a wider audience. I hope it works. You guys deserve a good deli…

    @ 9:47 pm on February 26, 2009

  29. Grand opening today!

    @ 10:17 am on March 29, 2009