Zabar’s first opened in 1934, serving New Yorkers deli classics like smoked fish, bagels, and incredibly popular coffee. Take a look inside the operation with Scott Goldshine, who has been managing the shop for the past 30 years.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Zabar's, it's almost a worldwide landmark at this point.
00:05 We get tourists from all over the world.
00:08 The store has a big emotional place in a lot of people's hearts.
00:12 For a lot of people, this is their daily grocery store.
00:28 So it's Tuesday at around 9 o'clock,
00:30 and every Tuesday we get our coffee delivery,
00:34 which you can see over here.
00:36 We sell about 8,000 pounds of coffee a week.
00:40 That's between mail order and retail.
00:43 That's a lot of f***ing coffee to sell for one store.
00:47 Not a chain, not a...
00:49 This is just one location, one store.
00:52 After the coffee's in around 10 o'clock,
00:55 Kenny, who's the coffee manager and store manager,
00:58 along with Andy Zabar, they cup the coffee.
01:02 This is the Tuesday morning ritual that's been going on
01:07 probably longer than I'm working here.
01:09 She's breaking the coffee.
01:10 We're just checking out the smell of the coffee.
01:13 Generally, you can get a sense of anything's problematic.
01:17 This is what Saul Zabar used to do every week
01:20 for years and years and years.
01:21 He's 95, so he's not doing that.
01:23 Although there are times he's here and he does help.
01:25 But this is the one thing that I can tell you
01:28 that happens every single Tuesday
01:30 at the same time at Zabar's is this.
01:33 One of the reasons people keep coming back for everything
01:36 as well as coffee is they know it's gonna taste
01:39 the same every week.
01:40 Yeah, it's just the way it is here.
01:42 There's never been, ever.
01:43 I don't think we've ever missed...
01:44 Ever. It doesn't matter if it's Christmas Eve.
01:47 It doesn't matter what's going on that Tuesday.
01:50 It gets done no matter what.
01:52 Alright, this is good.
01:54 I'm gonna let the guys know downstairs.
01:56 One of the first places I check when I come here in the morning
02:05 is the catering department.
02:07 There's usually a lot of catering orders in the morning
02:12 for breakfast orders and early lunch.
02:14 Since catering is also a big part of the business here,
02:17 most of these orders are expensive.
02:19 I'm very involved with the catering.
02:21 I have great people.
02:22 They're all fantastic, but I still stick my nose in it frequently
02:26 because I don't like the phone calls when there's a screw-up.
02:30 Saul Zabar has always been the buyer of the fish,
02:33 but we have a fish buyer that he's trained for years.
02:36 His name is Tomas.
02:37 He's Dominican, but he's buying the smoked fish
02:40 for the greatest Jewish smoked fish store in the world.
02:43 So this is Tomas from Zabar's.
02:45 He comes in every week and looks at the whitefish
02:48 and some of the other smoked fish goods that we prepare for Zabar's
02:52 and chooses the right mix of products for his customers.
02:57 So these whitefish have been brined, which is a saltwater solution.
03:04 Now they're being hung up on these sticks,
03:07 which will be transferred onto the trolleys for smoking.
03:11 So once they're finished loading the fish onto the trolleys,
03:15 they'll get pushed into an oven.
03:18 And this is what the whitefish look like when they're finished.
03:21 Beautiful golden color.
03:23 We pick the fish that we want.
03:25 Acme smokes it in a way that we like it to be smoked.
03:28 There's a certain taste that Saul likes, which Tomas obviously knows.
03:33 All right, so now these are the jumbo whitefish that we have.
03:36 These you want to have some fat in the back of the fish, in the belly.
03:41 Good belly.
03:42 The whitefish are too big like that.
03:44 I use it for the counting.
03:45 But I have medium whitefish and use it for the salad.
03:49 A little bit more flavor.
03:51 I pay 800, 900 pounds every week.
03:54 Regular time.
03:56 Holiday, forget about it.
03:58 So now it's ready for me.
04:00 He market for Zabar's and tomorrow deliver it for me.
04:04 So Wednesday he goes to the smokehouse and he picks out the fish.
04:07 Thursday the fish comes in.
04:11 In this area over here, all of the fish salads are made in this part of the kitchen right over here.
04:18 How many years are you here now?
04:19 34.
04:20 Yuri's here 34 years.
04:22 He runs the fish salad department.
04:25 All the fish are appetizing related salads.
04:28 Whitefish salad, tuna salad, egg salad, chicken salad, etc.
04:33 Has always been under the direction of Saul Zabar.
04:36 These are Saul's recipes that have been 50 years old.
04:40 Should be a little bit chunky.
04:42 When people eat, they feel fish.
04:45 I can't break it a lot.
