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Except that most of that wasn’t really true. Yes, Sodikoff was having the word “deli” scraped off the glass, and he now refers to the place as “a deli-inspired American brasserie,” the kind of combination that would sound wishy-washy coming from most restaurateurs but is par for the course for Sodikoff, who remixes dining genres the way Quentin Tarantino mashes up spaghetti westerns and kung fu movies. But when I spoke with him by e-mail, what became clear is—the marketing is changing. “Deli” is off the name. But the restaurant is still what Brendan Sodikoff wants you to eat from now on, and to judge by his record, you probably will.
Michael Gebert: So what happened? People came to what they thought would be a deli, and they rebelled?
- Dillman’s
- Fried beef bologna, dijonnaise, smoked provolone
So did these people try to eat and were they mollified, or did they storm out because they couldn’t walk out with a bunch of packages?
Our regulars and local patrons melt right into the space and love it. But those seeking a meat and prepared food case are understandably surprised and disappointed, which I feel bad about and which pushed me to change the public descriptors of the space.
It’s been about the same [in traffic]. Dillman’s is just bigger. Over the last 10 services we’ve served more guests than Au Cheval did in the first month, and more guests equals more opinions in a shorter period. Guests traveling 45 minutes or more to come to check out the new “traditional deli” were expecting a specific experience they really enjoy, and that just isn’t us. Dillman’s is a place for a morning coffee, soup and stacked pastrami at lunch or a steak diane and light salad at midnight with a stiff Old Fashioned or a nice bottle of red.
