Little Pickle Jewish Deli aims to bring NYC flavors & vibe to Valley
Staff Reports | Digital Free Press
A limited-time pop-up restaurant, Little Pickle found in the Esplanade office building offers guests a taste of New York City with its deli-centric menu.
Rick Phillips, owner of the iconic MercBar, got tired of missing his favorite Jewish Deli foods and lamenting about it to friend, Chef Aaron May, so they got busy making it themselves.
“Sure, you can get bagels and lox here, but c’mon…and we needed our Katz’s pastrami and Zabar’s salmon,” said Chef May in a prepared statement. “Perfecting our recipes and opening Little Pickle has helped bring tastes of NYC to the Valley.”
A few years ago, Mr. Phillips taught himself how to make smoked salmon to go with his NY shipped bagels. He started giving it out to his friends and once an opportunity to do a pop-up restaurant at the Esplanade presented itself, the Little Pickle Jewish Deli was born.
Little Pickle Jewish Deli aims to bring NYC flavors & vibe to Valley
Mr. Phillips says he recruited Chef May to dive into the project with him, and the two East Coasters created a pastrami palace.
The Little Pickle was a nickname Phillips’ mother had for him when he was a baby, that he has since passed on to his daughter. Mr. Phillips says he felt it was a perfect name for the deli. The Little Pickle Jewish Deli will be popping-up for the next few months — from Hanukkah to Passover (Dec. 2022 to Sept. 2023) and is located at the Esplanade, 2501 E. Camelback Road.
The Little Pickle team reports that not all pastrami is created equal.
They like moist corned beef, paper thin, buttery slice of perfectly prepared smoked salmon, and of course a real NYC bagel. The breakfast offerings include traditional, scratch-made New York City specialties including hand-rolled bagels, a variety of house-made cream cheeses a.k.a. shmears, house-cured smoked salmon featured on The Works with shmear, red onion, tomato, and capers, and several versions of an egg sandwich. There is also Challah French Toast, blintzes and healthier options like chia seed pudding and overnight oats with berries.
Lunch guests have declared the mouth-watering Pastrami Reuben as the go-to sandwich — hand carved hot pastrami on rye with all the fixin’s, but there are about a dozen other sandwiches to choose from. As the deli opened in winter, another buzzworthy option has become the scratch made Matzo ball soup as well as, the ethereal potato latkes — pan fried in chicken shmaltz.
“We are thrilled to have the Little Pickle pop-up open at the Esplanade expanding our options for breakfast and lunch for tenants and visitors,” said Robert Marino, VP of asset management for Tourmaline Capital Partners. “Passionate operators with chef driven concepts translates to great food and the partners we want to work with to continue to build an amenity rich environment here at the Esplanade.”
By popular demand, Little Pickle is also now offering catering options for corporate events, family gatherings or any special occasions. Little Pickle is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m Monday through Friday. After 2 p.m., guests will only be able to order coffee and pastries.
