Sol’s NYC Deli taking over Applebee's spot in downtown Sarasota

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Solomon Shenker has left Sol Meyer NY Delicatessen to open Sol's NYC Deli, also in downtown Sarasota. STAFF PHOTO / NICK ADAMS

Solomon Shenker has left Sol Meyer NY Delicatessen to open Sol's NYC Deli, also in downtown Sarasota. STAFF PHOTO / NICK ADAMS

Solomon Shenker of Sol Meyer NY Delicatessen is moving up the road a few blocks for a larger venue and different business partners with deeper pockets after just two months at 1473 Main Street, next door to Patrick's 1481 in downtown Sarasota.

Shenker's newly named "Sol's NYC Delicatessen" takes over the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar space in the Main Plaza/Hollywood 20. The complex was renamed BBC Main Street after being purchased by Jesse Biter and fellow Sarasota investors David Chessler, along with famed golfer Greg Norman, and Eric Baird, in November.

Biter and Chessler are business partners with Shenker in Sol's NYC Delicatessen, the first new tenant since the purchase of the plaza. Biter and Shenker said today they hope to have the restaurant open in two or three weeks. Patrons can expect Shenker favorites such as house-made brisket, blintzes, soups, smoked fish, bagels, hot pastrami sandwiches, noodle kugel, knishes and Shenker's cheesecake, which he perfected while working at at the H20 Bistro inside the Hotel Indigo Sarasota. Sol's NYC Deli will also offer a breakfast menu and full lunch, dinner and late-night menus.

Sol's NYC Deli will also have a full bar and seating for 160. Sol Meyer NY Delicatessen seats fewer than 50 and does not have a liquor license. A handwritten sign seen posted today on the door of Sol Meyer NY Delicatessen reads, "We apologize but we will be closed today for training so we can serve you better, thank you."

Sign taped to the door of Sol Meyer NY Delicatessen. STAFF PHOTO / WADE TATANGELO

Sign taped to the door of Sol Meyer NY Delicatessen. STAFF PHOTO / WADE TATANGELO

Original press releases for Sol Meyer NY Delicatessen described the business venture as "a dream of brother-in-laws Solomon Shenker and Dr. Meyer Rubin Samotin."

The relationship changed rapidly.

"I got involved with my sister and my brother-in-law as silent partners and they were not silent at all," Shenker said today. "The icing on the cake for leaving was when not even a month down the road he jacked up the prices and pissed off the customers and made me look greedy. That's so not what I’m about. I’m about cooking food. I'm about my heritage and New York food. Money comes after. It was just a total conflict of interest. I’m not greedy and he was."

No one could be immediately reached at Sol Meyer NY Delicatessen.

Biter was one of the many people who became instant fans of what Shenker describes as "real Jewish soul food."

“I saw the food was beyond amazing, like what I ate in New York City and the cheesecake was so good it brought a tear to my eye," Biter said today during a separate phone interview. "I saw a business owner killing it with a line out the door and after having gone to these real New York City delis in New York, I knew 35 seats just wouldn't cut it. We had to give him an opportunity to move into a much larger facility to help grow his business with help and support from the community."

For updates and to apply for a job as a server, bartender or part of the kitchen staff go to Sol's NYC Deli's new website solsnycdeli.com

Send your resume to info@solsnycdeli.com

RELATEDSol Meyer NY Delicatessen reopening

Have bar, restaurant or other entertainment news? Wade Tatangelo can be reached by email or call 941-361-4955. Follow him on Twitter at @wtatangelo or Facebook.com/wade.tatangelo

Last modified: January 27, 2016
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