Latkes have no deep family history or mystic ties to some other world. When I was young, my father, who was an Irish Catholic, introduced me to Russ and Daughters, and it was a revelation. Sometimes food does not have to be a Proustian evocation of time past, but merely has to be really good, and that is enough.
14
I have to wonder if any of my father, his sister, my bubbe or my grandfather ever made the schlep from Brooklyn for a nosh. Or if my mother and her family ever stopped by on a long trip from the wilds of Hackensack.
A place like that within walking distance, my wallet would lay bare for months yet I'd be too blissfully sated to care.
3
We no longer live in the city, so we have Russ & Daughters bagels and babka shipped overnight. Accept no substitute.
6
I lived in NYC for two years - first on the Upper East Side and then out in Brooklyn. Both places were about an hour away from Russ and Daughters, but I would still make the pilgrimage there for bagels once a week. It might have been inconvenient, but I certainly wasn't about to buy bagels anywhere else.
3
Why am I not ever in New York? This seems so great!
4
Moved to NYC in 1968. Never met a bagel I liked.
3
@David Allman
actually detroit has the best bagels...at a place called new york bagel...enjoy!
2
One of the many reasons my husband - an immigrant to the U.S. - loves me..I know about and take him to Russ and Daughters and many other such treasures. For my birthday, my only request is "order from Russ & Daughters." Nova, whitefish salad, sable, the orange-lemon pepper mackerel, and the best babka in the world. I have loved Russ & Daughters since I was a kid. I have the book, waiting for the movie and the Broadway show! (My book is signed by the Lox Sherpa, making it extra special).
7
Whenever I make the infrequent pilgrimage to Katz's for a pastrami I always stop in Russ & Daughters for a fat, golden chub. Sad that the old-school "Appetizer" has pretty much disappeared where I live but I used to go to this place "Moss Appetizer" on Clifton Avenue in Lakewood, N.J., run by a since deceased Israeli immigrant, Chaim Lubrecki. I never really knew much about an "Appetizer" until I was schooled by Chaim. He wasn't the most popular shop owner in Lakewood because he was open on the Sabbath as he had a big following of non-Jews from Monmouth and Ocean Counties, N.J., who like me who went to his shop on Saturday mornings to buy bagels, fresh sliced salmon and sable, pickles, hummus, assorted olives, homemade pitas, feta cheeses and so much more I can't even remember. I do know Chaim took a liking to me because I would always eat whatever he recommended no matter how odd it seemed. The one sandwich he would make for me that he said no one else would eat (besides himself) started with him hand picking an everything bagel from his stash behind the counter. Then he'd take a big schmaltz herring from a pickling barrel, filet it, cut the fillets into four pieces, slice a red onion, tomato and some special Bulgaria feta cheese he only had on occasion. He'd s halve the bagel, lay down the herring, then the feta followed by the tomato and then the onion, cut it into two sides, put it on a plate and tell me to eat. It's one of the best sandwiches I've ever eaten.
19
can't wait for our chubs!
2
CHUBS! where? there? real, greasy chubs? I'm there!
3
Go there every time we visit NYC! Best news is they ship! As does Zabars, the upper west side Nova Nirvana.
4
Russ and Daughters is a very special place. The food is spectacular and the people who work there and who shop there are amazing to chat with. I live in Vancouver and there are no real bagels here! I come alive in NYC and part of that is being able to stop by a store that is an institution!
7
As a transplanted suburban WASP to the Upper West Side in the 70s, it was Murrays for me. A whole new world opened up for me. I loved watching the men cut the salmon in lovely paper thin pieces and their delicious creamed herring. Makes me so nostalgic.
2
“Oh for the taste of an authentic bagel” proclaims this Queens native now resident of San Francisco, a city where the majority of “bagels” are merely hamburger buns with a hole in the center.
13
Oh for a lightly toasted bialy with cream cheese and lox. My mouth waters. In my mind, I can smell the smell of an appetizing store. Yummy.
3
@Rainy Night
Sadly, every time a NY-style deli opens in Pugetopolis, it either is awful or it can't make it financially.
Go to Vancouver (BC) or Portland (OR) where the NY (or Montreal) style delis have a longer shelf life than they do here.
Personally, I like our local (or AK) hot smoked Chinook or Sockeye salmon better than lox.
1
@vacciniumovatum Anyone believing hot smoked salmon is better than cold smoked or cured salmon is nuts.
