As if Labor Day is not enough of a transition - back to work, back to school, back in town - for those of us who celebrate the Jewish holidays, the end of summer actually brings us forward into a new year. The High Holidays are exceptionally early this year: Rosh Hashanah begins the night of Wednesday, September 8th, just two days after Labor Day, and Yom Kippur follows quickly on its heels, starting at sundown on Friday, September 17th.
If you plan on celebrating the holidays, and want to be able to skip the line, call us to place your orders now, since spots for pre-orders book up quickly. (We’ve been receiving calls for High Holiday orders since April!)
Look at our delectable holiday menu and suggestions for your Rosh Hashanah table and for breaking the Yom Kippur fast, and then take this as a friendly reminder from the Russ family not to wait to give us a call.
If coming in to Russ & Daughters during the holidays is part of your tradition, as it is for many, rest assured that our kitchen, master slicers, and entire team will be working like meshuggenahs to provide the same menu in the store.
Russ & Daughters continues to hold an important place in the lives and traditions of so many of our customers, and as we enter our 97th year, that makes us feel humbled and energized to continue for another century, and many more generations to come.
Wishing you a sweet, healthy, and delicious New Year, from the entire Russ family and team, Niki Russ Federman & Joshua Russ Tupper
The “Sugar Rush” column on Serious Eats is always a treat. Earlier this week, Kathy YL Chan wrote there about Bagel Pudding, a long-time homemade staple of the Russ & Daughters sweets counter. Since our bagels are baked fresh every morning, by night-time, if there happen to be any left, they are best enjoyed toasted, or turned into a family favorite: Bagel Pudding.
Serious Eats noted:
“There is bread pudding, and then there is bagel pudding. For the bagel pudding, you must head to Russ & Daughters, where the cut-to-order dessert goes for $4.99 a pound. Two choices-a chocolate chip-studded pudding, or a raisin and prune one. The latter is superior, always a few notches more moist than the chocolate, and speckled with plump bites of raisins and creamy, larger prunes. Reminiscent of Far Breton, a classic custard cake from Brittany, France, the pudding is composed of old bagels, chopped and baked in a sweet custard base-undeniably dense and filling, but in all the right ways. This is one of the few bread or bagel puddings that is best served cold and not warm.”
Jennifer and Ben came to Russ & Daughters the other day for the first time, with tired feet, empty stomachs and a special book in tow. Originally published in 1959, the book was New York Places and Pleasures by Kate Simon. The 4th edition, which had come into Jennifer and Ben’s possession, was from 1971. This guide book, with its lyrical prose and definitive exhortations, reads more like a leather bound tome from Le Grand Voyage than an excursion downtown. And its very politically incorrect language also would not make it into print these days– typical chapter title: “Italian, Markets, Barefoot Young and Stubborn Slavs.”
Jennifer and Ben decided to spend their Saturday visiting the places and neighborhoods described so “colorfully” by Ms. Simon, in order to see what might still be the same. They started their tour in Chinatown, with no success. “Chinatown apparently had a lot of Jewish stores back then,” remarked Ben. But nothing was left. They were delighted when they arrived at 179 East Houston to discover that the neon sign glowed the same name they saw in their guide book: “Russ & Daughters.” It was the first place on their tour that was still around forty years after the book’s publication.
After sharing a bagel topped with cream cheese and Gaspe Nova, here they are reading the Russ & Daughters passage from their guide book:
And here’s a transcription if you don’t have time for the clip:
“The Olympus of sturgeon, Nova Scotia salmon and dried fruits for many New Yorkers and for former New Yorkers who travel considerable distances to refresh themselves with the local nectar is Russ & Daughters (179 E. Houston St; closed Tuesday). The late Mr. Russ had attractive, lively daughters who married attractive, lively men. They work in the store at various times and together on busy Sundays, friendly, bright people whose voices bubble up a foam of warm greetings, paens to sturgeon, sonnets to lox, and kind thanks. The friendliness and enthusiasm take some of the sting out of the prices, although theirs are comparatively low in a generally fantastic scale, and as for quality– the experts grow soft-eyed and moist-mouthed when they describe the incomparable charms, first of the Russ fish, and then, of the Russ women.”
