Brent’s Delicatessen
Ron Peskin and his wife, Patricia, took over Brent’s Deli in Northridge in 1969 (it originally opened in 1967), and they opened a second location in Westlake Village in 2006. The Peskin family, including Ron’s son Brent, daughter Cari and son-in-law Marc, run the business. The original location in Northridge is in a strip mall and shares a wall with a dive bar called the Stovepiper Lounge. The restaurant, awash in a sea of varying shades of brown, feels more like a log cabin than a deli.
Behind the counter: The deli gets its bagels from Western Bagel and its breads from Delicious Bakery and Wildflour Bakery. It makes all of its desserts except for the danishes and Chinese marble cookies, both made by Delicious Bakery. The knishes, cheese blintzes and kishka are all made in house. The pastrami comes preseasoned from RC Provisions, and the pickles come from the local company A-1 Eastern.
Order this: Brent’s makes some of the best latkes in Los Angeles, served full size or mini, with a side of cherry applesauce the color of a pink highlighter. The sauce tastes like someone spilled their cherry Slurpee into the jar of applesauce. But it’s oddly addictive in a cloyingly sweet, I-know-Ishouldn’t-be-eating-this sort of way. The black pastrami Reuben is also quite good, served on double-baked rye with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese.
Info: 19565 Parthenia St., Northridge, (818) 886-5679, brentsdeli.com.