Jewish Culinary Nostalgia: A Family’s Legacy on the Lower East Side
Hosted By: Museum At Eldridge Street
Isaac Gellis (b. 1985) graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and spent thirteen years working in New York City restaurants, including Bouley, Alain Ducasse, and The Modern. He also worked as the Chef of Culinary Development for Sydell Group, which brought him to many different cities across the country. Most recently, Isaac served as the Assistant Culinary Director of Aurora Anguilla in the Caribbean, opening eight food and beverage outlets on the 350 acre property. During the heat of the pandemic, Isaac turned his Brooklyn apartment into a babka bakery, raising roughly $10,000 in one month to donate to the NAACP and the ACLU.
In 1872, Isaac and Sarah Gellis opened up one of Lower East Side’s first kosher butcher shops at 37 Essex Street. They ended up forming a kosher family hot dog business that Isaac Gellis’s namesake reinvigorated, keeping his family legacy that is the Isaac Gellis Delicatessen brand alive.
Join us on Zoom as Isaac recalls how he discovered his family’s story at Eldridge Street. During the Q&A, we will also hear from artist Steve Marcus, as he relates Isaac’s story to his own recollections and conceptions of Jewish nostalgia, food, and the evolution of the Lower East Side.
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