Family is the secret to success at Cecil’s Deli after 75 years
Cecil's Deli in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul opened in 1949. It is believed to be the oldest deli in Minnesota.
Courtesy of Becca Kvasnik
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Cecil's Deli in St. Paul makes thousands of latkes by hand for the Hanukkah holiday season.
Courtesy Becca Kvasnik
The first night of Hanukkah is on Dec. 25, which means Cecil’s Deli in St. Paul will fry up thousands of latkes in the next couple of weeks. The Jewish institution is Minnesota’s oldest deli and this year it is celebrating 75 years in business.
MPR News host Nina Moini talks with two people who are part of the family business that spans four generations: Becca Kvasnik, the granddaughter of Cecil and Faye Leventhal, Cecil’s founders, and Becca’s daughter, Evana Hershkowitz.
Four generations of Cecil's Deli
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Audio transcript
SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS: (SINGING) Eight days of Hanukkah
Every one of them with those we love
8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, day one!
NINA MOINI: We're getting in the Hanukkah spirit on Minnesota Now. This is the song "Eight Days" by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. The first night of Hanukkah is on December 25.
SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS: (SINGING) Time to spin the dreidel
And hope that it shows up on my turn
Day three
Fry a bunch of latkes
With applesauce and sour cream and all
NINA MOINI: And speaking of latkes, there's one place in the Twin Cities that'll be frying up thousands of latkes in the next couple of weeks. We're talking about Cecil's Deli in St. Paul. The Jewish institution is Minnesota's oldest deli, and this year, it's celebrating 75 years in the business.
Joining us now are two people who are part of the family business that spans four generations. Becca Kvasnik is the granddaughter of Cecil and Faye Leventhal, Cecil's founders. Thank you for joining us, Becca.
BECCA KVASNIK: Hi. Thank you.
NINA MOINI: And we're also really happy to have Evana Hershkowitz, who's Becca's daughter. Thanks for being here, Evana.
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Hi. Thanks for having us.
NINA MOINI: I have been to Cecil's, and I really do feel like you're walking into a family establishment, like into someone's kitchen. Like, come on in, everybody. You sit around the table. It definitely screams of a family feel. Tell me a little bit about your family's history. Becca, tell me about your grandparents, Cecil and Bev, who started the deli.
BECCA KVASNIK: Well, they started the business July 1 of 1949. They were very hard workers, obviously. And they started as a very small deli. And over time, they had people wanting them to make them sandwiches when they came in to get their bread and get their meats and their cheeses. And so, suddenly, they started making sandwiches as people came to hang out and chit chat and kibitz and do all the little things to hang out together. And why not eat at the same time?
So they got into that so much that Faye decided it was time to start making chicken soup. It was time to start making latkes. It was time to start making things that were what she grew up with. And this is what they did. And they eventually got to build a restaurant in the back And in a very quick time, became very large.
There were about 12 delis in the St. Paul area around that time. And as we have seen, sadly, throughout the years, they have gone away. I was pretty young when I even remember the last one that was just down the block on our same block. I mean, some of them were right-- so close to each other. So Evana, do you have an add-in for me? You're usually so good at remembering these things than me.
[LAUGHTER]
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: No, I think Cecil's has been around for so long that sometimes people forget that it's still a family-run business. You're still going to walk in and, like you said, feel like you're home because my uncle is going to be at the front probably yelling at you, but in such a loving manner. And everyone's going to treat you like family. Even though you're not a blood relative, we're still going to treat you like you are.
NINA MOINI: So 75 years, that's incredible. It's incredible for any business, any restaurant. Becca, you were mentioning the other delis who didn't quite make it as long as Cecil's has. What do you think is the secret?
BECCA KVASNIK: I think family. I think that if you continue to have your family helping you-- I think in any business, you watch that, you see one generation going off to do something else, or the next generation going off to do something other than working with the family. And we've been very fortunate to continue to have everybody working there.
Not all of us are there at all the time. But we're always trying to fill in a little bit of one day someone's not-- one of the family members isn't feeling good. Evana is always right there to fill it in and help out when we're pretty desperate. So we're pretty fortunate. But I don't know. I think that it is family. And without that, it makes it very difficult to continue your business, so.
