Anyone looking for an ideal place to “plotz” for lunch should check in with Bill Fromm. The well-known Kansas City advertising whiz and entrepreneur will cheerfully and proudly direct you to his new Jewish deli.
Now open in the Crossroads Arts District is Broadway Deli, by its self-stated definition “A mostly Jewish deli in a mostly not Jewish city.” Of course matzo ball soup is on the menu. So too are bagels with lox and cream cheese, corned beef hash, potato latkes, noodle kugel and kosher pickles. (A whole kosher dill costs a mere buck.) And what’s not to like about sandwiches named “What Am I, Chopped Liver?” and “Noah’s Ark” the latter featuring “Two Of Every Meat We Have.”
Fromm went so far as to check with his Kansas City Jewish and non-Jewish friends to get their blessings on sandwiches named in their honor: The Big Sonia; The Joel Goldberg 50/50; Helzberg Meat and Potatoes; The Mitchell Schwartz Tailgate Meal and the Sammy Davis Junior.
“Sammy Davis Junior,” Fromm repeated with tongue firmly planted in cheek. “I was unable to get hold of him. They said he was out of the country.”
Good-natured chutzpah comes naturally for Fromm, who enjoyed a Jewish upbringing in Kansas City and went on to establish the Barkley advertising agency and then co-founded the equally successful Service Management Group (SMG). Now Fromm is fulfilling another ambition, one he maintains took root in his college days at Northwestern University when introduced to Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen, where for 75 years the renowned Jewish deli in nearby Chicago has served up distinctively flavorful meats in gargantuan portions.
“Our fraternity didn’t have a meal plan that included Sunday,” said Fromm, “so with the kitchen closed we would go to Manny’s for brunch.”
Fromm’s enduring infatuation with Manny’s has come full circle. In typical Fromm fashion he personally called on the family owners of the south-side Chicago deli and asked them to become partners in his Kansas City restaurant venture. It was not a particularly tough sell. Once the owners of Manny’s visited the deli location Fromm had in mind at 21st Street and Broadway in the Crossroads (the former Pezzettino Italian Deli & Market), they signed on.
Meats at Broadway Deli are flown in daily from Manny’s in Chicago: corned beef, pastrami, salami, hard salami, roast beef, beef brisket and roast turkey. “We trim off the fat,” Fromm said. “People in Kansas City like it a little leaner.”
Also of Manny’s fame on the Broadway Deli menu are chicken, chopped liver and tuna and egg salad. The Manny’s breakfast menu is mirrored with potato latke, challah French toast, corned beef hash with eggs, bagels with lox and cream cheese and matzo brei (scrambled eggs mixed with matzo, then fried and served with maple syrup). Desserts include handmade shakes, fresh-baked black and white “Bubbie’s” cookies and offerings from Chicago-based Eli’s Cheesecake.
“I told people before we opened, if we have good food we will last about 90 days but if we have great food we’ll be successful,” Fromm said. “The reason we have great food is because of Manny’s.”
The Manny’s name didn’t fit for the Kansas City location, in no small part due to ownership being held by multiple partners with Fromm as managing partner. Plus, there was no desire for the deli to be confused with locally renowned Manny’s Mexican Restaurant located just a hop, skip and a jump away on Southwest Boulevard.
Fromm is pleased with the amount of business Broadway Deli has attracted since opening in early May. He’s been pleasantly surprised with the number of lunch-time customers who drive in from outside the downtown area and considers the wide-spread interest a good sign for plans to open a second Broadway Deli in Johnson County after the first of the year. A location has been selected but Fromm is mum on its address.
Based on comment cards and general observation, Fromm estimates the deli’s clientele is 20-30 percent Jewish. He said it’s common for Jewish customers to give feedback and comparisons between Broadway Deli foods and their family recipes.
“The biggest comment we get is on the latke because we do a Chicago-style potato latke, which people here are not familiar with,” Fromm said. “Here in Kansas City the latke they’re used to is thin like a pancake. Our latke (served with either sour cream or applesauce) is thick. That’s the way they serve it at Manny’s.”
Fromm admits he may have underestimated the challenges associated with opening and then running a deli. He gives much credit to getting good direction from the Manny’s team and relies heavily on his 25-person staff. He recently hired Angela Messina as general manager. A Kansas City native, Mesinna has been in the restaurant business for 25 years, most recently overseeing the four Kansas City-area d’Bronx locations.
“Angela is more than general manager,” Fromm said. “She is the head bagel.”
If it seems Fromm is having fun with this latest venture … he is.
“I like business,” said Fromm. “I’ve had fun in advertising, I’ve had fun at SMG. I’m having fun here. I have fun everywhere.”
