Deli Days

For some years, living in Brookline, every Sunday meant brunch at the B&D deli. A short walk down the hill, step inside, dodge the elbows of little old ladies cutting in line, grab a deuce and nosh away for a couple of hours, whilst filleting your favorite sections out of the Sunday paper.

Neither my husband, nor I grew up anywhere near where there were delis, so our first exposure to their pleasures didn’t come about until we each moved "Back East" to Boston; me by way of New York. I’d never had a bagel - didn’t even know what cream cheese was - until college.

And even then, I’d say our delicatessen custom may have been -well, shall we say, a bit atypical? Ken’s on Boylston Street was the only restaurant in Boston open until 4 AM, so where else were you gonna go after partying hearty in town?

Later, settled down and cohabiting in an apartment deep in delicatessen-land, we frequented the hugely popular Pick-a-Chick, on Harvard Street. Before that, it had been Jack & Marion’s – a legend among Brookline delis. For the best bagels, though, you had to go further down to Kupel’s and stand in line. The B&D didn’t enter the picture until we got our first condo, near Washington Square. Later came Zaftig’s, in Coolidge Corner, carrying the flag for the non-Kosher deli with everything on the menu.

And now here we find ourselves on the North Shore, far from Brookline; even if we were to find our way back, most of the old haunts have long since disappeared. We’re left to our own devices to re-create those memories and experiences, and that’s what this issue is all about.

Can’t wait till Sunday!

My husband says: In college, there were undoubtedly many nights when Kar and I were both present, dining at Ken’s at 3:30 in the morning. However, she partied at the Cask & Flagon – only a mile away, but culturally another universe from where I was disco-ing on Landsdowne Street. This probably explains why we never met until we both had proper jobs. ☺