Pastrami lovers and my fellow sandwich fanatics: get excited. Coming in early February will be the latest concept to rotate through LITTLE RED WINDOW, the takeout window attached to the Spanish Red Window restaurant in North Beach on the Stockton Street side. Chef Adam Rosenblum has been wanting to do this project all his life (he said to me, “This is my retirement plan!”), but lucky us, he’s rolling this out now.
He grew up eating in New Jersey and Maryland Jewish delis, so he understands the East Coast sensibility, and knows some insider dishes: like the Sloppy Joe, a deli sandwich that is like a Jewish deli club sandwich (not the sloppy beef-and-tomato sauce kind of sandwich) that he hasn’t seen outside of Jersey. It comes with three pieces of rye bread, two to three kinds of meats (it can be a combo of corned beef, ham, roast beef, or turkey), Swiss cheese, coleslaw, and Russian dressing. Adam will be doing turkey, roast beef, and corned beef on housemade rye. SIGN ME UP. (Read more about the origin of this awesome sandwich here, which has its roots in Havana!)
He has been dabbling with a pastrami recipe over the years, his favorite thing in life “besides my wife and kids” (cute comment there, Adam)! He was thinking it’s something the city could use more of, and he really loves the intersection of nostalgia and comfort that a Jewish deli brings. He notes, “It brings great comfort. It’s so simple, but when it’s done right, it’s so good.” With a city full of transplants, and the endless pandemic, it feels like the right time to launch. (It has been slim pickings—I was missing Shorty Goldstein’s so much, and am thankful Mark ‘n Mike’s came along to help fill the pastrami void.)
They will be curing their meats, baking their own breads (Rosenblum is currently trying some rye flour milled by Bayview Pasta), and making their own pickles and sauces. The window will offer sandwiches (the Sloppy Joe, a Reuben, pastrami, a tuna melt, and a build-your-own), plus chicken and matzo ball soup, smoked salmon plates (both hot-smoked and cold-smoked), and kreplach (Jewish dumplings he’s planning to fill with potato and onion). You may have noted no mention of bagels—it’s something he pondered, but the setup to serve bagels is kind of its own beast, and he’s choosing to focus on the deli side of things (for now).
Hours will be Tue-Thu 12pm-9pm or so, and Fri-Sun 10am-10pm (whenever the restaurant closes). There are some tables outside in the “spritz garden,” and you can enjoy adult beverages from Red Window, too. They’ll be wrapping up Little Red Window’s burger service (Adam is behind the epic Causwells burger), and plan to launch the Jewish deli menu on Tuesday February 1st. Follow @littleredwindow for updates and get ready to NOSH! 1500 Stockton St. at Columbus.
It’s time for SF to meet the Sloppy Joe at Little Red Window’s new East Coast Jewish deli pop-up. Photo: Little Red Window.