04:46 Should be small chunks.
04:48 Same recipe, Saul still comes back here most days.
04:53 Every day he tastes.
04:55 A little bit salty but good flavor.
04:57 Now it's done, I'm going to send it to the packing room.
04:59 They put it in the containers and they sell it.
05:02 This is the whitefish from Yuri.
05:08 This is how we do it, half a pound.
05:10 After we pack it, we seal it with a container.
05:14 Then the final job is pricing.
05:17 All day I pack chicken salad, egg salad, shrimp salad, crab meat salad.
05:23 One of the busier counters at Zabar's, especially during lunch and certainly on the weekend breakfast, is our smoked fish department.
05:35 These guys are experts.
05:36 They're the best slicers in the city.
05:38 They slice paper thin.
05:39 This is Devin, one of the stars.
05:41 How are you guys doing?
05:42 Who is charming, handsome, and he knows how to slice fish.
05:46 What he's doing is an art form.
05:48 And not everybody can do it.
05:50 I can't do it.
05:51 We got a lot of people that are particular.
05:53 They want see-through slices, thin, thin, thin.
05:58 They don't want small slices.
06:00 Just depends.
06:01 Everyone is always, let's say, showing out for their guests in the house.
06:05 So they always want perfect slices.
06:08 It's kind of like a steak.
06:09 If you wind up cooking the steak too long, it gets rubbery, right?
06:13 If you cut it too thick, it doesn't taste right.
06:16 You want that thin, thin slice that just melts in your mouth.
06:20 This counter has the longest wait time of any counter.
06:23 You can't slice faster than what they're doing.
06:25 If you want it to be paper thin, it's all done by hand.
06:29 You can see it's an art form.
06:31 So there are people that get pissed because they have to wait too long,
06:34 but I can't rush them.
06:37 Another big part of our business is prepared foods.
06:41 We have a kitchen staff of 35 people.
06:44 This whole crew of guys has been over here 25 to 30 years.
06:49 Anthony makes the soup.
06:50 How many years you making the soup now?
06:52 25.
06:53 45 years he's glued to that kettle.
06:56 Kitchen's open seven days, and the variety of things.
06:59 We could have 30 different soups out in the refrigerator at any given time.
07:03 But about a year and a half ago, the chef came up with an idea
07:06 for a roasted corn and tomato salad, which is very simple.
07:10 It's basically corn and tomato, a couple other things.
07:13 And it blew up.
07:14 He is making what's become one of the more popular dishes here at Zabar's,
07:18 which is a roast corn and tomato salad.
07:21 How many times a week do you do this now?
07:23 Approximately, I'd say maybe three to four times a week
07:25 we're already doing this salad.
07:27 That's a lot.
07:28 We're carrying the corn on the cob.
07:30 We boil it, we char it.
07:34 I use a little bit of vinegar, pepper.
07:36 Try not to put too much.
07:38 This is called raffi sugar.
07:39 He gets mad when you take his sugar and use it all up.
07:42 That's what I do when he's not here.
07:43 I take all his ingredients.
07:44 This is raffi behind me.
07:46 And one more just in case.
07:48 So right when we finish the process, we send the next door.
07:51 They pack it up, and then it goes straight to the shelves,
07:54 straight to your home.
07:55 Could be out of every member of this staff, he talks more shit than anybody.
08:00 But I can't help it.
08:01 And you can ask these guys over here, because I promise you they're going to guarantee it too.
08:05 I try to stay quiet, but it's so hard to do.
08:07 Especially when Scott's around me, I can't stay quiet.
08:09 I have to talk.
08:10 No, I don't make fun of him.
08:11 He's my dad. I love him.
08:13 That's okay. I make fun of him too.
08:14 Thank you.
08:15 I love him. He's an asshole sometimes, but I love him.
08:17 That's what I do.
08:18 Listen, they're my assholes. It's okay.
08:20 They're all right.
08:22 One of the things that has always made Zabar special are the people that work here.
08:27 This is really, we call it the world's biggest mom and pop store,
08:30 because we really are a family.
08:32 This is Naomi, who's my assistant, who's been here over 15 years.
08:37 That is her sister over there.
08:38 Ashley, who's also been here a number of years as well.
08:42 The morning girls are the girls that have been here forever.
08:45 Rumi's been here over 20 years.
08:47 This is Millie.
08:48 In addition to being one of my closest friends, she's been here 42 years.
08:52 230 people that work here, so the Zabar family, myself,
08:57 we feel there's an obligation.
08:59 It's a lot easier when you're working with people that care.
09:02 So you want to do things. You want to do things for them.
09:05 You know they're going to be there for you.
09:07 That's hugely important, because the store doesn't run without them.
