Schmaltz - Jewish Deli in Naperville :)

LTH,

Being a suburbanite Catholic my entire life I have very little experience with Delicatessens. However I could not pass the opportunity to try H.P. Schmaltz & Co. in Naperville. I came upon this place quite accidently (I was supposed to meet someone a few doors over at the Pasta Garden, formerly owned by the Sharko's clan.)

Much to my suprise my directions weren't good enough and I was pleased to walk into this emporium. Selections include specialty sandwiches, homemade knish, house-cured Lox, Pastries, House cooked corned beef, and Pastrami. They serve at least 2 soups a day one of which is always matzo ball. Other selections include an olive bar, salads, Pickles (Fresh, 1/2 sours, full sours), and frozen items.

The corned beef and pastrami sandwiches can be ordered either hot or cold. I've enjoyed both with a slathering of mustard on rye. Has anyone else been? Is their any place simliar near N'ville?

edit: I forgot to mention the fresh bagels and multiple smoked fish available.

Flip

H.P. Schmaltz & Co.
1512 N. Naper Blvd
suite 152 (Behind TGI Friday's)
Naperville, IL 60563

Ph: 630-245-7595

http://www.schmaltzdeli.com

Thanks for the tip. I AM intrigued...

(perhaps an outing soon?)

Rob,

That's a great idea. We could start at Schmaltz's for a bagel w/cream cheese and lox. Then we could go to Fabulous noodles for some vegetarian chicken and bbq with soup noodles. Finishing at Tea & Sympathy for some buns with red bean paste. In fact, I might do this on Saturday. If anyone is interested let me know via email or PM. If there is interest I will post something on the Events board.

Flip

Flip wrote:Rob,

That's a great idea. We could start at Schmaltz's for a bagel w/cream cheese and lox. Then we could go to Fabulous noodles for some vegetarian chicken and bbq with soup noodles. Finishing at Tea & Sympathy for some buns with red bean paste. In fact, I might do this on Saturday. If anyone is interested let me know via email or PM. If there is interest I will post something on the Events board.

Flip

How 'bout just a mid-week lunch one day?

(not that the whole shebang does not sound interesting, but I'd like to do one without having to necessarily do the other)

Rob

That would be to my liking as well. I'm not all that excited about schleping all the way to Naperville on a busy Saturday.

Rob,

Sounds good to me. It's close to Dickson's office as well. Maybe he would like to join. I definitely must return soon (2 sammy's last week wasn't enough). I'd also like to dabble in the other offerings, as I have only enjoyed the warm corned beef and pastrami (With the neon green Sour Apple Jones soda of course ) The soups smell wonderful, and the pastries and knish look soft and delicate.

let me know when to meet you there.

Hattyn,

I imagine that they don't offer a Rueben on the menu because they (from their menu) "Redefining American-Jewish cuisine". Though they are not claiming to be kosher, a meat and dairy combo could still be taboo. If you look closely at the menu online the N.Y. attitude sandwich is 'build it yourself', the available ingredients include kraut and russian dressing ad those plus swiss to a Corned beef sammy and PRESTO, you have a rueben. They do take special requests. Yesterday I took my mother there for lunch and it took her 2 min just to tell them how she wanted her roast beef sammy made.

The counter person (I believe he is the owner) has informed me that this is the first location for them. Currently he purchases his Corned beef from a supplier in Chitown, I forget who, then cooks it onsite. He is working with a supplier from Detroit to develope a proprietary recipe.

Flip

I stumbled on this place a couple of months ago, and found it to be very good. (Not that I know much about delicatessens.)

Besides the corned beef/pastrami, I'd also recommend the brisket.


Tim

Oh great, there may finally be a decent deli in the area and it's all the way in Naperville? For house-cured lox, it's worth a trip for me.

I saw the post yesterday and had to run over and get some Knish. The store, as it is, looks brand spanking new and it appeared to me that the owners were behind the counter.

I ordered up 2 mushroom, 2 brocolli and cheese, and 1 potato knish.

