It’s been nine years since Zane Caplansky first developed an obsession with smoked meat, and in that time his achievements have far surpassed his initial ambitions as a humble deli owner.
The man now known as “The Deli King” recently launched the fourth location of his eponymous Toronto deli in Yorkville. And despite having no desire to expand beyond his flagship College Street shop just a few years ago, he’s now seeking to create Canada’s national deli.
Back in the summer of 2007, Caplansky tasted some quality Montreal smoked meat and caught an insatiable craving for it. After numerous failed requests for a Schwartz’s delivery from visiting friends, he grew frustrated — there was no suitable alternative here in Toronto.
Zane Caplansky (IMAGE: JASON FINESTONE)
The restaurant veteran, who was managing Magic Oven on Dupont at the time, had worked nearly every front- and back-of-house job imaginable. He’d received culinary training at George Brown. Could he cure his own conundrum?
“I always knew I wanted my own place someday, but I never knew what,” Caplansky recalls. “Then I realized – I’m a deli guy!”
The only problem was, he had no idea how to make deli food, and he had no money to open up a restaurant.
Determined to solve the first part of the challenge, he cured, spiced, smoked and sliced his first brisket in the winter of 2007. The two-week process yielded such a perfect product that he cried at first bite.
Eventually, Caplansky decided to set up a pop-up restaurant at The Monarch Tavern at a cost of $75 per week. He had no idea what his little project — with its compact menu of a smoked meat sandwich, coleslaw, pickles and hand-cut fries — would yield. But before his first day in business had come, a Toronto food writer named David Sax took interest in Caplansky’s carnivorous ambitions.
A smoked meat sandwich, $9.95 (IMAGE: JASON FINESTONE)
Sax was in the process of writing his James Beard-award winning book, Save the Deli, and he was confident that he could sell the story to The Globe and Mail. Caplansky thought little of it, but before he could blink, he found his punim on the front page of the Saturday Globe’s Toronto section. The headline read, “Jewish Food Comes Back Downtown.”
The day he opened, Caplansky sold out of two weeks’ worth of meat in two hours. Geddy Lee became one of his regulars. Food writers Ruth Reichl and Bonnie Stern patronized his pop-up. Joanne Kates named it one of the best new restaurants of 2008. At that moment in time, Caplansky had little to kvetch about.
Since upgrading to a permanent College Street location in 2009, Caplansky has made a steady climb up the salami-studded rungs of delidom. In addition to his flagship, he now has two locations at Pearson Airport, a food truck, a vibrant catering business, a radio talk show and of course, his newest location in Yorkville.
The Cumberland Street storefront marks the first in a string of fast-casual restaurants slated for a franchise model that Caplansky — along with marketing guru Joe Jackman — plans to roll out across the country.
Inside the new deli (IMAGE: JASON FINESTONE)
There are electric meat slicers at the entrance, which preps uniform cuts of smoked meat and limits the cost of a trained hand-slicer like the one on College. Place an order and take your number back to the table after helping yourself to a Cott’s black cherry soda or a Vernors ginger ale from the fountain. There is also a proprietary beer on offer from Wellington Brewery: the Deli King dark lager, a dunkel made with brisket seasoning and rye mash, served with a dill pickle.
Caplansky believes that his deli distinguishes itself from others by its commitment to making things in-house where possible.
“We work with the best quality products we can make in-house, and if not, we buy them from small, family-run operations,” Caplansky claims.
A fried chicken sandwich, $9.95 (IMAGE: JASON FINESTONE)
Briskets come from St. Helen’s, rye bread is baked by Silverstein’s, coffee is from Ezra’s Pound and wines are from Rosewood Estates. A soon-to-be-installed mustard fountain will carry Caplansky’s line of proprietary mustards, and an all-you-can-eat pickle bar is stocked with Putter’s.
For now, Caplansky’s Yorkville is open until 9 p.m., seven days a week, but he’s considering staying open late to service the many partygoers and residents in the neighbourhood. Much like the ever-increasing quantities of smoked meat that his locations sell weekly, and the four additional franchises that have already been vetted across Ontario, this deli empire is in a constant state of growth.
“Three years go I had no ambition to achieve global deli domination, which is what I want to do now,” he says.
To Montreal, to New York, to the globe – Zane Caplansky wants you to know – “We’re coming!”
Outside the new deli (IMAGE: JASON FINESTONE)
Caplansky’s Yorkville, 156 Cumberland Ave, 416-967-7676