09:10 How old were you when you started? 16?
09:13 About.
09:14 And I've got to tell you, from the first day that he started,
09:17 he breaks my balls and his balls.
09:20 It's not breaking. It's just telling the truth.
09:24 You tell yourself, "This little guy, for a little guy, he's got a lot of angst."
09:30 This is true. He's one angry little f***.
09:32 But he's my f***. I love him.
09:36 Love you too.
09:38 We all spend more time here than we do with our families.
09:44 So it's around 11.30 in the morning. Now we come over to the warehouse.
09:48 This is our mail-order warehouse over here.
09:50 Zabar's has a very large mail-order business.
09:53 They run this whole operation over here.
09:56 And during the holidays, this is a f***ing zoo.
09:59 I don't know how they do it. I check on them.
10:02 They don't need me to check on them.
10:03 Shipping nationwide. United States, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, California, anywhere.
10:09 I've seen packages go to Montana.
10:11 People love Zabar's everywhere.
10:13 During the holidays, all this is full of boxes.
10:16 UPS is non-stop just coming inside and out, filling up the trailer outside.
10:20 It gets crazy.
10:22 We do about 10,000 a day on a nice holiday Monday night.
10:27 One of the things, one of the perks of my job is I get to sample stuff.
10:34 Right now I have with me Eric Newman.
10:37 One of the things I like doing, I would rather do, is I get to sample food.
10:42 Which is always fun.
10:43 Eric is a long-time vendor of ours.
10:46 Now we're going to look at these pastrami egg rolls and corned beef egg rolls.
10:50 Assuming we like them and the price is right.
10:54 It will be.
10:55 Then we'll sell them.
10:57 We don't sell anything unless it's tasted.
10:59 And it's got to pass our test.
11:01 Not bad.
11:03 You have to understand, you never tell a guy like this that it's the greatest thing you ever ate.
11:07 Because then he's going to screw you on the price.
11:09 So you always kind of...
11:10 Beat me up a little bit.
11:11 Good, it's alright.
11:13 You know, after he leaves, he and I may talk and say this is the best shit we ever ate.
11:16 But never in front of his face.
11:18 By the way, Candido is the deli manager.
11:21 He's got better taste than I do.
11:23 I respect what he says sometimes more than what I say.
11:25 I may like something, he may pull me aside and say it sucks.
11:29 I let him make the final decision when it comes to that.
11:33 It's amazing dealing with them because the money comes like clockwork, which is awesome.
11:37 And they're just, the numbers are always great.
11:39 The volume is just tremendous.
11:41 Always big orders. No butts.
11:43 Bullshit, there is some butts. I mean, we can be a pain in the ass.
11:46 High standards, which is a good thing.
11:49 I'm not a big paperwork guy. I don't like it.
11:52 It's very important for me, which is one of the reasons I'm here on the weekends,
11:56 is to be downstairs, on the floor, when it's busy.
12:00 Thank you so much.
12:02 Ready? How can I help you?
12:06 It doesn't matter what else I'm doing when it's busy,
12:09 which is lunchtime or dinnertime or the weekends, then I'm downstairs.
12:14 I'm on the floor.
12:16 It's important to be on the floor to make sure everybody's doing what they're supposed to.
12:20 To be there to answer any problems.
12:22 The staff sees me there.
12:24 There you go, love. Have a good one, all right?
12:27 I work with them, pushing baskets, throwing out the garbage.
12:34 I learned that from Mr. Zabar always did that.
12:38 Mr. Klein used to do that. We're a team.
12:41 We cannot get tongue in Boston.
12:48 Why doesn't Boston have tongue?
12:51 I have to come all the way to New York to get tongue? Why?
12:55 I come all the way from Boston to shop at Zabar's
13:00 because we love the tongue.
13:04 It's the best in the world, number one.
13:07 And it's the best whitefish salad.
13:11 Better than in Boston.
13:13 So we come all the way to New York to shop at Zabar's.
13:19 Customers like this, that's why we're still in business.
13:29 There is definitely a pressure to keep this place running for all of us.
13:34 A, we all want a job. B, this is an institution.
13:38 I'm proud of what everybody's worked together and built.
13:43 It's very important to me that this continues as well as the Zabar family wants it to continue.
13:49 And I feel the pressure every moment that I walk in the store.
13:52 Don't you love Zabar's? It's the best.
13:56 This store has meant so much to so many people.
14:00 I'm talking to people now that I used to carry around, you know, when they were two years old and go feed them food salad.
14:06 It's like, you remember me? Thirty years ago you used to drag me around the store and, you know, feed me.
14:11 That's cool.
14:12 And this store means a lot to a lot of people.
14:20 It's our job to keep it going.
14:22 [Music]
14:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]