Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

The popular smoked-fish store just added Jewish classics such as smoked meats, kasha varnishkes and kugel. Photograph courtesy of Shelsky’s.

Fans of Shelsky’s, the always-mobbed Brooklyn smoked-fish emporium, are getting even more to fress.

Starting today, the white-tiled appetizing shop will expand its menu to include classic deli sandwiches, Ashkenazi side dishes and meats by the pound.

“It’s something we’ve always wanted to do,” owner Peter Shelsky told the Forward. “We’ve done smoked fish for a while. Now, we want to play both sides of the News York Jewish food game.”

Shelsky’s redux had been set to open Tuesday, but “our pastrami’s still curing,” Shelsky said earlier this week. The shop will cure all of its own meats, including corned beef and tongue; revered local meat palace Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbecue will smoke Shelsky’s pastrami exclusively.

The meats will fill classic deli sandwiches on Orwasher’s rye bread; Shelsky’s will also offer haimish side dishes like kasha varnishkes, stuffed cabbage, kishke with brown gravy and knishes. On weekends, Shelsky will even serve a “Shabbat cholent” based on his grandmother’s recipe. “It’s shtetl food to fill your belly,” Shelsky laughed.

Dessert offerings will grow as well. “We’re going to do apple strudel, and we always have rice pudding,” Shelsky said. “If you consider noodle kugel a dessert, we’ve got that too. My non-Jewish wife is like, ‘Why do you eat this as an appetizer? What’s wrong with you people?’”

Michael Kaminer is a frequent contributor to the Forward.

Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief

You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.

And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.

That’s where you come in. Gifts of any size keep the Forward free and accessible to everyone and ensure we have the resources we need to power the Forward at this critical time for American Jews.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Will you support our work today?

— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT