I Have No Beef With the Manhattan Avenue Kosher Deli in Santa Fe

By Judith Fein, photos by Paul Ross

When the Manhattan Avenue Jewish deli opened in Santa Fe a few months ago, it brought on an attack of nostalgia for New York childhood ethnic food delights via the shtetls of Eastern Europe: knishes, chicken matzah ball soup, pickled herring, and real kosher pickles. I immediately called and asked if my husband Paul and I could have a meal but without beef. 

“What?” my telephone interlocutor exclaimed. “We have the best pastrami, corned beef, frankfurters, burgers….” The menu was set in stone as if it had descended from Mount Sinai. I sighed and sadly had to end the call, because even if the cattle industry comes after me, even if the corned beef and pastrami lobbies bang on my door in the middle of the night, I just don’t eat beef. 

A few days ago, I got a group email from Chabad, inviting the Santa Fe community to a special Sunday barbecue meal for Memorial Day. My hungry eyes couldn’t resist perusing the menu and to my astonishment, turkey, chicken, and vegetarian options were now available. I was in such a hurry to get there that I forgot to brush my hair and raced out the door.

The restaurant is on the second floor of the Santa Fe Jewish Center. You can reach it by elevator, but if you are having advance calorie guilt about consuming too many New York bagels with big shmears of lox and vegan cream cheese, you can take the stairs. 

The central space of the deli is a brightly lit one-room affair with red, yellow, green, and blue colored plastic chairs, and faux brick wallpaper.  other tables for diners are placed outside on a patio overlooking the city or they can opt to eat in an adjacent room. There’s a deli case with cold drinks, and kosher take-out treats like gefilte fish, blintzes, herring, frankfurters, and even pizza.  At the front counter, inviting rugelach beckon. And the biggest surprise was that Rabbi Berel Levertov was filling in for a staff shortage and taking orders. When I told him our friend Bob was gentile, he chuckled and said that at least fifty per cent of the deli patrons aren’t Jewish. Rebbetzin Devorah Leah Levertov was also filling in by serving dishes. 

The deli is definitely a family affair. It is run by manager and sometimes cook Rabbi Shmuel Itkin who hails from Scranton Pennsylvania, and the Levertov’s daughter Esther who served and bussed while cradling baby Mendel in her arms. “Everyone in our family is named Mendel,” she quipped. “And the food is Glatt Kosher, kosher enough for a rabbi,” Rabbi Itkin said with a grin. The atmosphere is light, fun, the service is fast, the prices are moderate for Santa Fe, and over the next few hours, people kept coming for the food and staying for the new and old connections and sense of community. 

I placed my order for my beefless meal to share with Paul: chicken matzoh ball soup; Rachel sandwich (it’s like a Reuben but made with turkey instead of corned beef); flaky potato knish; spring salad with falafel; chocolate rugelah; and in case I was still hungry, pickled herring to eat at home. 

Synagogue member Ray Walker ordered take-out food, but changed her mind because of the conviviality and decided to eat with the rest of us. She works as a personal and virtual assistant, but on Fridays she helps prepare Shabbat meals because “this is my shul.” She bit into her burger and said she often gets it “because it’s like a meat loaf sandwich on a bun.” She reported that the accompanying fries are fresh, hot, and crispy. 

Our friend Bob dug into his pastrami sandwich on sourdough bread with coleslaw and a pickle spear, and came up smiling. “I haven’t had pastrami in such a long time,” he said, “and I’ll definitely be back. I would order more, but right now I’m fala-full.” 

At a nearby table, Dr. Richard Lieberman, currently an aesthetic surgeon, explained that “I come here to hang out and have some kosher food, and kibbitz with my friends and rabbis.” He dined on a frankfurter and a turkey sandwich and offered, “I don’t usually eat that much but I was anxious to try this new addition to the menu. And I wash it down with a Coke. There’s nothing else I’d rather eat.”

I have saved the best for last. In addition to being a beefophobe, I am also a very discerning diner, and I have to report that the matzoh ball floating in my soup was light and fluffy. My Rachel sandwich, with a pile of turkey as thick as a Webster’s dictionary, and accompanied by coleslaw without unseemly globs of mayo and a slice of pickle, did my kishkes good. I added a little mustard for extra moisture. I devoured the potato knish with its ample but not heavy potato filling, and sampled the spring salad with falafel, which I didn’t find extraordinary. Lisa Freeman, a local artist who sat at my table, was eating falafel salad as her main course. She said she follows a vegetarian, gluten-free diet, and is thrilled to be able to eat at the deli. For dessert, the chocolate rugelach Paul and I devoured would certainly have pleased my grandmother from the shtetl of Minkowitz.

Before leaving, I stopped in the kitchen to say hello to Aaron Moskowitz, the cook. “The latkes are from a family recipe,” he said. “They came from Minsk. Almost everything I do is from my mom and grandma. They never used cookbooks; they just knew how to cook.”

When I asked about his background, he offered that his family owned the first saloon in Seattle. The Minsk ancestors and their American descendants owned bars and restaurants for 130 years. “My mom recently sold her saloon, and my mother and aunt worked in restaurant management. I learned how to cook at home. At two and a half years old, I stood on a chair cooking eggs.”

The deli is currently open Tues, Weds, and Thursday from 11:30 to 2:30 but they will soon be expanding their hours. View at https://www.manhattanavenuedeli.com

Judith Fein is the author of the award-winning book The Spoon from Minkowitz about her travels through the land of the shtetls in what is today Ukraine. She and her photojournalist husband Paul Ross have contributed to 130 publications, authored four award-winning books, and given many talks and workshops. Their latest book is Slow Travel New Mexico, named the best travel book by the Arizona-New Mexico book awards. Their website is: https://www.GlobalAdventure.us

Read Norma Libman's award-winning articles about Judith Fein's books: Marco Polo Didn't Have A Guidebook: Judith Fein Goes Deep in Exploring New Mexico and Looking for your ancestors? Let Judith Fein Show You How To Get the Real Story.

Return to HOME 

Community Supporters of the NM Jewish Journal include:
Jewish Community Foundation of New Mexico
Congregation Albert
Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque
The Institute for Tolerance Studies
Jewish Federation of El Paso and Las Cruces
Temple Beth Shalom
Congregation B'nai Israel
Shabbat with Friends: Recapturing Together the Joy of Shabbat
New Mexico Jewish Historical Society
Where the North Ends, A Novel by Hugo Moreno 

Policy Statement Acceptance of advertisements does not constitute an endorsement of the advertisers’ products, services or opinions. Likewise, while an advertiser or community supporter's ad may indicate their support for the publication's mission, that does not constitute their endorsement of the publication's content.

Copyright © 2025 New Mexico Jewish Journal LLC. All rights reserved.