PRI’s Peabody Award-winning Studio 360 with Kurt Andersenfrom WNYC often examines the interaction of art and everyday life. This past week, the show, which is “public radio’s smart and surprising guide to what’s happening in pop culture and the arts” featured Niki Russ Federman in a segment titled, “Aha Moment: John Zorn with a Schmear.”
Their candid conversation provides a particularly personal look into Niki’s path toward returning to Russ & Daughters after she explored worlds as varied as international relations, art, health care research, yoga, and business school. Studio 360 explores one “a-ha moment,” where the soul of klezmer music put Niki in touch with the soul of the store.
In May, Evan Kleiman visited Russ & Daughters to talk to Niki Russ Federman for her great KCRW radio show, “Good Food.” Now, in a round-up of the year, the station has selected that interview as one of its Best of 2009!
Russ & Daughters is open on New Year’s Eve from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. and on New Year’s Day from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. And, the Russ & Daughters Caviar Express Line is now open.
At Russ & Daughters, we use our 100 years of caviar expertise to select the finest caviar and to approve each and every tin of the freshest, highest grade, hand-packed caviar.
For caviar and accoutrement, come in to the shop and follow the signs to the Caviar Express Line at the far end of the counter. You do not even need to take a number! Here is the complete Caviar Express Line menu:
You can read more about the Russ & Daughters Caviar Express Line here.
Toasted bagel & lox under the tree? A snack to sneak into a movie? Russ & Daughters is open today — Friday, December 25 — from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
For a limited time, food lovers will have the special chance to try a smoked salmon unlike any other, as the Double Smoked Danish Salmon is finally here. (Devoted fans have been calling for weeks, waiting for the season to begin.)
Prepare to be wowed by its elegant smoke, velvety texture, and champagne color. This salmon feeds on herring, a protein-rich diet that contributes to its lean, healthy body and signature hue, and that also provides an added bonus: an extra dose of Omega-3s. Double Smoked Danish Salmon is so rich and delicate that the Russ family likes it best accompanied by nothing other than a little bit of fresh black pepper.
In Departures, Reggie Nadleson wrote, “Only at Russ do you find double-smoked Danish salmon, a pale champagne color, deeply smoked, with an almost minky, velvet feel.”
Russ & Daughters is the exclusive importer of double-smoked organic salmon from a small multi-generational artisanal smokehouse on the Bornholm coast of Denmark.
– some are new customers, many are regulars, and still others have been coming to the shop for twice the number of years I’ve been alive. The conversations take place over or in front of the counter, in the course of slicing lox, filleting a herring, sharing a piece of babka, or talking on the phone. Frequently the stories revolve around family histories and immigrant journeys; It is not uncommon for a tear to be shed in the shop. As the immigrant experience is central to the existence of Russ & Daughters, I enjoy listening to these stories as much as I do sharing our own.
Ellis Island
My great-grandfather, Joel Russ, arrived in New York in 1908. A poor, uneducated Eastern European adolescent, he had no other family in the new country except for a sister who had preceded him. Joel first set to work by selling strings of dried Polish mushrooms that he would hang over his shoulders. Every day he would walk from Brooklyn to the Lower East Side, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to sell his wares. (Look in the windows of Russ & Daughters today, and you will still find these strings of Polish mushrooms. They are not only a delicacy similar to truffles, and the most important ingredient for mushroom barley soup, but they are a reminder of our roots.) From his feet, Joel graduated to a herring barrel and then to a pushcart on Orchard Street. Six years later, in 1914, Joel Russ opened up a tiny store. The original name was slightly different and it was around the corner from where we are now, but it was from this start that a 100-year-old legacy unfolded, a business that has supported four generations of the Russ family in this country and nourished many thousands of others.
I think of my great grandfather often. It’s hard not to. After all, his gold framed portrait hangs high over the store and from his stately perch his eyes follow me like Mona Lisa’s. I think of what he left behind and what he created. In his successes and struggles lies the thread of a common American story. Lest I digress too far, these musings are, in fact, a long-winded means to introduce you to an extraordinary new book and invite you to a special event.
Becoming Americans
On Thursday, December 3rd, join me at the Tenement Museum forBecoming Americans: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing. America’s epic story with over 400 years of writing-from 17th-century Jamestown to contemporary Brooklyn by first-generation immigrants. With Ilan Stavans and Pete Hamill.
This new book chronicles the long history of US immigration through the voices of those who made the journey. Legendary New York journalist Pete Hamill joins the book’s editor, Ilan Stavans, to talk about the immigrant narrative in American fiction, prose and poetry.
“The writers in Becoming Americans have the miraculous gift of fresh eyes, able to see America for the first time, and to describe the new world they see. Their stories are our treasured legacy,” Maxine Hong Kingston praised.
