Category: Ronnie’s Blog

When I was a Vista volunteer in 1970 with a beard developing and a disappearing hair line – a harbinger of things to come – we VISTAS  (Volunteers in Service to America) all  gathered to create a sense of team. I turned down smoking a joint, and when they offered me a beer, I said no thank you. They couldn’t imagine this young man from Queens County wouldn’t smoke marijuana or drink alcoholic beverages. Really, they exclaimed! No alcohol? No drugs? I just nodded my head in some sort of shame. The peer pressure was difficult to handle, but I stood tall and wouldn’t let anyone or anything change this progressive mind (with a conservative life style)… even though I was the lone dissenter.

I guess that is why I own a Deli. I went against the advice of many. My best friend through High School and College told me I was wasting my life. He said I was smarter than this (this meaning the business). My parents laughed at me and told me I was crazy to embark on this endeavor. I didn’t blame them; after all, it’s not the typical path of an educated young man along with a tour as a Vista Volunteer after college. And to add insult to injury, the bank was hesitant to give me a business loan because, my first location that I took over as a kosher delicatessen, already went bankrupt twice.

So I showed them… or did I?

My best friend is collecting an extremely nice pension as a retired professor of Biology and I am still toiling in the proverbial trenches. Another friend from my Vista days also retired from SUNY as a professor of sociology.

Although I continue to work extremely hard, I do take pride and take great satisfaction that I survived and continue surviving when so many kosher deli’s failed and continue to fail all around me. My customers have a need that I am able to fill. I provide jobs for over 320 employees.

I guess if I had to attribute something to my success and survival it is that I always followed my dreams and my gut and never fell to peer, employee, landlord or distributor pressure. And let’s be honest, I’m here because of you – our loyal customers who pay all our wages. I did it my way for almost 45 years; and thank you for letting me serve you. May we continue our relationship for years to come. I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year.

See ya at the Deli,
<

What should I write for my August blog? In the approximately twenty years I have been writing a column for the Deli Newsletter, I have touched on everything from some odd requests, to some misconceptions I had about our patrons, to the experiences of opening new stores and the closing of others. I have also discussed my vendors–past and present, landlords, and also some positive and negative aspects of our many employees.

I am sure I left out some stories due to my advancing age and unfortunately, my advancing age has taught me a thing or two about what writer’s block truly means!

I am here… so I go back to my question, what should I write about for the August blog. Hmmm. I’ve got it. The Future. Years ago, I dreamt of the day that Robots would replace servers; no disrespect here but robots do have some advantages – they don’t talk back, won’t call in late or sick, or tell me that their uncle died (how many uncles can one person have), that they forgot their dentist appointment or countless other excuses for not showing up to work that sometimes are actually quite creative.

Yes, I am waiting for the robots to serve pastrami, French fries, stuffed cabbage, hanger steak, and turkey dinners. And it is not too far in the future since I just read about a pizza parlor that is staffed by robots acting as servers. In fact, the business doubled when the public found this out. I guess a robot can’t be impatient, surly, or insulting. But in all fairness, a robot won’t be able to read a customer’s mind about what they want to eat or be a friend and listen to a customer’s story about a bad day. Most importantly, a robot won’t be able to go the extra mile in order to do the right thing to satisfy every customer and make sure that every customer leaves happy.

Thank you for putting up with my latest thoughts, and ramblings.

See ya at the Deli!

In the course of a typical tumultuous day and week, I am confronted by some of the craziest happenings. This past week, I received an email from a well known scion of a famous restaurant family whose son purchased food from our Scarsdale location where he resides. It seems that he inadvertently left his wallet on the counter. When he called the restaurant in a panic (we’ve all been there), the Assistant Manager advised him that one of our employees found his wallet. Relieved, he said he would come to the restaurant to retrieve his wallet; the Assistant Manager said there was no need, he would drop it off on his way home from work. Though both the Assistant Manager and the employee were offered a reward, it was refused. To quote this long time Ben’s patron and scion of the famed restaurant family:

“In these days of tough business and striving for customer loyalty, your staff has shown a great way to keep your customers satisfied beyond the food experience. My son was extremely grateful for their action and will continue to be a supporter of his local Ben’s (Scarsdale) as my wife and I will be a supporter of our local Ben’s (Greenvale).”

And if that wasn’t enough, in the same week a poor young lady lost her retainer valued at $1,000. It was about 8:30 at night when I left my upstairs Long Island office only to find the young lady along with her father rummaging through the piles of bagged garbage in our refrigerated garbage room. They had asked the Assistant Manager for permission to do this and with much concern said, of course! At 9:30 PM when I was finally leaving for the day, I checked on the progress only to find an hourly employee – who already clocked out – sitting on the floor knee deep in the garbage. On his own without prompting and a ten hour work day, he donated over an hour of his time searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

The father – also in the restaurant business – felt terrible about this imposition given that it was after hours with employees ready to leave. Bag after bag, they went through the garbage with no success. The father was agitated, the young lady was crying but the Assistant Manager calmed both and said it was okay to take as long as necessary to find the retainer. With gloves on they got to the last bag of garbage. Voila, the young lady with tears streaming down her reddened face found the retainer.

I guess there is such a thing as a Lost and Found at Ben’s! and also many heartwarming signs of humanity!

See ya at the deli,

Come this October, I will have been in business for 45 years. Yes, you read that correctly. Forty-five years of learning, growing, prospering and living the “American Dream†as a Baby Boomer.

I may be in the twilight of my career – or shall I refer to it as the sunset of my career, but I am constantly wondering who will continue the Ben’s tradition. Keeping the customs alive and the business I built intact is concerning and preoccupies most of my spare time.

Forty-five years ago, it would have been unthinkable that a Kosher deli would no longer exist on every street corner but, sadly, we are an endangered species. Where there were once almost 300 Jewish and/or Kosher delicatessen restaurants in metro New York, now there are fewer than fifty.

But, these are very different times. Most of our patrons do not follow the laws of kashrut. And, the unique connection and loyalty that immigrants and their offspring had to the neighborhood Kosher deli no longer exists. I remember a time when I saw patrons three or four times per week – primarily those who only ate kosher foods. Now, we are lucky if our patrons visit us two times per month.

To combat this declining food sector called the Kosher deli, I make certain that we are keeping up with the times and listen to our customers in order to give them what they want. This includes healthier options, like our Grilled Chicken Avocado Salad, or creative menu options like our innovative Burger Month Menu. Additionally, we are constantly updating and remodeling our stores. If you read my May blog, you would know that we updated and renovated our Bayside location.

And, while we try to stay ahead of the competition and make changes, we also continue to stay the course and remember why we have seven locations and are in business 45 years come October – we still cure our own corned beefs and tongues, make all our deli side salads, purchase Idaho potatoes for our freshly cut French fries, and make most of our food from scratch, including the chicken soup and matzo balls that are made daily in our kitchens.

I will continue to support local causes and charities, never refusing to help a community group when asked. We strive to be responsible, caring and giving corporate citizens, and hopefully there will be enough business to enable us to continue help our fellow citizens and local neighborhoods well into the future.

Thanks for all your years of patronage.

See ya at the deli,