The fascinating mouthwatering story (with ten recipes!) of the immigrant family that created a
New York gastronomic legend: The most rambunctious and chaotic of all delicatessens with one
foot in the Old World and the other in the vanguard of every fast-breaking food move in the
city (Nora Ephron best-selling author and award-winning screenwriter).When Louis and Lilly
Zabar rented a counter in a dairy store on 80th Street and Broadway in 1934 to sell smoked fish
they could not have imagined that their store would eventually occupy half a city block and
become a beloved mecca for quality food of all kinds. A passion for perfection a keen business
sense cutthroat competitive instincts and devotion to their customers led four generations of
Zabars to create the Upper West Side shrine to the cheese fish meat produce baked goods
and prepared products that heralded the twentieth-century revolution in food production and
consumption. Lori Zabar—Louis’s granddaughter—begins with her grandfather’s escape from Ukraine
in 1921 following a pogrom in which several family members were killed. She describes Zabar’s
gradual expansion Louis’s untimely death in 1950 and the passing of the torch to Saul
Stanley and partner Murray Klein who raised competitive pricing to an art form and added
top-tier houseware and appliances. She paints a delectable portrait of Zabar’s as it is
today—the intoxicating aromas the crowds the devoted staff—and shares behind-the-scenes
anecdotes of the long-time employees family members eccentric customers and celebrity fans
who have created a uniquely American institution that honors its immigrant roots revels in its
New York history and is relentless in its devotion to the art and science of selling gourmet
food.
