Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on August 8, 2022

Fans of Sauls Restaurant and Delicatessen, Berkeleys beloved 36-year-old Jewish deli, can finally stop dining in fear.

For years, longtime owners Karen Adelman and Peter Levitt have made it known that they want to retire. And retirement can often lead to closing, as is often the case at historic Bay Area restaurants. But Adelman and Levitt have just finalized a deal with the goal of ensuring Sauls lives on.

Kitchen manager Jesus Chuy Mendoza and Sam Tobis, owner of Oakland Jewish bakery Grand Bakery, will be joining Adelman and Levitt as the delicatessens newest partners. Adelman and Levitt will remain on the scene but will play gradually smaller roles at the Berkeley institution, as first reported by J. Despite the changing of hands, there is no formal sale.

It is both a re-energizing and a continuation. Nobody has to be afraid, Levitt said. Its not like an outsider is coming to change things up.

New owners Sam Tobin (left) and Jose De Jesus Mendoza (right) flank house manager Will Bekker inside the office at Sauls Restaurant and Delicatessen while longtime owners Karen Adelman and Peter Levitt, who are retiring, stand at the back.

This development means Sauls will, largely, stay the same. Couples will still gather over matzo ball soup for lunch. Families will still order rounds of bagels, eggs and lox for weekend brunch, then line up at the deli counter for slices of babka and whitefish salad by the pound. The pastrami will still be towered high on sandwiches, and the popular latke tent will still be an annual Hanukkah event.

The main departure is the start of its own in-house baking program, which will manufacture pastries and desserts like rugelach, black-and-white cookies, cheesecake and many more items. (Grand Bakery will remain kosher at a separate facility, but Sauls Delis bakery operation will not be kosher.) Israel Bustos, a longtime Sauls cook, will handle this part of the operation inside a room that was formerly an office.

Sam and Chuy made my desk and Karens desk disappear and replaced them with a beautiful, spanking-new bakery that is up and running a.m. to p.m. Its a huge improvement in quality, Levitt said.

Daniel Kretzer delivers a pastrami sandwich to a customer at Sauls Restaurant and Delicatessen in Berkeley.

The long-standing owners have lots in common with the incoming partners. Adelman started at Sauls as a waitress in 1989, while Levitt, a Chez Panisse alum, arrived in 1995 to helm the kitchen. They formed a partnership in 1996 to take over the restaurant from past owner Andra Lichtenstein.

Similarly, Mendoza arrived as a cook, working his way up to kitchen manager, a position he has held for a decade now. Meanwhile, Tobis relationship with Sauls began with his 2017 acquisition of Grand Bakery, a longtime vendor to Sauls. He has become more involved at Sauls over the past several months, with a steady presence across the dining room and behind the counter.

Daniel Kretzer hands a customer a to-go order at Sauls Restaurant and Delicatessen in Berkeley.

Peter has taught me everything about the restaurant and I have been able to help him in managing the kitchen for a long time, Mendoza said. Ive been doing everything based on his suggestions.

The news comes after the restaurants many struggles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw Sauls add an outdoor dining area and rely on takeout more than ever before. It also comes after a sale that fell through in escrow in March 2020, with Adelman and Levitt ready to retire after the transaction.

We had already sort of levitated from excitement about that new stage of our life, but we had to come back and be really scrappy and keep the restaurant going during that period, Adelman said. It was quite a shock, but were pretty good at reacting to things. And I think this is a better situation.

A couple sit down to lunch at Sauls Restaurant and Delicatessen in Berkeley.

In all, Adelman and Levitt are optimistic about Sauls legacy carrying on with the next generation.

When we got here, we had black hair and dark hair, and now we have gray hair, Adelman said. But (Mendoza and Tobis) are seasoned, experienced, and then theres also a youthful energy and a vision. ... I think altogether, thats pretty good.

Mario Cortez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mario.cortez@sfchronicle.com

See the original post:

Berkeley's 36-year-old Jewish deli was in limbo. Now owners are passing the torch to a new generation - San Francisco Chronicle

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