Deli Man

Nov 12 2014 PG-13 1h 32m
Documentary

Every story needs a brave and trustworthy guide, and Deli Man’s is the effusive and charming Ziggy Gruber, a third-generation delicatessen man - his uncle and great-uncle owned Berger’s in the diamond district, and the Woodrow Deli on Long Island. His grandfather owned the famous Rialto Delicatessen on Broadway, and Ziggy was stuffing cabbages atop of a crate when he was eight. Now he is owner and maven (as well as a Yiddish-speaking French trained chef) of one of the country’s top delis, Kenny and Ziggy’s in Houston – yes, Texas…Shalom y’all. Of course the story of deli isn’t Ziggy’s alone. Deli Man has visited meccas like the Carnegie, Katz’s, 2nd Avenue Deli, Nate ‘n Al, and Canter’s, as well as interviewed some of the great connoisseurs of deli, including Jerry Stiller, Alan Dershowitz, Freddie Klein, Dennis Howard, Jay Parker (Ben’s Best), Fyvush Finkel, and Larry King. - ComingSoon.net

Plot

This documentary focuses on Ziggy Gruber, who co-owns a large deli in Houston and is also the grandson of the original owner of the Rialto Deli, the first Kosher deli to open on Broadway in New York City in the 1920s. The deli is the main love in this man's life. While the film also covers other famous Jewish delis in Manhattan, Queens, Los Angeles and San Francisco and their histories, the emphasis is on the cultural aspects of the food and how the culture and the desire for this food is disappearing. There were once thousands of these delis and now there's fewer than 150 left in the entire U.S. Such luminaries as Larry King, Jerry Stiller, Fyvush Finkel, Freddie Roman and Alan Dershowitz as well as various deli owners express their love for the culture and the food.

Written by

N/A

Directed by

Erik Greenberg Anjou

Cast

Steve Auerbach, Adam Caslow, Alan Dershowitz

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

United States of America

Languages

English

Awards

N/A

Trailers
Deli Man Official Trailer 1 (2015) - Documentary HD
Scores
# of Votes
571
Average Rating
7.1 out of 10
Metascore
62
Popularity
NA