3
Pity my unsuspecting midwestern goy husband who asked for a blueberry bagel. If looks could kill, along with “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that...”
31
I actually found a bagel shop with bagels like the ones I knew as a child in Detroit. I still cannot find an Italian cold cut sub that compares to the ones at Baltimore's Ciaparellis in the 70 s. I have found the perfect vegan sandwich in a small bakery in Carlsbad, CA. On the other hand all the food served in the 140 years of Antoine's in New Orleans is exquisite. Foodies just need to keep searching till they drop, likely from incidentally overeating. And yes NOVA is the best salmon and the healthiest.
4
Even after we moved to Jersey, 60 years ago, my mother would only get lox from Russ & Daughters. I remember her kibitzing as they had sliced the lox and chose the chubs. But I also miss the potato and kasha knishes from Yona Schimmel’s which was a few blocks away. I still eat lox, especially at Rein’s in Connecticut on the way home(in Boston) from almost anywhere. We always have to stop!!! But no one makes knishes like Schimmels. Miss them so.
3
My mouth watered as I read this article, remembering the multiple trips I have made while staying with my daughter who used to live just a short tantalizing block from Russ and Daughters in the East Village. It could not get any better than walking into that deli, pulling a number and having it called only to leave minutes later with a supply of bagels and lox tucked into a bag to take back to share with my daughter. Love that place.
2
Love mom and pop businesses and they must be good to last this long in New York, but I do not do fish.
The non-fish stuff sounds wonderful.
2
would that such astoundingly fine things were available here on the left coast. were my blood or wallet thicker, or an unmarried eligible daughter available, it's almost worth moving back.There are bialys here, and fish, but not the same herstory.
Such is the cost of year round sunshine.
salmon, sturgeon, lox,
whitefish, sable, schmears, bialys,
nova, paradise..
Russku12618
7
LA has Langer’s, which has a transcendent pastrami sandwich. But not the salmon that Russ does. Up the coat, the Santa Barbara Smokehouse does a very nice job. And in the Bay Area we are doing better with Wise Sons.
3
Call Russ &Daughters and they will overnight via FedEx for 35$
4
@Bruce Kaplan Lately I've been buying a lot of the Santa Barbara 4 0z. pkgs at my local Whole Foods. Had them on sale a week ago for $7.99. Very good. I put the slices on light buttered good crusty rye or a Balthazar baguette.
2
I loved that place. I used to go there in the 60's with my grandfather. If I close my eyes I can still smell the Halvah.
4
"On the front of the shop is the pink-and-green neon sign with two little lox next to the lettering." Uh, I don't think so. I've been fishing for decades and nowhere is it possible to catch a lox. Salmon, as portrayed on the neon sign, are another story. Smoke 'em and you get lox.
Which begets the question: Exactly how big a pipe do you need to smoke a salmon? ;-)
33
Been going to R&D for more than 40 years. I walk in, breathe, look, and my spirits are lifted. Good people, good fish (gravlax or Pastrami-cut or herring or sable or whitefish or anything else). My husband and I argue over the bagels. Maybe it’s my DNA, but I like them dense, as they are here. Only the tiniest piece of halvah necessary to reach nirvana.
5
Just one word, yum!
1
Great writing to begin with. Your style is delightful!
Oh how I miss that place. Spent many a morning there kibitzing I've my perfect bagel and lox. Simple complex joys!!
6
Wonderful story. I love the tradition and the loving attention to their products and customer service. Don't rush a good thing.
I love Katz's, but its a production line there, serving the tourists and the regulars.
1
What a wonderful article. It is so nice to read about the history of this establishment. I no longer live on the east coast so can't get to my favorite foods of which are written about here.
5
@Flo Yes, you can! Russ & Daughters delivers some of their favorites online - I am ordering some creamed herring and liver pate for Christmas from them this year.
2
@Flo
Depends where in OR you are...
503: Go to Kornblatt's on NW 23rd St (base of Nob Hill). It's worth the trip. I go there when I am in Bridgetown
541: You're outta luck unless you want to schlep to Portland.
1
A lovely expression of the Russ gestalt, but for the full flower of the experience one also must consider Calvin Trillin's "Tepper Isn't Going Out", which in admirable style celebrates both Russ in general and Herman in particular. Recommendation: Go to Russ and order a chub, but demand a "nice one" and see what happens.
10
My family went to NYC this summer and had breakfast at Russ & Daughters one morning. We are now ruined for any other bagels and lox. Totally worth the time and the $$.