I can't say that I know a bunch about Jewish Deli's, but this place did not exactly fit the mold from appearances. I did not see where they could prepare any of the foods in their case and even saw a foodservice type bucket of macaroni type salad in their case dated 2/3. The pastry's looked a bit old and appered to be brought in from somewhere else. There was a station for hot foods that was empty and the salad type bar was only half full.

I took home the knish and my wife and I thought that they were average, not bad, but not too good either. The potato knish was the hands down winner. The mushroom had too little mushroom and the brocolli and cheese seemed a little dry.

I can still say, for those of you who have been, that Once Upon a Bagel in Highland Park is a lot better and more authentic than this place. It seems that they are trying to be too "slick in their presentation.

Again, these are only my two cents. I would et glad to hear of other peoples thoughts.

KevinT

As a great Illinois politician once said, "I am hear to talk and all you have to do is listen. Let's just hope that my talking and your listening end at the same time."

KevinT wrote:
I ordered up 2 mushroom, 2 brocolli and cheese, and 1 potato knish.

I can't say that I know a bunch about Jewish Deli's, but this place did not exactly fit the mold from appearances.

If they are selling mushroom or brocolli knishes, they fail in the authenticity dept.

KevinT wrote: I did not see where they could prepare any of the foods in their case and even saw a foodservice type bucket of macaroni type salad in their case dated 2/3.

Kevin,

They have a pretty large kitchen for an operation this size located in the back of the store down the hall. Apparently they are also a catering company.

As I said earlier. I haven't had any experience in Jewish delis. So, I would not know if this would be authentic or not. The only thing I can say is that I've had a couple of damn good sandwiches and pickles on my two visits. Living in Naperville the only available sanwiches come from Panera, Potbelly, White Hen, Jimmy John's, and Subway. It's nice to have a place to get a sandwich made with care rather than an assembly line.

I only mentioned the knish beacause I've never seen one before. To me they looked very tasty. It is possible that they do not have high enough turnover to maintain constant fresh supply of the pastries. I only know one solution to that. We must visit oten. Though masses could prove dangerous because I was not as pleased during my visit on Sunday. The sandwich was wonderful, but we waited 15 minutes for them.

Flip,

Sorry if I sounded too harsh on this place. I was just giving my opinion, which according to my wife, is usually wrong....

I will definitely go back and try their sandwiches though to give them a fair shot.

Kevin

KevinT wrote:Flip,

Sorry if I sounded too harsh on this place. I was just giving my opinion, which according to my wife, is usually wrong....

I will definitely go back and try their sandwiches though to give them a fair shot.

Kevin

Kevin,

I don't think you were being harsh at all. I'm just glad that I can find a sammy that I enjoy so close to home. Not to mention that my favorite watering hole / pool hall is across the parking lot.

Flip

Must admit I have my doubts but will run over for lunch next week. Also happy to meet you (Flip), Chopped Liver, and VI there almost any time. It is maybe 3 minutes from the office.

edited to correct an omission noted below.

dicksond wrote: Also happy to meet you (Flip) and VI there almost any time. It is maybe 3 minutes from the office.

Hey...what am I...chopped liver?

stevez wrote:

dicksond wrote: Also happy to meet you (Flip) and VI there almost any time. It is maybe 3 minutes from the office.

Hey...what am I...chopped liver?

Thus are nicknames born. May I call you CL for short?

dicksond wrote:Thus are nicknames born. May I call you CL for short?

No. Please don't. I'm not interested in that nickname.

Today, spurred on by the siren call of an actual Jewish Deli in Naperville, I made the trek across the vast prairie of that which is West of Chicago to see for myself. At the suggestion of Flip, a few of us met for lunch today to check out the oddity known as H.P. Schmaltz and Co., a strip mall deli in Naperville.

H.P. Schmaltz & Co-Narrow but Effective


Fellow Fressers


The place was not exactly what I expected. I thought it would be more restaurant-like than deli counter-like, but I can't argue much with the quality of the food, considering where we were. The owners take great pride in sourcing their ingredients from the places they feel offer the best products, unless they can make the stuff themselves. For example they house cure their own lox (as well as import a "nova" style lox from Brooklyn). All soups are made from scratch every night and the bagels are bought pre-boiled, but they are baked on premise. Several of the salads are house made as well. The corned beef is from Eisenberg's and the pastrami is Boar's Head. They take great care in the way they cook it on premises. The owner went into some detail about the trial and error process they took with cooking their corned beef & pastrami so that it turns out just the way they want it.

