#zabar's

[trunkards]

Trunkards #743. They should make scented candles that smell like this.

© 2026 Rick Hutchins

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Above: Zabar’s in 1945.

Few things say “New York” like Zabar’s. This mega-deli was founded in 1934 by the parents of the current owners. Originally a simple deli, it began to introduce New Yorkers to imported food, including Brie, sun-dried tomatoes, and gnocci, among other things. Today it sells coffee (400,000 pounds a year), cheese, meat, pasta, baked goods savory and sweet, dry foods of all types, gift baskets, and housewares, in addition to its famous smoked fish. The store has expanded accordingly and now takes up nearly the whole block of the west side of Broadway between 80th and 81st Streets.

[thecoparoom]

In memory of Saul Zabar

The Village Voice - Oct 15, 1964

[bostonwalks]

Curtis Sliwa supports capitalism, i.e. small businesses which grow into bigger businesses such as Bread & Circus into Whole Foods Market, Zabar's into a block-long Manhattan grocer, Caldor into Target, & a California group into Trader Joe's.

Curtis Sliwa's opponent for NYC Mayor supports socialism, i.e. government made retailers.

Please support our traditional economy: Vote Curtis Sliwa for New York City Mayor!

[allwayshungry]

Anchovy Spaghetti with Pine Nut Picada | Theo Michaels

This is my take on a classic pasta dish that only uses a handful of ingredients but nonetheless captures the flavors of Sicily. Traditionally it is paired with crispy Pangritata but here instead I’ve taken my inspiration from Spain with a drier than usual version of Picada, a dense, pounded paste of fried bread, nuts, garlic and olive oil that originated in the Catalonia region as a way to thicken and flavor stews. Almonds are traditional, but some recipes call for hazelnuts, walnuts or pine nuts, as I’ve used here. You can serve this without my picada-style topping, but just remember to lift it with some chopped flat-leaf parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice instead.  Serves 4

Ingredients

350 g/12 oz. fresh spaghetti or 200 g/7 oz. dried (or any other pasta)

100 ml/generous 1/3 cup olive oil

a small knob/pat of butter

12 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

8 cherry tomatoes, quartered

a pinch of dried chilli/hot red pepper flakes

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season

For the Pine Nut Picada

50 g/scant 1/2 cup pine nuts

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 slice of day-old bread, coarsely chopped

2 Tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 garlic clove, crushed

finely grated zest of 1/2 a lemon

Directions

First make the Picada. Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan/skillet for a couple of minutes, then pulverize them in a food processor or pestle and mortar until the texture of coarse sand. Put in a small bowl.

Line a plate with paper towels. Add the oil to the same pan and fry/sauté the bread until golden. Tip onto the paper towel-lined plate to drain and then add to the bowl with the pine nuts and crush them just a little with a pestle or the back of a spoon. Add the parsley, garlic and lemon zest to the bowl and stir to combine; it will be quite dry which is what we want for this particular dish. Set aside until needed.

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions – you can put it on now if you are using dried pasta. If using fresh pasta, do it later, once the sauce has been made.

Add the oil and butter to a large saucepan set over a medium-hot heat. Add the anchovy fillets and stir – they will start to melt into the oil. Just before the anchovies have totally dissolved, add the garlic and tomatoes (crushing the tomatoes in the pan with a fork to release their juices). Cook for a few minutes, until the tomatoes have just started to soften then remove from the heat and add the dried chilli/hot red pepper flakes.

Drain the pasta and return it to the pan. Add the anchovy, oil and tomato mixture and heat for a few minutes, just to help the pasta absorb all the lovely flavors. Season with a little salt (the anchovies are already pretty salty!) and pepper. Spoon the dressed pasta into bowls and sprinkle the picada over the top of each one to serve.

[cathyjacobowitz]

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Pleshettes’ refrigerator was the first place Mitchell had encountered gourmet ice cream. He still remembered the thrill of it: coming down to the kitchen one morning, the majestic Hudson visible in the window, and opening the freezer to see the small round tub of exotically named ice cream. Not a greedy half gallon, as they had at Mitchell’s house in Michigan, . . . not vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry but a flavor he had never dreamed of before, with a name as lyrical as the Berryman poems he was reading for his American poetry class: rum raisin. Ice cream that was also a drink! In a precious pint-size container. Six of these lined up next to six bags of dark French roast Zabar’s coffee. What was Zabar’s? How did you get there? What was lox? Why was it orange? Did the Pleshettes really eat fish for breakfast? Who was Diaghilev? What was a gouache, a pentimento, a rugelach? Please tell me, Michell’s face silently pleaded throughout his visits.

[litanyofneed]

Art therapist didn't find it funny when I said "Jews can't do origami" She also said Zabar's has the best bagels in NY

[eataku]

No one likes going to the doctor, but that fact that mine's across the street from Zabar's makes each office visit a little more bearable. I go knowing that once my appointment is over, I can walk over and enjoy their appetizing, country ham, chicken salad and rugelach.

As I had to fast before today's check-up, I was starving when I finished, so had turkey and tongue on rye with provolone, raw onion and thousand island dressing for lunch!!