A Jewish Eatery Thrives in a Changing Neighborhood
By Claudia Labson and Anna Block
Hannah Phillips sat on a bench outside of the Russ and Daughters eatery, conversing with a friend about what they should order this time. Like many other customers, she held a small, white ticket in her hand, and waited for the number on it to be called. With 25 other customers crammed into the historic store, each in line to order traditional Jewish appetizing items, patience was key.
Some of the hungry clientele joined Phillips in the sweltering 85-degree heat just for a chance to taste the famed food. For Phillips, this routine was nothing new. She had been visiting Russ and Daughters for 15 years, mainly for the whitefish salad which she declared is “unparalleled” in a city known for Jewish delis. So great is her devotion that she has been to all four of the store’s locations throughout the city.
This family-run store has been serving up bagels, lox, and pickled herring for 105 years, long after Joel Russ and his daughters founded the operation. In addition to the menu remaining practically the same, the same signs hang inside the store as did in 1914 when it opened, advertising pickles, smoked fish and ripe olives. Since the beginning, the family has focused on two things: food and honoring the family legacy.
“Our goal in everything that we do is to stay connected to our roots and our past and our history, while not becoming antiquated or outdated,” co-owner Josh Russ Tupper said in an interview. He said the tradition, and his family’s vision, inform the decisions they make about running the store today. For example, in response to customer demand for a place to sit down and eat, Tupper did not renovate the store but rather opened a new cafe location.
He said the store has modernized in other small ways, such as buying new refrigerators or updating the payment system. “In our minds, we’re not saying how we can stay relevant. Instead, how can we be true to our family’s history, and what we’ve got for 105 years?” Tupper explained.
The inside of the landmark store on East Houston Street consists of one crowded aisle with food displays on either side. Rows of orange, fragrant smoked salmon, boxes of chocolate, apricot and raspberry rugelach, and vats of cream cheese sit behind glass showcases. Customers strike up conversations with people behind them in line, talking about everything from the best items to order, to attending the New York Pride Parade.
“This will really make my breath smell. But it’s worth it,” one customer confided.
The store’s clientele today vastly differs from where it began, as so little of the Jewish immigrant population is left. Russ and Daughters first opened in an era when Judaism flourished in the Lower East Side, thanks to a large population of Jewish immigrants. The customers, employees and food all came from the same cultural background, a very different demographic from the diverse population the store employs and serves today.
“When I first started working here it was primarily Jewish food for Jewish people,” Herman Vargas, manager of the original Russ and Daughters store said, “We have now broken the barrier.”
Original immigrants either died or moved away, and religion became less necessary to create community. New York City’s Jewish population peaked at 2 million in the late 1950s, dropped to 972,000 in 2002 and rebounded to 1.54 million in 2012, according to a study by the UJA-Federation of New York that is released once a decade. Most of those folks, however, live outside the Lower East Side.
Today, the neighborhood is more likely to have Asian residents than ones from Russia or Ukraine, said Lori Weissman, Director of Touring at the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy. “And if you come back 100 years from now, it’ll probably be another immigrant group that’s represented.”
But, Weissman stressed how Jewish cultural influences have forever shaped the neighborhood and the entire city. Broadway theaters took inspiration from the Yiddish theater district, and the idea of school nurses was born in the neighborhood as well. And in the Lower East Side, institutions like Russ and Daughters play a large part in keeping these impacts alive.
Vargas believes part of what has helped to keep the store popular through an entire century is not just the old-world brand, but also an expanded outreach. Due to demand from customers, the store ships its food nationwide from online orders. The company store also has locations on Orchard Street, the Jewish Heritage Museum, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Now Russ and Daughters can touch more people than just those on East Houston Street.
Brandon Murphy, the Educational Manager of the Tenement Museum said that all of Russ and Daughters locations are helping to carry the torch of the neighborhood’s history. He said, “[They are] keeping alive a part of the Lower East Side’s distinct character and introducing it to a new generation.”
Russ and Daughters maintains its name and old-time authenticity enough to be a bucket-list item for many tourists. Dorothy Atkinson took time out of moving her daughter, Julie, 25, into her new apartment nearby to visit the store. “It’s been on my list forever. It’s a classic New York place.”