Corned Beef


The corned beef was served on a slightly soft rye that was cut slightly thicker than "normal" Rosen's rye. That was just enough bread to stand up to the ample serving of corned beef

Pastrami


Pastrami is served on a marbled rye that I think we all agreed was a little too sweet. I would order the pastrami on the regular rye next time.

House Cured Lox & Bagel


I tried the house cured lox on a bagel. The lox had a very delicate taste/texture due to the way they cured it. Whatever they did, I really enjoyed this silky treat.

An Honorable Mention goes out to the chicken soup (I had kreplach in mine). It was a very rich stock, made from scratch with nice chunks of white and dark chicken as well as carrots & celery. We also tried a potato knish, which didn't impress me very much, but others may differ.

Is this a destination deli? If you live in Naperville or the surrounding area, it is. Other than that, it's the kind of place I will file away in my chow memory and if I am ever in the area will definitely stop in. The guys running the place are admittedly businessmen first. They have lofty plans to make H.P. Schmaltz a household name by opening H.P. Schmaltzes in every state in the Union. They planned it from the beginning to be a "concept" that can be "scaled" and "installed" anywhere. My advice: get there soon, before the nicely prepared food becomes a "concept".

H.P. Schmaltz & Co.
1512 N. Napier Blvd
Naperville, IL
630-245-7595

Steve, that picture of the lox and bagel you took is amazing. You should submit that to whoever one submits these things to.

And the lox itself was good too.

Rob

stevez wrote:I tried the house cured lox on a bagel. The lox had a very delicate taste/texture due to the way they cured it. Whatever they did, I really enjoyed this silky treat.

Steve,

Looks like a very nice meal, with good company. My guess is the house cured lox is grav lox, dry cured with no cold smoke component.

A little kosher salt, sugar, white pepper, fresh dill, splash of vodka or Aquavit. Add three days of hanging out in the frig under a weight and, Bob's yer Uncle, Grav Lox.

I have an excellent recipe that Bill/SFNM posted to a BBQ listserv 5-6 years ago. I've made the recipe many times, with slight variations. (Thanks Bill) I will be happy to send the recipe the recipe for the asking, as long as Bill does not mind.

Nice pictures, the lox, bagel and cream cheese picture is an early contender for next years LTHForum calendar, for sure.

Here's a picture of grav lox I made and brought to MAG and TPA's fantabulous bread tasting last year. That's Dj4j in picture, who I think is currently residing in a Belizian prison.



Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Looks like a very nice meal, with good company. My guess is the house cured lox is grav lox, dry cured with no cold smoke component.

You are correct, Sir. That's why I (and they) call it house CURED lox, rather than house smoked lox. I asked them if they do any smoking in house, as their smoked fish products had the look of being home made, but they said that the smoked fish items come from Acme Smoked Fish in Brooklyn.

It amazes me that none of the Jewish style deli's in Chicago give hardly any corned beef or pastrami on their sandwitches. You go to NYC and you usually get a half a pound. The only deli that I think is similiar to an authentic NY style one would be the great Manny's in Chicago similiar to Katz's in the lower east side of NY.

Steve,

As always, your pictures are fantastic. It was a pleasure seeing everyone. My only regret is having to run out the door to get to an appointment. Although, the second half of that corned beef sammy made a fantastic snack later.

I also was very impressed by the soup. The richness of the broth was truly fulfilling.

Flip

brschwartz wrote:It amazes me that none of the Jewish style deli's in Chicago give hardly any corned beef or pastrami on their sandwitches. You go to NYC and you usually get a half a pound. The only deli that I think is similiar to an authentic NY style one would be the great Manny's in Chicago similiar to Katz's in the lower east side of NY.

There is something to be said for gargantum sammy's. As I have noted before, that there is something synergaristic about the piling on of certain types of meats, i.e., corned beef or pastrami. On the other hand, if you have seen what a Carnagie Deli sandwich looks like right now, I think they have taken the concept a bit too far. That said, the corned beef sandwich was actually quite nicely stuffed. The pastrami, on the other hand, as noted above, was marred by the squishy marble rye. I think, generally the quality of the food was high at this place, but I have come to the realization that it is not the food I seek.

