In this Saturday Night Live clip, Kate McKinnon, as Deborah Wasserman-Schulz, says, “…lean into our New York accents so hard that our viewers will think they’re stuck in line at …” and then something that sounds like “Save-Oss.”
Is this like a regional grocery store chain in the New York City area? What is it actually?
Zabar’s. Gourmet deli on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Yes, Zabar’s., referenced in Seinfeld and many other shows. Looking it up, I’m a little surprised that they have only one location.
Thanks!
Where she drops the ball though is she inauthentically says “stuck in line” like the rest of the English-speaking world. New Yorkers stand “on line”.
Odd, since McKinnon is from Lawn Guy Land.
I remember Northern Exposure using references to Zabar’s, apparently identifying it as the quintessential NYC grocery store / deli. This was in the early '90’s, so it mistve been well-known even then.
I’ve always wanted some Zabar’s coffee, just to say I’ve had it.
I know It was already very well known the first time I went there somewhere around 1983.
Their prices seem pretty shocking.
The first item in their bakery department is a 24 oz box of chocolate chip cookies - which sells for $25.98.
They have a bag of six bagels selling for $7.98; a 9 oz jar of mustard selling for $5.98; brisket selling for $34.98 a pound; a 17 oz bottle of Sriracha sauce selling for $6.49.
I can get a 32 oz bottle of Sriracha sauce at Wegmans for $3.99.
Zabar’s is one of the things I miss most about living in NYC, along with Balducci’s. I used to love being in Zabar’s when they rolled out a rack of freshly-baked croissants.
Fuhgeddaboudit!
I would gladly pay this for good NYC bagels.
Eveything in the store is expensive… but not overpriced, considering the quality.
First time I recall seeing a reference was still another NY-insider allusion, in the early 80s reading Woody Allen’s 1977 story The Lunatic’s Tale, where a character is described as having “Skin like satin, or should I say like the finest of Zabar’s novy”. (There being no Google back then I had to do some old fashioned research for that to get it, and thus why I still remember it vividly.)
What’s a novy?
Nova salmon (Gaspe Nova, originally from the Gaspe Peninsula in Nova Scotia), which is lightly smoked. Often confused with lox, which is cured in salt. Gravelax is salmon cured in salt and sugar. Traditionally eaten on a bagel with a schmeer of cream cheese.
That’s why I included the Sriracha sauce as one of the examples. Zabar’s is selling the same product I can buy at any supermarket for a third of the price.
The prices you quoted were from the Zabars website, obviously. I’ll bet the stuff is cheaper in the store.
You mean, you can buy it at any supermarket where you are. I’m not saying that Zabar’s doesn’t jack up prices because it’s famous, but prices at delis are going to more than at supermarkets, and prices in Manhattan, especially expensive neighborhoods in Manhattan, are going to be much more than in other places because of the expensive rents. It may not be overpriced relative to similar locations.
Thanks, @Colibri. Out here we eat wild Pacific salmon. Never heard of novy.
I make gravlax from time to time. I posted a recipe, but the new board seems to have gotten rid of most of the previous posts. I did find my duplicate Gravlax with Hovmästarsås Smörgås recipe elsewhere though: