Off the Beaten Patch: Oye! Do We Need a Kosher Deli in Walnut Creek!

Frigid winters. Hideous humidity. Potholes.

I was all too anxious to leave these behind when I moved from Chicago to Walnut Creek in 1982. But no one told me I'd have to give up matzo ball soup, kosher rye and dill pickles. It's the food I know, the food I grew up on. 

You have to understand that food -- either eating it or talking about it -- is the Mother Ship of my people. And it has been since Moses packed the matzo and led the tribe out of Egypt.

I was absolutely delighted when on my second day at my new job, a co-worker asked if I wanted to grab a sandwich at the local deli. I was out of my chair and out the door before she even finished her sentence.

"What can I get you?" the man behind the counter asked. "What can I get you?" he asked again.  I just stood there and didn't say a word. My colleague looked at me, probably thinking, who did we hire all the way from Chicago? She gave her order: a bologna, ham and cheese sandwich on white bread with lettuce, peppers and mayonnaise. 

I cringed, bought a bag of chips, a Diet Coke and went back to the office. That was the last time I went to lunch with her and the first time I realized that maybe moving here was a mistake.

So here I sit, 28 years later and still no Kosher-style deli in Walnut Creek.

My last boss always said, "Don't come to me with a problem unless you bring a solution."

Well, OK. 1403 Locust St. That's the solution. What used to be Chili's Restaurant is sitting empty and is the ideal location to part the Red Sea and open a deli.

If the owner of Manny's in Chicago, Chompie's in Scottsdale or the Carnegie Deli in New York is reading this, please hear my prayer. Not only do I have the location for you, I even have the menu ready. Of course, the menu is almost as long as the Union Prayer Book and will include a page of nut-free and gluten-free offerings, but here's a sample to nosh on:

Appetizers:

• Knishes (potato, meat or spinach)
• Chopped liver
• Smoked fish

Soups:

• Chicken soup with one or all of the following: matzo balls, rice, kreplach or noodles
• Russian cabbage

Sides:

• Kugel
• Cole slaw

Salads: 

• Doesn't matter as long as the dressing's on the side.

Sandwiches:

• Hot corned beef
• Hot pastrami
• Tuna or egg salad
• Skirt steak

Brunch:

• Lox and bagels
• Cheese blintzes

Desserts:

• Black & white cookies
• Sundaes
• Rugelach (at least six varieties)
• Kichel
• Babka  (yeah, just like on Seinfeld)
• Macaroons (plain and chocolate covered)
• Marble cake
• Hamentashen (poppy seed and apricot)
• Danish  (poppy seed, prune and cheese)
• Chocolate kokosh
• Mandel bread (cinnamon without nuts)

There.  Problem solved. 

The 5700-square-foot size is absolutely perfect. What's more, it's downtown, on a corner and between two parking garages. "Seek and Ye Shall Find." Well, I did.

Inside? Just make sure you have a big lobby, lots of booths, a private back room and the all-important enormous-take-away-dessert-display near the door so, after we say, "Oye, I can't eat another thing," we can buy some halvah on the way out.

Throw in some Early Bird Specials for Rossmoor and a Jewish Singles Night for me and, finally, I may call Walnut Creek home.