When my colleague Margaret Littman gave y’all the heads-up that a new deli was coming to East Nashville to take over the former Marche space, to say that the reaction was overwhelming would be an understatement. In fact, when I showed up last week for a quick preview lunch at Shep’s Delicatessen, I saw that Margaret had beaten me to the punch and was already enjoying her meal at a table in the bright, airy dining room of the deli. That should have been a sign that people couldn’t wait to try out Shep’s menu of bagels, breakfast and fun takes on traditional deli fare — a fact that became apparent when I logged onto their website to prepare to write this First Bite.
I was immediately met with this pop-up:
THANK YOU to everyone who made it out to support us – we went through 400LBS (!!!) of pastrami and corned beef in two days (who knew Nashville wanted pastrami and corned beef so badly?!)We are closing our doors until next week so that we can regroup and make Shep’s the best it can be for you. We look forward to getting back to it and having you in to join us.
We will keep everyone updated as soon as we have our reopening hours!
Wow, that’s quite an opening weekend! Having visited already, I can see what all the excitement is about.
The ownership group is committed to re-creating the authentic deli experience of New York/New Jersey while at the same time acknowledging that Shep’s is a uniquely Southern restaurant. They didn’t make too many major cosmetic changes to Marche, so it will still be recognizable to old fans. A little tile work, some tables moved around and a bookcase with Jewish humor books and racks holding current issues of local and national newspapers are the main visible alterations. It’s still a delightfully noisy spot, with the sounds of clattering forks rebounding off plates and happy conversation drowning out the smooth jazz soundtrack in the background. Like a deli ought to be.
The kitchen has been reworked out of view of the diners, equipped with new specialty gear to prepare their eclectic menu. Smoked meats are being produced off site, by pros at their sister restaurant Adele’s. Bagels are being baked by another local chef, and they hope that he can keep up with the demand. Who knows? Maybe those will come in house eventually. I thought the pegboard of bagels hanging over the main counter was a nice touch, kind of a visual menu of what’s currently available.
Dining alone during my quick preview visit, I couldn’t sample much of the menu, so I went with a make-or-break option for me — the classic pastrami sandwich with an egg cream and fries. The egg cream was a nice surprise, kind of a DIY offering as opposed to the fountain versions I recall from NYC deli visits. Well, not exactly DIY, because the server brought a glass with the milk and syrup in the bottom along with a bottle of soda water. My server actually poured the seltzer for me, not as a bit of culinary performance theater, but to ensure that I wouldn’t create an egg cream geyser all over the table as the fizz met the syrup. (Which I doubtlessly would have done.) The delicious egg cream comes with a spoon to stir up the mixture, so you still do have a little bit of work for the experience.
Many of the sandwiches on the menu come in both regular and jumbo sizes, the latter featuring a Carnegie Deli-esque tower of a pound of meat between the slices. My pastrami sandwich was completely reasonable and manageable, a single stack of delicately pickled beef brisket rubbed with Shep’s proprietary spice blend before a trip through the smoker. I liked that the coarse mustard was served on the side, like the pickle spear, because that allowed me to decide how much tang I wanted to add to help cut through that delicious, peppery, smoky, fatty brisket. I saw owner Howard Greenstone and commented on how much I liked the pastrami. He told me he was really proud of it, but acknowledged that New York delis have been perfecting their pastrami, brisket and corned beef for generations, and his crew has been at it for about four weeks. I’d say he’s off to a fine start.
Seeing as I couldn’t have eaten more than that one sandwich, I asked around to see which dishes other people were loving. The open-faced Rueben was a fave, along with an unholy marriage of Cuban and Reuben called CB’s Jersey Style Sloppy Joe. Shep’s brisket comes from Bear Creek Farm, so you know they’re beginning with an excellent product. That’s on my short list for next time.
Other recs I heard were the chicken livers, the chicken salad sandwich and a crispy chicken schnitzel. So after the Shep’s folks take a couple of days to catch their breath and restock the deli cases, give them a try and let us know what you loved so we can plan the next excursion.