4
Is this place better than Barney Greengrass, The Sturgeon King? If so, I'm there!
3
@Andy Goldberg Better than Barney Greengrass, yes, but not as good as Murray's Sturgeon Shop on Broadway and 90th. Oh, boy!
3
I would love to eat here. Growing up in Toronto I have such fond memories of Saturday evening suppers with bagels, onion buns, lox and herrings and smoked ciscos (lake herring from Lake Superior). In Vancouver this is very hard to find. Certainly not with the atmosphere of Russ and Daughters. I will definitely make a stop here on my next trip to NYC.
7
@LorneB
You do mean Vancouver, BC, don't you? I don't think CA has a Vancouver (unless they stole ours away from Portland).
Doesn't Omnitsky still serve that stuff?
1
It is painful to go there and watch the counter attendants serve their wares. You would think that they are cutting the hair of the Prince of Wales. They are so slow, it is ridiculous. I would not shop there even if there weren't any lines.
In comparison go to Katz's. Those guys know how to operate.
3
@I DIDN'T INHALE so kibbitz, it's part of the fun, and you never know when you'll learn something new, or get a good laugh, or give one..
10
@I DIDN'T INHALE Slicing that nova so thin is an art form. It must be appreciated as such. Part of the experience. Just like eating said nova slowly, to savor the flavor as long as possible. Sorry, but if you don't realize this, you aren't worthy...
6
If there is a heaven, they would provide the food.
11
You’re absolutely right. It brings me back to when my grandparents would take us all to Ratner’s or the Concord. With so many of these places long gone, it’s so special to have Russ and Daughters. It nearly moves me to tears each time we are there, because I can feel my the spirit of my grandparents with me as I savor each bit. My daughter took one bite of her babka French toast and declared, “this is heaven”. It sure is. It sure is.
7
"Mr. Russ had no sons, so he gave the store to his three daughters..." How about just, "Mr. Russ gave the store to his three daughters"?
38
@MJ How about sticking to the truth? If he had sons there would be no Russ & daughters. Does not change the fact that the store prospered under the daughters, and emphasizes that it did so despite societal headwinds.
48
Do they have gluten free bagels, non fat sour cream and vegan lox?
2
@Chris You're kidding, right? Why bother?
17
@Chris
No, like good Ashkenazi Jews of a certain era (error?), they're all planning to keel over after a great Sunday brunch. Have you ever seen the corned beef and pastrami sandwiches (on rye, of course)? Cardiologists are watching and waiting...
5
the best. what a special place
3
I am so going there
6
Such a good tribute to Russ & Daughters, one of my favorite places in town. I used to run from my apt in Peter Cooper Village to them, on or near to holiday mornings, for bagels and caviar. Best place in town to buy caviar. But the real joy was the warmth, the dialogue, the way the owner kept trying to set me up with his son. R&D will always have my heart!
6
This article, like the store(s) and the foods it's about, has great flavor!
7
Used to live in the neighborhood. A trip to the store on Saturdays was a ritual.
Now I live further away (Union Square), but I sent a pal in Texas a pound of Russ and Daughters salmon for his 50th birthday. It made him "happy all day", he told me.
16
Oy! my vegetarian heart is kvelling for a Russ bagel mit a bissel cream cheese. (forgive the spelling). In 1970 my Mom and I opened a natural food store on 2nd Ave & 23st. We lasted 30 years so I have a real fondness for mom and pop business.
Long live the New York that I still dream about. Boston has beans and the Red Sox but New York has the best bagels and lox in the universe. Amen!
25
Yiddish police here checking in on a word misuse. Check the definition of “kvelling”. It means “to be extraordinarily pleased” or “bursting with pride”, not “yearning” as your usage implies.
9
@Guitarman There are times when your veggie heart must make an exception. This is one of them.
2
@Jim I plead guilty. However the memory and the pleasure of a NY bagel with cream cheese is not universally understand. You have to be a New Yorkah to understand. In Baaston they just don't get pizza or bagels.
1
I visit NYC from TX at least once a year, and I always make a stop and Russ and Daughters. The long waits are worth it, because the food, as the writer correctly states, is pure heaven.
8
And in addition to that absolutely indescribably wonderful food, for many of us who came of age when Ms Magazine was the food for our brains and hearts, I will never forget the amazing click! that shot through me at the sight of the photo of Russ and Daughters - the sign! the daughter! Such possibilities! The world opened up!
11