 |
| Come on in! The doors are open! |
Key Westers are accustomed to mourning change. Conversation about what’s gone, what’s not as good as it used to be, what’s happening in a way we don’t appreciate, is about as common as chickens on this island. It is not often that something absolutely wonderful happens, something that pulls us together in a communal spirit of renewal and joy. But here it is, just in time for the summer doldrums: the Deli is back to rescue us all from cooking our own breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Deli is back with old-school cooking, flowery vinyl tablecloths, and prices on a par with buying the food at the grocery store and cooking it yourself. Best of all, some familiar faces are back, too. Waitress Kim, of the sky blue eyes, is on duty again and so is Rhonda, who appears on Wednesday nights. Essy, who says all she knows how to do is waitress (my kind of server!) is new, bringing to the mix a splash of Latin flavor. We’re waiting for Rebecca to reappear. We know you’re still on the island, Rebecca . . .
 |
| Richard Watherwax photo: Bobby Bernreuter with super-servers Kim (left) and Essy |
The Deli has been in its present location, according to their brochure, since the year of my birth, and that’s a long, long time. I’ve been eating there since my son was a baby in a stroller. We breakfasted there often. While I sipped my coffee, slightly hungover as often as not, and perused the
Miami Herald (the
Citizen arrived in the afternoon back then) Miguel sat in his baby seat, eating his pancakes, content and quiet, watching the world go by. My son has consumed many, many meals at the Deli restaurant, just as everyone in my family has at one time or another. Less than two blocks from our house, it has been a staple in our mealtime agenda for years. Anyone from the mainland who has visited us in Key West has eaten at the Deli. If you lined up all of the French fries served there, end to end, the chain would surely stretch around the world three times. If you lined up French fries consumed only by me, the chain would go around only once.
 |
| Dewan Islam, former cook, current partner |
My husband Michael’s favorite dish is the fried chicken, which takes longer to prepare than most other offerings at the Deli. Long ago he began calling ahead to the kitchen, asking the cook to “drop him a chicken” so it would be hot and ready by the time we arrived. It gives him an insider’s kind of pride to be able to do that. Now, he can do it again because the phone number hasn’t changed and neither has the fried chicken! We had some the other night. I had the patty melt, which was a real patty melt with onions on rye bread, the way a patty melt is supposed to be.
Yesterday, a half-order of the sausage biscuit for breakfast was more than I could eat. The coffee is good enough to drink black. Oh happiness! Oh joy!
I don’t know why the Deli closed its seahorse doors five years back, but I do remember that we and many of our friends and neighbors were shattered by the loss. We missed the diner-style food and we missed seeing Bob Bernreuter and his family. His parents, John and Joan, who have since passed, were often around. Bob’s kids were there, too. Bob’s daughter Patty made the pies and cakes.
 |
| Breakfast at the Deli. It's tradition . . . again |
Bob’s wife Iris was our son’s beloved fifth grade teacher and we called her (behind her back, of course) Mrs. Bird-eater. Once Bob went to San Francisco and donated a kidney to his uncle. I see Bob on his bicycle from time to time and he appears to be doing just fine with his remaining kidney. Bob has turned over the running of the Deli, which has been renamed “Bangla Deli” to a younger crew, led by Dewan Islam, a native of Bangladesh who worked in the Deli kitchen for 18 years prior to its closing. Dewan’s partner is Kazi, who promises to add to the selection of Indian dishes. Right now you can order chicken or beef curry as well as a number of other dishes. We don’t know anything about Indian food. Yet.
 |
| Margaret Russell and her Goddaughter Deanne celebrate Russell's first social security check and the re-opening of the Deli |
|
Another of the Deli’s most ardent fans, and frequent diners, is photographer Richard Watherwax. When I phoned to ask him for permission to use his photo of Essy, Kim and Bob, he said, “Why haven’t I seen you at the Deli? It’s been open for five days now!”
Richard says the waitresses have described to him the hugely positive, and often sentimental, reactions locals are having at finding themselves dining at the Deli again. It’s something wonderful from the past, once gone, now back: a resurrection.
“They practically cry with joy,” Richard says. “This place has apparently been very important to a lot of people.”
 |
| Laura Butler with her grands |
Our friend Laura Butler came to Key West for the first time in December, 1979. She and a girlfriend, desperate to escape the bitter northern cold, drove for as far as they could drive and found themselves at the Deli early one morning. The place was packed. They turned to leave. But John Bernreuter stopped them. A man sat alone, at a table for four. Laura, a New York City girl, watched in amazement as John politely asked the man if he would mind sharing his table. Of course he didn't mind, the man said. Charmed, Laura vowed to herself then and there: I'm never leaving this place again. And for 25 years, she didn't.
