Etty’s To-Die-For Deli Opens at Santa Barbara’s Jewish Federation
‘If You Feed Them, They Will Come’
Cyndi Silverman, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara, had a vision. “People just didn’t come into the building,” she says about the community center on lower Chapala. Unfortunately, the location lacks the gym and/or pool that’s the heart of many other Jewish community centers. So, Silverman says, she figured, “If you feed them, they will come.”
This August, the center opened Etty’s Jewish Deli & Bakery. (It’s named after Etty Yenni, a generous patron who underwrote the project.) Silverman recalls, “A lot of people told me I was crazy.” And then Etty’s executive chef Doug Weinstein chimes in, “And now they’re here twice a week. We should have a naysayer’s surcharge.”
Those people happily pouring in are chowing down on a host of expertly prepared Jewish classics, from piled-high pastrami sandwiches on house-made rye to egg creams featuring U-Bet chocolate syrup. There is a bit of a twist at Etty’s, however, and not just in the challah. You must become a member — at no cost — of the Jewish Federation before you can enjoy the food.
Silverman explains it’s for two reasons; the first, sadly, is safety protocols. The second is health code permits — if the Federation is only feeding its club members, everything is, dare I write, kosher. (For the record, Weinstein claims, “We are kosher style, not a kosher kitchen. But you can skip the sour cream, say, if you want to keep kosher yourself.”) The upshot is 360 new members for the Federation since Etty’s dished its first knish. Silverman enthuses, “I couldn’t have dreamed that.”
At the heart of the Etty’s effort is Weinstein, who has had a long dual career in telecom and technology sales and Jewish delis, particularly the baking side. Decades ago, he even ran a deli at the Jewish Community Center in Long Beach, across from the airport, which had the unfortunate timing of opening a week before 9/11. Having volunteered at Santa Barbara’s Jewish Federation since 2016, Weinstein oversaw 17,000 (pre-pandemic) meals per year to seniors in the community. Silverman knew to lean on him when they designed the kitchen and planned their deli.
That’s why it’s set up well for classes, too — open-windowed, so anyone can see in, but also featuring a camera for cooking close-ups that can be beamed to large screens around the high-tech building. They also hope to build a robust catering/events business, having room to host up to 130 people for a sit-down dinner. Weinstein sells it, “From bris to shiva, we do it all!”
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Most items are created in-house, and even though the bagels come from Yetz’s Bagels in Isla Vista, the kicker is Yetz’s owner Daniel Dunietz turned to Weinstein to get his business up and running. “I can say without a doubt that I couldn’t have done it without Doug’s help,” Dunietz recommends on LinkedIn. “From helping manage operating expenses to picking out new equipment, Doug has been a tremendous help troubleshooting the various issues that inevitably arose when starting any business.”
As for the all-crucial pastrami, Silverman relates, “We tasted a lot of pastrami. And while we won’t reveal our source, when people ask where it comes from, I tell them, ‘It comes from heaven.’” Weinstein does fess up that it’s from the same people who developed the pastrami for the heralded Langer’s in Los Angeles. The lox comes from a bit closer to home — the Eastside and Santa Barbara Smokehouse.
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But in addition to all these delights — and be sure to order the vegetarian yet comfortingly rich matzo ball soup — the Federation stresses that Etty’s is about community. A group of volunteers dubbed the Kibitzers “work” the room at lunch, bussing for those who don’t, aiding those puzzled by the ordering or food pickup system, and chatting with those dining alone. There’s also hope that drawing people to Etty’s will attract more attention to the Federation’s moving and powerful exhibit Portraits of Survival: Life Journeys During the Holocaust and Beyond, which features 38 area survivors’ tales.
“We bring people in for a pastrami sandwich,” Samantha Silverman, executive director of the Adam Bronfman Jewish Community Center, says, “and then try to combat hate through education.”
At Etty’s itself, though, the education is all about food. Weinstein mentions the 300 cookbooks he has to peruse for ideas, and while he says that for now, the goal is to “settle into the space and a routine, the vision is to explore Jewish food from around the world.” One early experiment along these lines is a tomatillo-based salsa of sorts with Sephardic spices featuring the trimmings of pastrami that he jokes is a take on chorizo, hence, “harizo.”
“We have heard a couple of suggestions and no complaints,” Weinstein says about Etty’s opening months. He pauses for effect and says with a twinkle in his eye, “In a building full of elderly Jews, that’s impressive.”
Etty’s Jewish Deli & Bakery (524 Chapala St.) is open Tuesday-Friday for breakfast (8:30-11 a.m.) and lunch (11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.). For more information, see jewishsantabarbara.org/deli.
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