Beach Blog Restaurant Spotlight: Doing a Deli Right
By Becky Billingsley
When Mike and Eva Kaminsky moved to the Grand Strand in 1999, it was raining. Hard.
"We closed on our house the day of Hurricane Floyd," Mike Kaminsky said at the end of a long day of making sandwiches. "I looked out the window at what I just bought, and everyone was leaving town."
Thankfully that auspicious beginning did not signal doom for the Kaminskys and their new business. Rather, it was a washing away of a previous life.
Mike has a bachelor's degree in criminal law and worked in New York for 25 years as a sales manager in the electrical business. To fuel his passion for eating and cooking, after work he went to Long Island for several intense 20-week classes that met up to four hours a night.
Even when the couple, who have been married 30 years, moved to North Myrtle Beach, it was to take a job in the electronic sales industry. However, the company was sold soon after they moved, so Mike went to work for Hardwick's Restaurant Supply.
"I did that for three months," Mike said, "and then we came across Goldberg's Deli in North Myrtle Beach. We took our house money from selling our house in New York and paid cash for the business."
For the next nine years Mike went to the deli at 3 a.m., six days a week, to make the bagels. Never mind he had never made bagels before - he bought used equipment when Scotty's Bagels went out of business and learned how to use it. Soon he was making 40 dozen a day in 12 flavors.
He was also making gallons of chicken salad and cole slaw and became known for his tuna macaroni and thick sandwiches. Eighty-hour weeks were the norm, and business boomed.
Then, in March 2008, the Kaminskys sold their deli when they had an offer they couldn't refuse. Eva lost her job about the same time, so all of a sudden they were both at home. That lasted about five months.
"Forget about it," Mike said. "You can only golf so much. You can only read so many books."
They found a new spot for a deli - this time without bagels - at the north end of Myrtle Beach and went about designing a tribute to New York. Tables and counters were laminated with New York streetscapes and landmarks by a company specializing in car wraps. Wallboard menus were done in the orange and blue of the New York Police Department (their son is an NYPD officer).
"People think we're a chain because we look so nice," Mike says. "But we're no chain. We only do one store at a time - if I can't be in the store we're not open. Although I would love to do a franchise."
If someone did have a Kaminsky's N.Y. Deli like Mike and Eva's, they'd be making breakfast sandwiches, wraps, scrambles and omelets. Even though the Kaminskys don't bake bagels they sell them, loaded with Nova Scotia salmon, cream cheese, onions, tomatoes and capers.
For lunch the restaurant is usually packed with people ordering pastrami, corned beef, liverwurst, Genoa salami, turkey, boiled ham, roast beef and more on a choice of sourdough, wheat or rye breads. They sell a lot of Classic Reubens and other specialty sandwiches like the New York Special with hot corned beef, melted Swiss, creamy cole slaw and Russian dressing; and their new Hawaiian Panini.
"It's a takeoff on a Cuban," Mike says, "but we kicked it up with turkey instead of the traditional ham. It has roasted pork loin, mustard, mayo, melted havarti, on a pressed Hawaiian bread."
One sandwich with two pounds of meat is offered in Kaminsky's New York Challenge. If someone can eat it, plus a half-pound of potato salad, in 30 minutes, the meal is free. Out of 12 people who have attempted it, three have won, including a Spirit Airlines pilot on layover.
Of course this New York deli serves chicken salad, tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches, and you can even get genuine Gabella Knishes. If you want to prolong the enjoyment at home, salads are sold by the half-pound so you can have your whitefish salad, lox or potato salad at midnight if you want.
Another top-selling Kaminsky salad isn't exactly what you'd call a deli salad, but it's still delicious if you like seared ahi tuna on a bed of baby greens, fruits and nuts. In fact, ahi tuna steaks are sold by the pound here along with many other prime grade meats and seafood. They have live lobsters, Alaskan King Crab legs and grouper. They have Niman Ranch all-natural meats raised on sustainable American farms, from bone-in cowboy ribeyes to baby lamb chops and Kobe grade hamburgers and ribeyes.
Then there is the catering, from 5-foot party subs to full trays of Kielbasa Casserole, Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onions, and Apple Smoked Beef Brisket.
By 3 p.m. when the restaurant closes, the Kaminskys are ready to go home. But at least they don't have to be back at 3 a.m. to make the bagels.
Kaminsky's N.Y. Deli is at 7223 N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach. It is open from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and the number is (843) 213-1261.
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