New Larray's Owners Envision a Simple Deli With a Touch of Gourmet

Working a desk job as a graphic designer, Eli Schuepbach had a little pastime for when he got bored--cruising the Web looking for businesses that were for sale.

“I was spending too much time in front of the computer and I wanted to change that,” says Schuepbach, 40. “I wanted to be more active.”

This month, his dream of becoming a business owner became reality when Schuepbach, along with his wife Miranda Austin, became the new owners of Deli at 900 Western Ave.

With it, they bought not just a business, but a slice of Petaluma history, with Larray’s being the only remaining deli in town that is attached to a bar, a curious old world design that no longer exists. 

“We had looked at this place before, but it was too funky,” recalls Austin. “There was a lot of work that needed to be done, I was pregnant, it was just going to be difficult.”

But last year, the couple took a look again and decided to jump in. Since opening February 4, they have been busy creating more of a sit-in deli feel by ripping out the shelves that ran down the middle of the store and replacing them with tables and stocking up on good wine and cheeses.

They will also revert to the deli's original name--Ray's--which the business carried since 1947 before being changed to Larray's. 

The menu will be standard deli fare, including BLTs, pastrami and club sandwiches, along with seasonal and other types of salads. Ray's will bake their own rolls for sandwiches and plan on sourcing as many locally sourced products as possible, including Full Circle Bakery bread and Cowgirl Creamery cheeses.

“We want to get away from mass produced foods and offer local and organic foods,  but we also want to keep the prices affordable,” says Austin, who spent many years in the restaurant industry.

But they are also keenly aware that if they completely get rid of the chips, the Twizzlers and the soda that keep kids from Petaluma Junior High and Petalima High coming in, they’ll lose a lot of business. Plus, the snacks are part of the tradition. So they plan to offer chips that have less saturated fat and Hansens soda, while offering more gourmet items as well.

But this is not just another deli on your way in or out of town. Larray's features a funky wood paneled bar whose walls are decorated with photos of local veterans and other Petaluma memorabilia.

In fact, the new owners of Ray’s want to model themselves on Traverso’s, an Italian deli in Santa Rosa or Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco’s Mission District, a convenience store that offers foodies everything from salami to coffee beans to a quality bottle of red for dinner.

Ray’s is open 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 10am-8pm on Saturday and 10am-6pm on Sundays.