It's not so much deli I yearn for, it is deli-ish restaurant in the mode of Rascal House, hell even the old Belden on Belden. Oddly, I prize more, I believe, the pickles and comfy naughahyde than I do the well executed steamed meats. SteveZ mentions Max and Benny's in another thread. That's an interesting place, because I think their counter, their deli fare are also very good (if not better than H.P. Schmaltz's), and there is a restaurant, a crowded restaurant attached. Yet, the two do not seem to work in tandem. I find that the quality of the Max and Benny's deli restaurant does not come close to the quality of the Max and Benny's deli counter. I am pretty convinced that this is a Trillionesque thing, that one cannot find great deli' restaurants outside their natural habitats, which seems to be in places other than Chicago.

Has anyone tried the new deli in the old Chalfin's space off of Michigan Ave?

Rob

Thank you Flip - great find!!!

Great pix, Steve.

I am pretty convinced that this is a Trillionesque thing, that one cannot find great deli' restaurants outside their natural habitats, which seems to be in places other than Chicago.

And as I recall, the owner even made the point that this is not a New York-style, Miami-style or any other place style deli. Just a concept that was scalable, which included high-qulaity deli products. And he did have quite a set of suppliers lined up for each and almost every thing. He is still looking for someone to produce chicken salad to his recipe, which sounded interesting.

I understand your yearning for something that resonates for you, VI, and I also appreciate the charms of real, old school delis which might include all those mentioned, plus Schwartzs in Montreal, for example, though it is not exactly a deli.

I also understand the desire for a truly stuffed sandwich, which has its charms, though it does become obscene at some point.

But my personal take is a lot more like Steve's. Good soup, good meat, and a lot of other interesting items to try, including smoked fish, baked goods, olives, and salads. And it is food of a type that I could not find around here before.

It ain't a destination, but it was uniformly quite good. It ain't traditional in every sense of the word, and does not pretend or aspire to be (thank God). But that does not mean it wasn't quite tasty. Since it is five minutes from my office, I will be having lunch there today again, and probably at least once a week for the foreseeable future.

So I am very happy. I do share Steve's concern that the quality suppliers are not scalable, and at some point the money men will figure out they can substitute certain less expensive suppliers without hurting volume or average ticket, since the point is clearly to make money rather than a love of the food - the owner did not even pretend. But until then I will enjoy, and perhaps we are wrong about the inevitabile decline...

BTW, yesterday was the day for weird suppliers - I stumbled upon an Alabama-style BBQ joint in Aurora that buys its hot links from Alabama (!). More to come, I need to explore it some more.

looks like it's probably some quality corned beef but that sandwhich is surprisingly thin for being from a jewish deli. usually they really pile it on.

AttentionWhore wrote:looks like it's probably some quality corned beef but that sandwhich is surprisingly thin for being from a jewish deli. usually they really pile it on.

IMHO,

The sandwich wasn't to thin, but the bread a little too thick.

Well, I have now been back twice, and can report the following.

The chicken soup is really, really excellent. Pretty good matzoh balls, too.

The plain beef brisket sandwich is a gut buster, for those that want that. But the beef itself is a bit on the soggy side, okay flavor with the horseradish sauce, but I do not think I will have it again.

And when you order the 1/2 sandwich and soup, you get more than 1/2 the meat, so it is a more stacked, though still not really stacked, sammy.

Corned Beef sandwich was much better than pastrami, which is my usual choice, but need to try pastrami with the regualr rye and see if that works better.

Everyone I have introduced to the place so far has been pretty much delighted. In fact, the third visit was just because my office mates insisted on going back.

thanks again, flip.

Let me know when I will be able to go back and order a Dicksond on rye (or will the rye be inferred?).

I finally had the lox, based on the picture that was posted here, and it was great. I also liked the soups I've had, the aforementioned chicken w/kreplach and a very creamy carrot dill. I'm eager to try the Artichoke and Lentil tomorrow.