Sal’s House of Good Foods

Further south on Eastchester Road, about midway between Mace Avenue and Williamsbridge Road, there was no escaping the odiferous air surrounding Mrs. Weinberg’s Kosher Chopped Liver factory. But the stores on Eastchester Road near Mace Avenue also influenced the air quality (for better or for worse) in that immediate vicinity.

First you would pass Mace Chemist Shop at the corner, then Vinnie’s candy store, which emitted the scent of fresh coffee. Walk a few more paces toward Paul’s hair salon, and delight in the fragrance of hair spray and shampoo as the door swept open, or choke on the acrid stench of perm solution. Passing the last two stores that occupied the ground floor of the apartment building led to another strip of small businesses: the liquor store and then another odorous establishment, Sal’s House of Good Foods.

Sal’s opened door startled the whole outdoors. It exhaled a breath ripe with the aroma of provolone and other pungent cheeses and salumi that hung over the counter, suspended from ropes. Below the countertop, the glass-front refrigerated case held the colorful display of black and green olives, roasted red peppers, marinated mushrooms, red and green pepper strips, artichoke hearts, giardiniera, potato and macaroni salads, cheese cubes, mozzarella balls, ready-made antipasto, and a vast array of other store specialties ready for dispensing into cardboard containers. Premium mustards and other gourmet condiments huddled on the countertop beside loaves of Italian bread and boxes of hard Kaiser rolls, club rolls, and hero rolls.

Despite the prevailing opinion that Sal’s prices were too high, people preferred to buy their cold cuts here rather than at the supermarket. Sunday evenings were especially busy as customers picked up enough sliced meats and cheeses for a week’s worth of brown bag sandwiches. We did too, but not only for the week’s lunches. Besides the cold cuts, we also bought hard rolls and a variety of cold salads for our much-anticipated Sunday night supper. (On Sundays we ate dinner in the afternoon.)

Depending on how many people were helping behind the counter, customers could be served two or three at a time. Each person inevitably had a long list.

“I’ll take half a pound of hard salami…”

“What else?”

“Half a pound of mortadella, a pound of sliced provolone, half a dozen hard rolls. Give me the ones with the sesame seeds.”

“I only have poppy seed left.”

“Okay, poppy seed.  And I need…”

It all took time. Everyone knew it, and no one waiting on the long line grumbled. Patiently they stood by, ears alert for the words that meant things were finally moving along: “Who’s next?”

The olfactory tour of the stores continued with Villa Maria, the pizzeria, right next door to Sal’s.

© Barbara Cole 2020. All Rights Reserved.