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Ocean City deli delivers kosher specialties

Rosenfeld's Jewish Delicatessen reopens after January break
February 20, 2014

For nearly a year, Rosenfeld's Jewish Delicatessen in Ocean City, Md., has been offering specialty sandwiches and kosher-style items that have been hard to find in the Cape Region.

Logging more than 50,000 different customers in the first eight months of business, the authentic Jewish deli offers grocery and deli carryout and delivery, and eat-in table service from its kosher-style menu.

“The typical customer, they come in to pick up a sandwich and take a half-pound of this, a pound of meat, a loaf of bread,” co-owner Warren Rosenfeld said. “There was not an authentic Jewish deli within two hours, any direction."

The deli closed for three weeks in January for a winter break, reopening Jan. 31. The staff has stayed busy since the reopening, fulfilling grocery and sandwich orders for an already-loyal following.

Grocery orders of specialty and hard-to-find Jewish foods have made up nearly a quarter of the business at his deli, Rosenfeld said, but eat-in table service is a treat, with china and service indoors or out.

Liverwurst, hot corned beef and pastrami are available by the sandwich or the pound, with Jewish breads and desserts to take home, such as babkas, rainbow cakes and bread puddings.

Triple-decker specialty sandwiches leave a big impression, but, according to Rosenfeld, the Reuben sandwiches inspire devotion.

“People drive 30 miles to come get our Reuben. They say it’s the best Reuben they’ve ever had in their life,” he said. “I use eight ounces of corned beef and a seedless marble rye that just seems to grill up nicely.”

Newark, Md. resident Frank Bolek said he regularly visits Rosenfeld’s, picking up a large order to take home when the shop reopened.

“It’s a New York deli, which is very rare around here,” Bolek said.

Already looking toward expanding the business, Rosenfeld said he wants to attract and build a clientele in Delaware, even offering to deliver as far as Lewes for orders of $150 or more.

"Delivery has been a nice business for us," Rosenfeld said. "People will put together a grocery order, and we will even deliver on the beach in Ocean City."

Originally from Washington, D.C., Rosenfeld said his parents owned a diner near the White House when he was a kid, so he grew up in the restaurant business.

When he retired to the Ocean City area after 30 years of practicing law in D.C., Rosenfeld said, he got the urge to get back into the industry, and within six months he was planning a menu for Roseneld's Jewish Delicatessen.

Rosenfeld said his business carries traditional Jewish foods such as smoked fish, beef tongue and challah breads and also offers some nonkosher items as well.

Rosenfeld’s Jewish Delicatessen is at 63rd Street and Coastal Highway in Ocean City, Md. For more information, call 410-520-0283 or go to www.RosenfeldsJewishDeli.com.

 

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