SEATTLE — Diners are celebrating Hanukkah with traditional dishes from Zylberschtein’s Delicatessen and Bakery in North Seattle.
"We just love feeding people, anyone who comes here we just want them to feel full and cared about and thought about when they leave,” said owner Josh Grunig.
The deli is named after his family and the menu is a reflection of his childhood.
"A lot of our recipes are family recipes. Like our chopped liver is Aunt Marcy's chopped liver,” Grunig said. "Every Hanukkah my mom and my uncle would make latkes together, and to me it's the smell of the potatoes and oil together, and I'm absolutely transported back to when I was a kid."
The deli and bakery is famous for fresh-made bagels and house-smoked pastrami. Everything is made from scratch and customers drive from around Puget Sound for breakfast and lunch.
For Hanukkah, the menu expands to include even more traditional options.
"Hanukkah is a celebration of light,” Grunig said. "There was a lamp that was only supposed to burn for one day with oil, and miraculously it burned for eight days. And so we celebrate Hanukkah by cooking things in oil."
Specifically, the latkes (potato pancakes) of his youth, and sufganiyot (jelly-filled donuts.)
There's also a slow-roasted beef brisket and gelt cake - layers of chocolate olive oil cake, with a baked-in coin surprise.
Grunig hopes customers will find the menu to be a delicious way to celebrate - or, explore - his heritage.
"We want people to leave here better off than when they came," Grunig said.
Zylberschtein’s is open daily from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. On Friday, December 15 the eatery will stay open until 5 p.m. for the last night of Hanukkah and will feature the special menu, dreidels and a menorah lighting at sunset.
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