Deli Man Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Deli Man Blu-ray Movie Review

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Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 12, 2015

There’s an old Jewish adage that accompanies many of the major and even some of the minor holidays of the liturgical year: They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s eat! (Some may recognize this as the title of Yidcore’s 2007 album, but the phrase long predates the band.) Food has always been central to Jewish experience, whether it’s the wine and challah of Shabbat, the “festive meal” of Pesach, the scrumptious latkes of Chanukah, or indeed the simple corned beef on rye sandwich from the corner deli. That very corner deli may be (like the Jews themselves) threatened by outside forces and even facing extinction, as the winning documentary Deli Man details. At one point barely over a century ago, New York City alone was awash in literally thousands of delis. Now there are barely 150 such establishments in the entire United States, certainly an alarming statistic for anyone who has ever experienced the warmth, camaraderie and (of course) the incredible food that many Jewish delicatessens offer. The fact that I hail from Salt Lake City and my wife from a tiny town north of Milwaukee is unscientific proof that you can find Jews in the oddest of places, but few would expect one of the nation’s finest Jewish delis to be located in Houston, Texas, of all places, but indeed the central food emporium featured in Deli Man is Houston’s own Kenny and Ziggy’s, and Ziggy himself, otherwise known as David Gruber, is the focal “character” (an apt term, considering his personality) in the piece. Surprisingly compelling and rather informative from both an historical and personal perspective, Deli Man is an often fascinating look at a niche industry that is sadly suffering from a certain kind of attrition.

Ziggy was born into a “deli family,” as indeed virtually all of the second and third generation interview subjects in Deli Man were, and as is detailed in the documentary, he was more or less selected by his grandparents to carry on the deli tradition, despite several relatives like siblings and cousins also being in the mix. Ziggy both loves and is exasperated by his career. It’s obvious how much passion he pours into his food, but it’s also just as obvious what a 24/7 commitment running his deli is. Even an acupuncture appointment to relieve stress is interrupted by both a call from a vendor and Ziggy’s self flagellation over just having learned he forgot to order challot in appropriate quantities.

While Ziggy is far from the only deli owner interviewed for Deli Man, he remains the focal person throughout the documentary, and there’s a good deal of information imparted about delicatessens in general through the specific example of Kenny and Ziggy’s. But Ziggy’s personal life is also explored, including his inability to find an appropriate wife (that aforementioned acupuncturist turns out to be a romantic connection). Virtually all of the interview subjects, whether married or not, talk about the immense time commitment running their business takes and what a toll it exacts on family life. This is something of an ironic situation given the fact that delis themselves seem to offer an almost inherent family feeling even for non-relatives, one of this kind of business’ chief allures.

Appearing in interstitial interviews and offering their own views on “deli life” are a number of celebrities like Fyvush Finkel, Jerry Stiller and Larry King. All of these guys have great anecdotes to share, including nice little vignettes “starring” such icons as Zero Mostel (who delighted in speaking Yiddish with deli owners) or Henny Youngman (who evidently delighted in never paying for anything and who is described as “the cheapest bastard on the face of the earth”). The warmth of this anecdotal information reflects on the whole deli experience, showing again how familial it all feels at times.

But there’s a sad side to the story as well, as documented by a rather alarming graphic that slides through the decades of the twentieth century and shows the almost unbelievable disappearance of Jewish delicatessens around the United States. At the beginning of the century, even places you’d never think would have a deli look like they had more than one (sometimes a lot), but as the decades slip by, more and more of the locational dots simply vanish, leaving a sporadic design at the end that looks like an unfinished Jackson Pollock painting. Ziggy’s own “calling” to this career in fact happened when he went to a meeting of deli owners and noticed how old everyone was. He was literally fearful that this kind of food was simply going to vanish into thin air, and despite the promise of a very lucrative chef’s career, he decided to go the deli route instead.

Deli Man is ultimately very sweet and nostalgic, if also more than a bit elegiac, and while it will no doubt appeal a lot to Jews who grew up eating at delis with great regularity, there’s a universality here which addresses changing times and changing customs. Filled with both humor and heart, Deli Man is an engaging portrait of an industry in transition, but with stalwarts like Ziggy around, there’s hope that this wonderful tradition can continue for generations untold.

Deli Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Deli Man is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is an occasionally problematic presentation which suffers from minimal but noticeable noise even in some otherwise relatively sharp and clear looking sequences. There appear to be some sequences in the film that may have been captured with low-res cameras, perhaps even smartphones, and those elements are pretty ragged looking (see screenshot 7). That issue aside, a lot of Deli Man looks nicely sharp and well detailed, with an accurate and nicely suffused palette and abundant fine detail in close-ups. Contrast is generally solid and there are no issues with image instability.

Deli Man Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Is Cohen simply being contrary, or (heaven forfend) have they not seen my repeated importunings that they stop authoring their discs to default to lossy Dolby sound mixes? Well, that question continues, for once again Deli Man is indeed authored to default to the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix rather than the also included lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. While not overly impressive, the lossless track does offer good support for the sometimes chaotic environs of the various delis, where good separation helps to clearly define the sonic space. First personal confessionals and interview segments sound just fine, but of course offer little in the way of immersion. Fidelity is fine throughout this enterprise, and there are no issues of any kind to warrant concern.

Deli Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:17)


• Interviews (1080p; 40:49) offers some fantastic moments with a number of folks, including Alan Dershowitz, Larry King and Jerry Stiller.


• Sam Brummer's Story (1080p; 3:51) is a touching reminiscence from the founder of Hobby's.


• Ziggy and Dennis Talk Deli (1080p; 5:15) offers a fun confab between two deli entrepreneurs.


• Ziggy Visits ACME Smoked Fish (1080p; 5:54)


• Deli Woman: Jacqueline Canter (1080p; 2:18) looks at one of the women in management and ownership of a deli, in this case Los Angeles' fantastic Canter's.


• A Surprise. . .Meet Izzy (1080p; 6:59) is a very touching document of the naming ceremony for Ziggy's new baby.

Deli Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm a vegetarian, and so my trips to delicatessens tend to indulge in fare like noodle kugel or baked goods rather than corned beef or pastrami sandwiches piled so high that you could dislocate your jaw (as one wag in the documentary mentions). If you've never experienced a bonafide Jewish deli, you really should try it sometime. New York and Los Angeles both have fantastic establishments that capture both the flavor (no pun intended) and menu of the old world, but as Deli Man proves, even some unexpected locales like good ol' Houston are in the running, too. Deli Man is a documentary that many will find a (to pun horribly) sweet relish. Video is just a tad spotty at times, but audio is fine and the supplements are quite appealing. Highly recommended.