Oy vey, we thought we were sitting shiva for delis. The chicken soup they sling in those thinly disguised fast-food joints is like our bubby said: they maybe waved the chicken over the pot. The corned beef, it makes me so sad, it’s industrial. But then! Along comes Zane Caplansky, a nice Jewish boy. Instead of being a doctor or a lawyer, he has a mission to bring the deli back to life. A grand passion this boychik has for smoked meat. No fake smoke or chemical injections for this guy. He dry-cures fresh briskets for two weeks with pepper and spices and then smokes them over hickory for 10 hours, producing a result that is an amalgam of traditional corned beef and southern barbecue — smokier than the former and more fatty and less sugary than the latter. Between fresh rye with his own piquant mustard made with Belgian beer, we love it. Caplansky’s also does smoked meat poutine, cabbage borscht, chopped liver and other deli classics. It’s a deli renaissance. Unfortunately, the flagship College Street location closed due to an impossible landlord, but rest assured, travel makes you hungry, and Caplanky’s makes you full.