NINA MOINI: Mm-hmm, lots of support. Evana, what was it like growing up in the deli, running around?
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: It's funny because when you grow up in a restaurant, you don't realize you're growing up in a restaurant until you get older and realize, that wasn't the same for everybody.
NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS]
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: And so once you realize it's actually a unique thing to grow up in a restaurant, you gain a lot of appreciation. I think that at such a young age, I learned customer service. I learned how to talk to strangers. I learned how to manage problems, and not only manage problems, but help manage other people.
And so it teaches you so many skills at such a young age that you won't realize until you're older. And that really only comes from being able to run around, acting like I owned the place when I was five years old.
[LAUGHTER]
NINA MOINI: And we all know Hanukkah starts next week. Cecil's is known for, among other things, latkes or potato pancakes. Evana-- or Becca or both of you-- maybe I'll start with Becca-- tell me what it takes to serve just tons and tons of these-- I'm guessing thousands of them-- in a short period of time.
BECCA KVASNIK: Yes, that is true. We actually are very fortunate that we have some really great people that are always making them. We actually serve them all year round. But of course, at this time of the year, it's crazy. And they're just constantly making them. We have a large grill, and they're making dozens at a time, frying them up.
And then, the grill itself holds dozens of them. But yes, we are making thousands of them. And it's crazy. And we're lucky that people still are so interested in them, and they're delicious. I mean, we still have the same recipe that Faye created, which is just crazy.
How many of our recipes-- I mean, almost everything we make, most of the things on our menu are homemade and still, to this day, the same recipe she created, I think it was right around the early '60s. '61, I believe the restaurant opened. I wasn't quite born yet, so I don't quite remember.
But that's all I knew as well, you know. And so they do a beautiful job of making these gorgeous latkes and beautiful golden latkes with delicious sides to make them even more fabulous, so.
NINA MOINI: That's amazing to have the same recipe over all those years. And people can almost feel that family environment. And then tasting the same things over the years, it's kind of like everyone over there is a part of the family. Evana, do you want to remind us why latkes are traditional for Hanukkah?
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Yeah, so latkes are traditional for Hanukkah because of the fact that they're fried. Hanukkah has to do with a miracle that is surrounded around oil. And when you think about the food we eat for the holiday of Hanukkah, they have to do with being fried. And so that's where the latkes come in. There's also a traditional item called sufganiyot, which is like a donut. And so they all just are around fried food and oil.
And at Cecil's, we actually start by making our latkes on the grill top, but then we deep fry them. And that's where we get the real oil for the latkes that make them so good.
NINA MOINI: Wonderful. So what's going on right now a week before? What does it look like in the kitchen? [LAUGHS] Is it--
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Chaos.
NINA MOINI: --pretty hectic, or what is the atmosphere like, Evana?
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Yeah, so this time of year is always a really busy time of year for us. A lot of people have the tradition of going to Cecil's with their family during the winter break season. And when you have multiple holidays, at the same time, it adds to the chaos. And we love chaos. We can't have life without chaos.
But right now, we're just prepping latkes. We're working on getting everything stocked and ready for people to come in and keep us as busy as we are. And the lines always move quicker than you think. That's what I tell people.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, and Becca, we have about a minute left. But four generations-- again, congratulations, 75 years. As you think about what's ahead for Cecil's, what do you envision?
BECCA KVASNIK: Well, hopefully Evana will produce me some grandchildren so we have someone to be next in line.
NINA MOINI: Call her out. [LAUGHS]
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: But Mom.
BECCA KVASNIK: Not that I'm pressuring her too much. But I really am always so grateful that we are still all together and that we really try hard. I mean, like Evana said, my youngest brother, who is always in the front and yelling at everybody. But you know what? It makes the place what it is.
And with constantly there being a family member floating around in there, it has really created this space of love. And I don't think you can ask for anything more than that. We are a great family. We definitely love to argue with each other. But we are all very, very strong people. And in some families, that doesn't work too well. But it's very funny. We will argue all day long if we all have to work together. But we literally have dinner--
NINA MOINI: Aw, yeah.
