Forget White Castle: What You 'Crave' is in Merrick

After almost a year in business, Merrick's Crave Deli and Catering is beginning to find its popularity boosting.

"People have been hearing about it and have been coming to try out the food," says Mark Haber, owner and chef at Crave, "and once they come here and have our food, they're hooked."

The deli, which is located on Merrick Avenue across the street from Camp Avenue School, offers a wide variety of dining options including a "create your own salad" bar with more than 50 ingredients and 25 home dressings to choose from.

The deli also offers breakfast and lunch menus as well as a "Hot Selections" menu that includes hamburgers, hot dogs and french fries, foods that are not generally associated with delis. Because a large portion of its customers are students and teachers, the deli also offers daily lunch specials for students.

According to Haber, however, catering is the biggest part of Crave's business. In addition to catering for social events, Crave currently supplies the Chatterton School with students' lunches on Mondays and Tuesdays. Haber hopes that Crave can reach out to other schools in and around the area and by extension solidify the business' importance to the Merrick community.

Haber, an Oceanside resident, notes that part of his deli's appeal is the healthier food selection. The majority of the meats sold are roasted in the deli by Haber and his four employees with no added preservatives. The end result is a healthier meat selection with greater appeal to a wider range of customers.

"People with heart conditions can come here because we sell low-sodium products," says Haber.

A major reason for the high quality food at Crave is the experience of Haber, who has been a part of the food business since he was 16 years old. Now in his 40s, Haber has worked all around the country at award winning restaurants such as Christopher's Crush in Phoenix, Arizona and Tupelo Honey in Seacliff, New York in such high ranking capacities as sous-chef,  executive chef, and chef de cuisine.

In 2004, Haber opened his first restaurant, Jessica's New American Grill, in Baldwin.  According to Crave's official Web site, Jessica's New American Grill "received several awards in the food industry including being voted one of the Top Ten Restaurants in Long Island."