Photographer Paul Cheney and chef Marguerite Chalmers’ deli plans have finally come through. After ending their partnership with developer Jeffrey Roberts for Westside Delicatessen at 237 Fishburne St. last year, the two opened their own spot, North Central Delicatessen, yesterday.
The 400-square-foot space is at 1-B Dewey St., though the door opens onto Huger Street. Inside, Chalmers and Cheney have taken what was once a beauty parlor and reworked it into a tiny take-out spot. The cooler holds pasta salads and spreads, but it’s the wursts that we think will lure people in.
North Central Delicatessen is sourcing Knackwurst and Weisswurst from Stiglmeier Sausage Company in Chicago. A wurst meal ($9 for a single, $11 for a double) comes with your choice of sauerkraut or red cabbage, potato salad, cole slaw, or a daily salad, and pickles. Cheney says the food is inspired by his German heritage.
“My mother used to buy from Stiglmeier before she moved to Chattanooga,” he says.
There are also traditional Chicago-style Vienna beef hot dogs and Sabrett’s all-beef dogs for North Central Delicatessen’s interpretation of a New York dog. The menu also offers build-your-own salads, pork rolls, and bagels with smoked salmon. Haribo candies sit next to the counter.
Decade-long residents of the North Central neighborhood, Cheney and Chalmers have watched it evolve and say they felt good about opening on Huger Street. “We’ve got Huriyali, Faculty Lounge, and I think we’re getting a bakery,” Cheney says. “Guy’s Meats is our landlord.”
And a head’s up: Don’t look for a flashing sign out front. The deli just has a small board on the door marking its location. It appears it’s all part of the duo’s plan to quietly knit themselves into the fabric of the street.
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