First Taste: Delicious new Marina deli Super Mensch would make your Bubby proud.

"They're the all-day diners where the corned beef sandwiches are the size of your face; the old-school eateries where bagels and lox aren't just a breakfast food; the buzzing gathering place for having matzo ball soup and golden latkes nowhere near the holidays with which they're associated. On the East Coast and in L.A., delis are so ubiquitous that a child's first pastrami on rye is almost a rite of passage."

"With its illuminated menu board, counter-inspired seating, and illustrations of legendary delis lining its walls, the pocket-sized Super Mensch is a direct descendant of those East Coast-style institutions. But its hand-built wooden booths, cocktail bar, and the Jewish-influenced films and shows projected on the walls (a nod to the building's early days as the Presidio Theater, as well as the deli's link to the culture of stage and screen), are evidence it's as much a champion of its SF roots as it is its heritage."

"The menu too, is a seamless combination of traditional deli favorites with Northern California culinary prowess. There are enormous sandwiches and chewy bagels heaped with lox, of course, but the pickles on the side are lacto-fermented, and all the bread is baked in-house. There's chopped liver on rye, but it comes with the kind of celeriac-sumac relish only a chef could devise."

Delis remain ubiquitous on the East Coast and in Los Angeles, serving oversized corned beef sandwiches, bagels with lox, matzo ball soup, and latkes year-round. The Bay Area and San Francisco were largely without such institutions until Wise Sons opened a brick-and-mortar in 2012, with only Saul's in Berkeley and Max's in Burlingame as earlier exceptions. Super Mensch reproduces East Coast deli cues—illuminated menu boards, counter seating, and deli illustrations—while adding San Francisco touches like hand-built wooden booths, a cocktail bar, Jewish-influenced film projections, and in-house breads. The menu blends traditional items with Northern California techniques, including lacto-fermented pickles and inventive relishes.

Read at www.7x7.com