Deli(cious) dining
Commercial Street Deli models itself after New York eateries
The Commercial Street Deli is a new venture by the husband and wife team, James and Amanda Donato, who have been in business for close to two years and are in it for the long run.
The Commercial Street Deli is located at 194 Commercial Street in North Sydney on the corner of Commercial and King; there is plenty of parking in front and at the nearby Ballast Grounds.
James attended the Culinary Arts Program in Thunder Bay, while Amanda is a St. F. X. U. graduate and baker.
They won the best Northside burger during the 2017 Bartown Festival Days. What kind of a burger do you think they’ll enter for the 2018 Bartown Days? Will it be a big surprise?
I asked them what made it a deli and they said before they opened their business, they looked at all the restaurant outlets on the Northside and in Sydney, and concluded that there was a need for a deli, a place where the public could go for a quick and tasty sandwich.
“We went to New York four years ago, and every lunch time, we’d stop at a local deli,” explained James. “They always had fresh turkey, beef, etc. on fresh bread.
“Those lunches were absolutely delicious. And we were inspired to do likewise.”
James said every day now with their new deli, they purchase fresh vegetables, and fresh bread from Harold’s Bakery.
“We do our own twists on classic sandwiches, the most popular of which is the Pita Club.” Instead of a regular sandwich, it is done on pita bread with three layers of cream cheese, bacon, mayo, roast chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, red onion and cheddar; it is grilled, not toasted.
They make one type of homemade soup every day, sometime two types.
They get their smoked meat from Montreal, and they make smoked meat sandwiches and Reubens.
I asked what was the difference between a smoked meat sandwich and a Reuben. They explained that a Reuben has Russian dressing instead of mustard, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and marble rye bread, while a smoked meat sandwich is simply smoked meat and mustard on rye bread.
Other house special sandwiches are their BLT, the Cuban (ham, chicken breast, Swiss cheese, sweet pickle and mustard), the Gobbler (turkey breast, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mayo and smoked mozzarella), the Italian (selection of Italian meats, piled high and topped with house hot salad and smoked mozzarella) and the Commercial Club (Montreal smoked meat, chicken breast, red onion, sweet pickle, Thousand Island dressing and Swiss cheese).
They also have a summer salad (hummus, guacamole, cucumber, tomato, red onion, shredded carrot and balsamic vinegar), and real fruit smoothies including such flavours as the Island Shipwreck, Jacked Monkey, Green Monster, Fit and Fruitful, Just Peachy and more.
They stressed that they make gourmet sandwiches, and fresh soups, using real turkey and chicken breast – nothing is processed.
Their hours of operation are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They make an all-day breakfast on Saturday. They are closed on Sunday. In the summer, they are open for supper several days a week.
The Commercial Street Deli can be reached at (902) 794DELI.