There was excitement in Tucson’s Jewish community when Jeremy Kneller-Hernandez announced on social media that he plans to open an East Coast-style deli here, filling a void in the local culinary scene.
Kneller-Hernandez grew up in Tucson and spent summers in New York visiting his maternal grandparents. He waxes nostalgic about “fishing in Oyster Bay and grabbing an egg ‘n cheese at the corner delicatessen” or enjoying a “fresh warm knish on Houston Street from Yonah Schimmel.”
Along with those formative experiences, he spent years working in the restaurant business in Tucson and Portland, Ore., from kitchen roles to front-of-the-house management.
For the past six months, he’s been selling his wares at local markets and doing catering and events. He cures his own lox, brines and smokes pastrami, and makes knishes by the score with a choice of fillings.
“The knish tastes like the ones I enjoyed in Brooklyn, growing up. There can be no higher praise,” Edie Jarolim raves on Tucson Foodie’s list of the best things their team tasted in December.
Even his hot dogs — Hebrew National, of course — inspire rhapsodies.
“He prepared the best hot dog that I’ve eaten outside of New York. The homemade garlic pickles and sauerkraut were top shelf and although I resisted it, the Dijon mustard was great!” says Regina Ginsberg Koch-Mart, who grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, just like Kneller-Hernandez’s mother.
“It’s been great. The community’s been awesome with receiving the food and the hype so far,” says Kneller-Hernandez, who has also been featured in a spot on KGUN-9.
Now he’s negotiating a lease for a brick-and-mortar site in central Tucson, with an April or May target date for opening Kneller’s Delicatessen & Appetizing.
With Reuben sandwiches on the menu, the deli won’t be kosher. But there will also be classic whitefish salad, one of his favorites.
And there’ll be other family recipe-inspired fare like matzah ball soup and brisket, says Kneller-Hernandez, who calls food his “first love language.”
As part of his gratitude toward colleagues in Tucson’s food community, he sources many ingredients locally, including Bubbe’s Bagels and Barrio Bread.
He’ll continue doing pop-ups while he works on the deli. Most Saturdays and Sundays, he’s at St. Philip’s Plaza, but often sells out early.
For more information, email jeremy@knellersdelicatessen.com or follow the deli on Facebook or Instagram.
