A nose knows. Saul Zabar was passionate about good coffee and spent much of his time learning every aspect of it.
Zabar’s
Saul Zabar died on October 7, at 97, leaving the Upper West Side in New York a little less bright than the notorious orange synonymous with his family’s 90-year old company. For the last 70 plus years, Saul and his brother Stanley led the once 22-foot long shop their parents built into what has become a multi-sensory emporium and a food lover’s paradise. Under their watch, Zabar’s grew into one city block; but it’s one that endears the entire city’s heart.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a New Yorker who doesn’t dip into Zabar’s for something. A staple for all things smoked fish, bagels, coffee, pastries and more kitchen gadgets than anyone could ever need, Zabar’s is a place most simply can’t leave empty-handed. And because of Saul Zabar, we can not only not leave empty-handed, but we leave with our senses having gone on the joy ride of rides. He curated a world where two products that heighten our senses the most–like coffee and fish–create a utopia of which we all want to be a part.
Saul and Stanley Zabar behind the counter. They took the small shop their parents built and turned it into an emporium New Yorkers can’t live without.
Zabar’s
Passionate about coffee and fish most of all, Saul’s impact on the whole store is unmistakable. As his family once told me, Saul’s hand was in every pot, so to speak, and he was deeply passionate about his customers. More the front man then his brother, Stanley–who kept much of the engine running behind the scenes–Saul could often be seen at every counter, amidst the aisles, holding court proudly in his crisp white grocer’s coat.
Saul’s daughter Annie said he always perceived coffee like fine wine, giving it the same investment, care, and precision a vintner or sommelier would. He orchestrated a coffee program for Zabar’s long before places like Starbuck’s existed, and he produced a particular light roast that became the store’s quintessential New York blend. Every Tuesday, to this day, the team–made up mostly of family members–hold a cupping session for all the roasts that come in; the ritual is all in honor of what Saul instituted and taught them. In recent years, younger Zabar’s have followed suit learning the ropes of coffee roasting and brewing as well. The company sell upwards of 8,000 pounds of coffee a week.
As I wrote in a piece earlier this year celebrating the company’s 90th Anniversary, it doesn’t seem possible to spend any time in New York, at the very least the Upper West Side, without landing at a Zabar’s counter and ordering way more lox than one could eat during a weekend, or without walking away with a Zabar’s tote filled to the rim with coffee or fresh babka. I think most would agree, there are worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Thank you, Saul Zabar. You created community, one slice of lox and one cup of coffee at a time.
Leaving no bean left unturned, Saul was deeply passionate about good coffee. He learned every part of the business from growing and roasting to brewing and cupping.
Zabar’s
On October 10, Saul Zabar was honored by the MTA with a poster that now hangs in his memory at the 79th Street and Broadway subway station. At the ceremony, Congressman Jerry Nadler, said, “Thousands of New Yorkers and West Siders can be reminded every day of his impact,” and he thanked the family for sharing him with everyone for so many years.