BECCA KVASNIK: --we used to have it once a week. And it would be hilarious how we would all be, like--
NINA MOINI: I love it. I apologize.
BECCA KVASNIK: --talking to each other.
NINA MOINI: I have to go.
BECCA KVASNIK: Oh.
NINA MOINI: But thank you both so much.
BECCA KVASNIK: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: Cecil's Deli, 75 years.
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Thank you.
Every one of them with those we love
8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, day one!
NINA MOINI: We're getting in the Hanukkah spirit on Minnesota Now. This is the song "Eight Days" by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. The first night of Hanukkah is on December 25.
SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS: (SINGING) Time to spin the dreidel
And hope that it shows up on my turn
Day three
Fry a bunch of latkes
With applesauce and sour cream and all
NINA MOINI: And speaking of latkes, there's one place in the Twin Cities that'll be frying up thousands of latkes in the next couple of weeks. We're talking about Cecil's Deli in St. Paul. The Jewish institution is Minnesota's oldest deli, and this year, it's celebrating 75 years in the business.
Joining us now are two people who are part of the family business that spans four generations. Becca Kvasnik is the granddaughter of Cecil and Faye Leventhal, Cecil's founders. Thank you for joining us, Becca.
BECCA KVASNIK: Hi. Thank you.
NINA MOINI: And we're also really happy to have Evana Hershkowitz, who's Becca's daughter. Thanks for being here, Evana.
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Hi. Thanks for having us.
NINA MOINI: I have been to Cecil's, and I really do feel like you're walking into a family establishment, like into someone's kitchen. Like, come on in, everybody. You sit around the table. It definitely screams of a family feel. Tell me a little bit about your family's history. Becca, tell me about your grandparents, Cecil and Bev, who started the deli.
BECCA KVASNIK: Well, they started the business July 1 of 1949. They were very hard workers, obviously. And they started as a very small deli. And over time, they had people wanting them to make them sandwiches when they came in to get their bread and get their meats and their cheeses. And so, suddenly, they started making sandwiches as people came to hang out and chit chat and kibitz and do all the little things to hang out together. And why not eat at the same time?
So they got into that so much that Faye decided it was time to start making chicken soup. It was time to start making latkes. It was time to start making things that were what she grew up with. And this is what they did. And they eventually got to build a restaurant in the back And in a very quick time, became very large.
There were about 12 delis in the St. Paul area around that time. And as we have seen, sadly, throughout the years, they have gone away. I was pretty young when I even remember the last one that was just down the block on our same block. I mean, some of them were right-- so close to each other. So Evana, do you have an add-in for me? You're usually so good at remembering these things than me.
[LAUGHTER]
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: No, I think Cecil's has been around for so long that sometimes people forget that it's still a family-run business. You're still going to walk in and, like you said, feel like you're home because my uncle is going to be at the front probably yelling at you, but in such a loving manner. And everyone's going to treat you like family. Even though you're not a blood relative, we're still going to treat you like you are.
NINA MOINI: So 75 years, that's incredible. It's incredible for any business, any restaurant. Becca, you were mentioning the other delis who didn't quite make it as long as Cecil's has. What do you think is the secret?
BECCA KVASNIK: I think family. I think that if you continue to have your family helping you-- I think in any business, you watch that, you see one generation going off to do something else, or the next generation going off to do something other than working with the family. And we've been very fortunate to continue to have everybody working there.
Not all of us are there at all the time. But we're always trying to fill in a little bit of one day someone's not-- one of the family members isn't feeling good. Evana is always right there to fill it in and help out when we're pretty desperate. So we're pretty fortunate. But I don't know. I think that it is family. And without that, it makes it very difficult to continue your business, so.
NINA MOINI: Mm-hmm, lots of support. Evana, what was it like growing up in the deli, running around?
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: It's funny because when you grow up in a restaurant, you don't realize you're growing up in a restaurant until you get older and realize, that wasn't the same for everybody.
NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS]
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: And so once you realize it's actually a unique thing to grow up in a restaurant, you gain a lot of appreciation. I think that at such a young age, I learned customer service. I learned how to talk to strangers. I learned how to manage problems, and not only manage problems, but help manage other people.
