The excitement is palpable at St. Philips Plaza, where Jeremy Kneller-Hernandez is grilling eggs and latkes for a breakfast sandwich, heating potato knishes. Word has gotten out that he will soon be opening the kosher-style Kneller’s Delicatessen & Appetizing in town. Eager Tucsonans head over to his farmers market booth to try to pin down a date and location for the brick-and-mortar store. They muse about Jewish delis they once knew and loved, with the underlying question: Will this newcomer pass muster?
The answer to “when” is around April. The answer to “where” is midtown, between the University of Arizona area and Sam Hughes neighborhood, though Jeremy won’t disclose the exact address.
As for living up to memories of delis past, Jeremy says, “I have people coming up to me, there are almost tears in their eyes with hope, but they’re skeptical. ‘Who is this Hernandez opening up a Jewish deli?’ they’re wondering.”
There’s only one way to assuage their fears.
“I say, hey, get a knish, take a bite, tell me what you think and let’s go from there. And then they give that sigh of approval, that’s the best moment.” He adds, “It’s not just with deli, it’s the same with any moment in the hospitality industry when you just are confident in your food, confident in your passion.”
Jeremy was introduced to traditional Jewish delis at an early age. Born and raised in Tucson by a Jewish mother from Queens and a Mexican father from East L.A., he spent summers back east with his maternal grandparents. “It was routine for us to go fishing in Oyster Bay and, on the way, we’d stop in a delicatessen and grab a nice egg and cheese sandwich,” he recalls.
Many of his fondest memories link Jewish food to family gatherings. “We would always have huge cookouts in the summers with a bunch of cousins and families coming over. They’d serve brisket and gefilte fish and smoked whitefish salad. There was a lot of cooking, a lot of warmth.”
But nostalgia won’t cut it in the notoriously tough restaurant business. Happily, Jeremy has been working in the food industry since he was 15. He says, “I’m 33 now, so that’s 18 years bussing, cooking, cheffing it up, managing.” He earned a great deal of his cooking and bartending experience in Portland, Oregon, where he lived for four years, but learned most of the nitty-gritty operational logistics in Tucson.
“I was with Ares Collective restaurants for seven to eight years,” Jeremy notes. “Nate [Ares] was a mentor to me,” teaching him many aspects of the business, including management and leadership. After he left the Ares Collective, he started consulting for various bars and restaurants around town, creating menus, designing the bar areas, and, as Jeremy puts it, “restructuring management and systems and accounting and whatnot for the owners.”
The decision to open his own place was a tough one, however. Jeremy says, “I always had that fear of jumping off that ledge and going all in.” Finally, about a year ago, he decided he was ready to take the plunge. “I was at a point like, ‘Okay, I’m really good at this,’” referring to both his cooking skill and his grasp of the restaurant business.
And he didn’t have any doubts about the type of food he would feature. Jeremy has always honored the traditions of both his mother’s and father’s sides of the family, including culinary ones, but given the abundance of great Mexican restaurants in town, going with the deli was a no-brainer.
He is starting out slowly, perfecting recipes that go “back and back, from my aunts, and grandmother, to my great grandmother,” and introducing them with pop-ups at farmers markets and festivals and with catering. Among other things, he is curing his own lox, making matzo ball soup with real schmaltz, house-brining pastrami (“the Holy Grail for delicatessen”), and slow-braising brisket. He plans to make his own mustard, half-sour pickles, and sauerkraut. And yes, chopped liver will be a special on the restaurant menu. Jeremy laughs, “I get asked about that a lot.”
For the time being, he is turning to other members of the local food community for some deli staples, getting his bagels from Bubbe’s Fine Bagels, for example, and using Don Guerra’s Barrio Bread rye.
The fact that the deli will be offering the likes of Reuben sandwiches makes it clear that the menu won’t be observing the Jewish dietary laws of kashrut, which prohibit mixing dairy and meat, among other restrictions. This is not surprising, especially for a fledgling restaurant. The classic Jewish deli is in danger of extinction, so even venerable institutions like Katz’s in New York and Canter’s in LA have stayed afloat by loosening the rules to widen their customer base.
If the Jewish deli-deprived locals are eagerly anticipating his new restaurant, Jeremy is equally keen to accommodate them. He says, “The Jewish community in town is close-knit and proud, especially when it comes to food. I’d like to draw on that part of my background and try to share the warmth here.”
For more information about Kneller’s Deli & Appetizing, visit knellersdelicatessen.com. Find details about events and updates about the opening by following Kneller’s Deli on Instagram.