-New York Places and Pleasures by Kate Simon. Harper & Row, 1971
I think I got as much a kick out of meeting Jennifer and Ben as they got out of discovering the store and meeting an actual Russ. Though we’re no longer closed on Tuesdays, and the Russ daughters and their lively husbands have been followed by great-granddaughters and great-grandsons, it’s nice to think that the same passage could have been written today.
“Is everything ok?” asked the passerby at the sight of shuttered gates and lights off at Russ & Daughters this morning, his voice expressing mild panic as if he had just stumbled upon an unfortunate accident or was shaking someone out of a bad dream. While we were touched by the outpouring of concern- he was actually not the first, but more like the sixth, person to wonder- we were happy to explain that today the shop was closed for our annual company picnic; we were headed to the country.
We ate, we swam, and had our annual softball match. Amongst other deliciousness, we feasted on a fabulous summer pasta salad of Russ & Daughters bottarga, tomato, shitake and shimeji mushrooms, prepared by our very own David Wolfe. You can ask him how to make it next time you’re in, now that we’re back in the shop and everything is back to normal.
The Russ & Daughters Mini Yum Kippered sandwich is featured in New York Magazine’s annual “Underground Gourmet guide to all that is brand spanking new and good to eat,” the “2010 Eat Cheap Issue” by Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld. The article shows the small sandwich in great company, with “mini” dishes from Momofuku Milk Bar, First Prize Pies, Luke’s Lobster, and other local favorites.
Minisize Me
By Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld
“All over town, less is suddenly more. Here’s where to find big flavors for small change. MINI YUM KIPPERED Russ & Daughters
Everyone knows mini-bagels are best - crustier, better balanced - especially when stuffed with baked salmon and cream cheese.”
Shootbooth writes: In celebration of the New Catch Holland Herring (a fish with a most ornate pedigree), Russ & Daughters invited ShootBooth to make portraits at their annual Herring Pairing.
A surprising number of guests demonstrated the audacious, shirt-staining art of herring consumption for the camera. Bravo, intrepid diners.
This is arguably our wildest event. To all who were present: thanks for your animation and good nature.
Do you have a longer lunch break on this beautiful day? No work today at all? Stop by for a sandwich. Someone, for example, is about to eat this Super Heebster.
(If you don’t have time to visit for lunch, maybe we’ll see you later. Russ & Daughters is open tonight until 8:00 p.m.)
In this Elle Magazine cover story by Andrew Goldman, actress Keira Knightly talks about making movies in New York and how much she misses the “amazing” Russ & Daughters now that she’s gone:
“So, a modest proposal: Knightley told me she’d developed a love of New York while filming Last Night, that she still thinks about the bagels and lox she’d get at Russ and Daughters, the Lower East Side smoked fish emporium she deems ‘amazing.’ So, Keira, consider this a formal invitation to move to New York, a town where Brits can easily locate home comforts such as Marmite, HP Sauce, and even warm beer. New Yorkers won’t accost you; they’ll pretend to not even know who you are.”
For a full version of this article, visit Elle.com.
As if Labor Day is not enough of a transition - back to work, back to school, back in town - for those of us who celebrate the Jewish holidays, the end of summer actually brings us forward into a new year. The High Holidays are exceptionally early this year: Rosh Hashanah begins the night of Wednesday, September 8th, just two days after Labor Day, and Yom Kippur follows quickly on its heels, starting at sundown on Friday, September 17th.
If you plan on celebrating the holidays, and want to be able to skip the line, call us to place your orders now, since spots for pre-orders book up quickly. (We’ve been receiving calls for High Holiday orders since April!)