A recipient of the National Jewish Book Award and a professor of Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College, Ilan Stavans is the author of many texts including The Hispanic Condition. On a personal note, Ilan happens to be one of my favorite professors when I was a student at Amherst. Pete Hamill, a former editor and reporter for the New York Post, is the author of the memoirs Downtown and My Manhattan, among other work
The evening is sponsored by the Orchard Street Contemporaries, a group of young professionals committed to advancing the mission of the Tenement Museum by connecting the immigrant history of the LES to the vibrancy of the neighborhood today through social events, networking and museum programming. The group, of which I am delighted to be a member, provides a forum for exploration of our nation’s immigrant heritage and what that means for us now.
And, if additional enticement is needed, food and refreshments will be served, including hors d’oeuvres from Russ & Daughters!
This event is free and open to the public. No RSVP is necessary. But, for our under-40 Lox Populi readers who are interested in finding out more about the Orchard Street Contemporaries, please RSVP to: pmattera@tenement.org
With hopes to see you there!
- Niki Russ Federman
Becoming Americans: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing | With Ilan Stavans and Pete Hamill Thursday, December 3 at 6:30 PM | Tenement Museum Shop | 108 Orchard St. NYC F/J/M/Z to Delancey | 212-982-8420 |events@tenement.org|Free
Russ & Daughters will be closed on Thanksgiving Day - Thursday, 11/26, but all other days this week will follow regular store hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., and Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
With cold season well underway, we all know someone who is under the weather. Send the gift of comfort and care with the Get Well Soon Package. What could be more nourishing for body and soul than homemade chicken soup?
Featured in The New York Times (11/22/09), this Russ family recipe has 100 years of tender loving care and tradition mixed into it. Along with a quart of this curative chicken soup, the Get Well Soon tote comes filled with a bounty of the foods — and plenty of liquids– we crave when our appetites are down but our need for nourishment is high: 100% fresh squeezed orange juice, a half dozen plain mini bagels, citrus spice tea, our house made mix of the finest nuts and dried fruits, Dr. Brown’s ginger ale, ginger sucking candies to soothe a sore throat, and a cinammon babka.
The Get Well Soon Gift is $55 plus delivery. Available for delivery throughout NYC or for pick-up at Russ & Daughters. This package is not available for nationwide shipping. Please call to place an order: 212.475.4880.
In addition to our chicken soup, Russ & Daughters makes delicious Mushroom Barley and Russian Cabbage soups. Sold in quart and pint sizes. Pint sizes can be served hot in the shop. Try them with a toasted (yes, we now toast!) bagel or bialy.
This Thanksgiving, as we celebrate both our history as a nation of newcomers and the bounty of this land, fish — not just fowl — deserves a place at the table.Appetizing food (smoked fish, caviar, herrings and spreads) represents one of the most unique food contributions that immigrants have made to this country, and most particularly to New York. (Read “What is Appetizing?“ to learn more.) Historical relevance aside, appetizing is perfect for the holiday for two other reasons: it is delicious and it makes entertaining easy.
Back by popular demand, we give you The Russ Platter, a mouth-watering arrangement selected as the perfect start for the holiday meal (or for those foregoing turkey, this is a great substitute for the main course).Commence your feast with a beautiful array of Wild Alaskan Salmon Roe, Stuffed Brook Trout, Medallion-Cut Smoked Salmon Loin, Gravlox, Sable, and Creme Fraiche. The only preparation needed for these hors d’oeuvres is deciding which cracker or bread to accompany it, and what to try first.
Whether you are offering this platter as a host or you are a guest bringing it as a gift, we assure you that everyone will be talking about this highlight of the meal.
The Russ Platter is available in three sizes: For 10 people: $150.00 ︱ For 15 people: $215.00 ︱ For 20 people: $275.00
The Russ Platter is available only for pick up at Russ & Daughters and for courier within NYC. All orders for The Russ Platter must be placed by calling us at 212.475.4880 or 800.RUSS.229.
If you are outside of NYC, or cannot make it in to the store before the holiday, have no fear; call us to place an order and we will help you select an array of appetizing that can be shipped to you in time for your holiday feast.
The Holiday Weekend
And though it is always hard to believe, you and your crowd will need to eat the next morning too! So why not start the day with the very best bagels and lox? Russ & Daughters can put together an appetizing spread for you to enjoy with family and friends throughout the entire holiday weekend.
Please place your Thanksgiving orders — either for The Russ Platter or a la carte items — by Monday, November 23rd, by calling us at 212.475.4880 or 800.RUSS.229.
Please note that Russ & Daughters will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.
All deliveries and pick-ups must be before 8:00 pm on Wednesday, November 25th. We will be open again on Friday, November 27th, at 8:00 a.m., for the morning-after brunch.
PRI’s Peabody Award-winning Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen from WNYC often examines the interaction of art and everyday life. This past week, the show, which is “public radio’s smart and surprising guide to what’s happening in pop culture and the arts” featured Niki Russ Federman in a segment titled, “Aha Moment: John Zorn with a Schmear.”
