Hat’s off to Sarah Efron for coming to our opening and writing about it for the National Post’s online food blog The Appetizer:  http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theappetizer/default.aspx

I especially like the pic of Mike cutting meat by candle light.  Its actually a very telling pic with my house mustard in the foreground and my mom’s flowers as a backdrop.  Mike killed his back doing the cutting because the table was too low for the uber-tall filmmaker.  In fact the day after the party he shot a short film.  Mike is an awesome guy and we’re really lucky to have him.  He responded to a Craigslist ad I placed and confessed he had no kitchen experience.  ”But I love meat,” he promised.  In my world that counts more than experience.  He showed up on time and the interview went like this:

“Taste this,” I said handing him a juicy slice of my pastrami.  The look of utter joy on his face prompted me to ask one question:  ”When can you start”.

“Right now,” he said and work he did.  Mike started the day before NOW listed us in their “Best Sandwiches” Issue and we couldn’t have survived without him.  His passion for what we do is close to my own and although I know his first choice is a film career, he’s welcome at Caplansky’s for as long as he likes.  He even convinced me to hire his brother Richard and even though Rich is more of a veg lover he’s done great too.  In fact, Rich had his first day at GBC’s Culinary School today and I know he’ll make a fine chef some day.

Speaking of media, Toronto’s professional and online foodies have been wonderfully supportive of us.  The Globe, Star and NOW have all been very generous in their coverage and comments but after difficult or long days when I need a boost I read the reviews on Chowhound.  Chowhounders are famous for scathing reviews and they definitely let me know when we’ve disappointed them but for the most part they have been very supportive. So much so, in fact, that Steven Davey of NOW told me he was sceptical of me since the Chowhound reviews were “So over the top”.  ”I figured you hired a pr team to post this stuff for you,” he said making me laugh. “If I had the money to hire pr people, Steven, I wouldn’t have located in the Monarch,” I told him.  ”Oh I know,” he said.  ”Besides, I’ve been in and it is that good.” Thank you Steven.

It was a crazy summer as David Sax relates on his blog site www.savethedeli.com.  Discretion being the greater part of valor, Sax may have left out the person I met and fell in love with but he captured the spirit of the birth of Caplansky’s.  Perhaps the first two months were an appetizer or maybe the whole Monarch experience is.  Everyone seems to encourage me to move into my own digs and I can see myself heading in that direction.  The questions is where and when.

Frankly, I’m happy as well as confident that things will happen exactly as they need to. “The Universe is unfolding exactly as it should,” former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is quoted as saying.  I think he was right. All in due time.

Speaking of due time (Jew time?): Lara got me cheese curds from the spectacular Monforte Dairy and Jesse’s coming in for a gravy consult tomorrow.  Can you say “Jewtine”?  Yeah baby. Zaindle’s got a new menu item.

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