And so it teaches you so many skills at such a young age that you won't realize until you're older. And that really only comes from being able to run around, acting like I owned the place when I was five years old.
[LAUGHTER]
NINA MOINI: And we all know Hanukkah starts next week. Cecil's is known for, among other things, latkes or potato pancakes. Evana-- or Becca or both of you-- maybe I'll start with Becca-- tell me what it takes to serve just tons and tons of these-- I'm guessing thousands of them-- in a short period of time.
BECCA KVASNIK: Yes, that is true. We actually are very fortunate that we have some really great people that are always making them. We actually serve them all year round. But of course, at this time of the year, it's crazy. And they're just constantly making them. We have a large grill, and they're making dozens at a time, frying them up.
And then, the grill itself holds dozens of them. But yes, we are making thousands of them. And it's crazy. And we're lucky that people still are so interested in them, and they're delicious. I mean, we still have the same recipe that Faye created, which is just crazy.
How many of our recipes-- I mean, almost everything we make, most of the things on our menu are homemade and still, to this day, the same recipe she created, I think it was right around the early '60s. '61, I believe the restaurant opened. I wasn't quite born yet, so I don't quite remember.
But that's all I knew as well, you know. And so they do a beautiful job of making these gorgeous latkes and beautiful golden latkes with delicious sides to make them even more fabulous, so.
NINA MOINI: That's amazing to have the same recipe over all those years. And people can almost feel that family environment. And then tasting the same things over the years, it's kind of like everyone over there is a part of the family. Evana, do you want to remind us why latkes are traditional for Hanukkah?
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Yeah, so latkes are traditional for Hanukkah because of the fact that they're fried. Hanukkah has to do with a miracle that is surrounded around oil. And when you think about the food we eat for the holiday of Hanukkah, they have to do with being fried. And so that's where the latkes come in. There's also a traditional item called sufganiyot, which is like a donut. And so they all just are around fried food and oil.
And at Cecil's, we actually start by making our latkes on the grill top, but then we deep fry them. And that's where we get the real oil for the latkes that make them so good.
NINA MOINI: Wonderful. So what's going on right now a week before? What does it look like in the kitchen? [LAUGHS] Is it--
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Chaos.
NINA MOINI: --pretty hectic, or what is the atmosphere like, Evana?
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Yeah, so this time of year is always a really busy time of year for us. A lot of people have the tradition of going to Cecil's with their family during the winter break season. And when you have multiple holidays, at the same time, it adds to the chaos. And we love chaos. We can't have life without chaos.
But right now, we're just prepping latkes. We're working on getting everything stocked and ready for people to come in and keep us as busy as we are. And the lines always move quicker than you think. That's what I tell people.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, and Becca, we have about a minute left. But four generations-- again, congratulations, 75 years. As you think about what's ahead for Cecil's, what do you envision?
BECCA KVASNIK: Well, hopefully Evana will produce me some grandchildren so we have someone to be next in line.
NINA MOINI: Call her out. [LAUGHS]
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: But Mom.
BECCA KVASNIK: Not that I'm pressuring her too much. But I really am always so grateful that we are still all together and that we really try hard. I mean, like Evana said, my youngest brother, who is always in the front and yelling at everybody. But you know what? It makes the place what it is.
And with constantly there being a family member floating around in there, it has really created this space of love. And I don't think you can ask for anything more than that. We are a great family. We definitely love to argue with each other. But we are all very, very strong people. And in some families, that doesn't work too well. But it's very funny. We will argue all day long if we all have to work together. But we literally have dinner--
NINA MOINI: Aw, yeah.
BECCA KVASNIK: --we used to have it once a week. And it would be hilarious how we would all be, like--
NINA MOINI: I love it. I apologize.
BECCA KVASNIK: --talking to each other.
NINA MOINI: I have to go.
BECCA KVASNIK: Oh.
NINA MOINI: But thank you both so much.
BECCA KVASNIK: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: Cecil's Deli, 75 years.
EVANA HERSHKOWITZ: Thank you.
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