# What Is This New York Reference? Sounds Like "Save-Oss" \[Zabar's Deli\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 11, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729 "2020-10-11T17:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/1 "2020-10-11T17:52:21Z")
In this _[Saturday Night Live](https://youtu.be/Mp8kFqycfFM?t=352)_ 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? ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/2 "2020-10-11T18:11:43Z")
Zabar’s. Gourmet deli on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/3 "2020-10-11T18:25:05Z")
Yes, [Zabar’s.](https://www.zabars.com/), referenced in Seinfeld and many other shows. Looking it up, I’m a little surprised that they have only one location. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/4 "2020-10-11T20:44:59Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/5 "2020-10-13T01:18:24Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/6 "2020-10-13T03:28:40Z")
Odd, since McKinnon is from Lawn Guy Land. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/7 "2020-10-13T04:16:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/8 "2020-10-13T05:10:35Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > 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 know It was already very well known the first time I went there somewhere around 1983. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/9 "2020-10-13T05:32:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/10 "2020-10-13T05:57:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/11 "2020-10-13T16:33:11Z")
Fuhgeddaboudit! ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/12 "2020-10-13T16:34:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > They have a bag of six bagels selling for $7.98 I would gladly pay this for good NYC bagels. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/13 "2020-10-13T17:47:37Z")
Eveything in the store is expensive… but not overpriced, considering the quality. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/14 "2020-10-13T17:57:58Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > 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. 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/15 "2020-10-13T18:24:36Z")
What’s a novy? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/16 "2020-10-13T18:39:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/17 "2020-10-13T19:02:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Eveything in the store is expensive… but not overpriced, considering the quality. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/18 "2020-10-13T19:17:43Z")
The prices you quoted were from the Zabars website, obviously. I’ll bet the stuff is cheaper in the store. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/19 "2020-10-13T19:23:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Zabar’s is selling the same product I can buy at any supermarket for a third of the price. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729/20 "2020-10-13T19:52:36Z")
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: [http://www.mellophant.com/forums/showthread.php?9671-Gravlax-with-Hovm�stars�s-Sm�rg�s-(speaking-of-salmon...)](http://www.mellophant.com/forums/showthread.php?9671-Gravlax-with-Hovm%E4stars%E5s-Sm%F6rg%E5s-(speaking-of-salmon...)) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-new-york-reference-sounds-like-save-oss-zabars-deli/922729.md?page=2)