Rediscovered ad for Bernstein on Essex dishes up NYC nostalgia

[ad_1]

New York Jewish Week by way of JTA — All through her childhood, filmmaker Bex Schwartz heard tales about Bernstein on Essex, a kosher Chinese language eatery on the Decrease East Facet.

“The way in which my household talked about it, I believed that regardless of the ‘Bernstein on Essex Avenue’ is — [it] was simply this glowing utopia within the distance,” she advised The New York Jewish Week. “Type of like Disneyland.”

And it some methods — amongst a sure section of Jewish New Yorkers, no less than — Bernstein was a type of Disneyland: It was the one kosher Chinese language restaurant on the town.

Lately, choices for kosher eating are virtually limitless; diners can select amongst Italian, Center Jap, Chinese language, Indian and extra. However again within the Nineteen Sixties and ‘70s, Bernstein on Essex — also referred to as Schmulka Bernstein’s — was one of many few locations an adventurous kosher diner may go for one thing moreover Outdated World favorites.

It was the sort of institution the place Jewish patrons lined up for dinners on Christmas Eve and snacks after a late evening of dancing. It hosted household gatherings and enterprise lunches. The menu was wide-ranging, serving each conventional delicatessen meals in addition to Chinese language fare like egg rolls and lo mein.

The once-popular restaurant closed within the Nineties, a part of a wave of redevelopment and reinvention of eating places and companies — together with Ratner’s (closed in 2004) and the Backyard Cafeteria (closed in 1983) — within the as soon as very Jewish Decrease East Facet. Nonetheless there’s one thing about Bernstein on Essex, with its yellow and pink neon signal, that continues to be a supply of nostalgia for New York Jews of a sure age.

And due to an previous industrial, Schwartz had an opportunity not solely to rejoice the place, however keep in mind the cousins — sure, the fabled Bernsteins turned out to be her cousins — that her household was so happy with.

The advert was filmed someday within the Nineteen Seventies, and has repeatedly made the rounds on social and mainstream media because it was first posted on YouTube in 2018 by Kinolibrary, an impartial British archive. In addition they posted a four-minute clip of footage taken contained in the restaurant that has misplaced its sound.

“A kosher Chinese language meal,” the narrator says, because the advert reveals a typical day on the restaurant: scorching canine on the grill, males taking deli orders behind the counter, ladies trying on the menu and chatting whereas consuming their meals. “A curious, unlikely combination, sure,” the narrator says. “Perhaps that’s the key of New York.”

Schwartz, who grew up in New Jersey and now lives in Manhattan, found the footage whereas doing analysis on the Jewish custom of consuming Chinese language meals on Christmas — and instantly acknowledged the Bernstein identify. They have been the cousins her household was at all times speaking about. She knew their restaurant was a giant deal for the New York Jewish neighborhood, however nonetheless, the movie stunned and delighted her.

On Monday, Schwartz posted the clip on Twitter. “For a venture I’m engaged on, I discovered 35mm footage of my household’s (on my dad’s mother’s aspect) kosher chinese language restaurant, the Bernstein’s on Essex Avenue,” she wrote.

For a venture I am engaged on, I discovered 35mm footage of my household’s (on my dad’s mother’s aspect) kosher chinese language restaurant, the Bernstein’s on Essex Avenue. Most significantly, i really feel like @imjasondiamond must see this https://t.co/Nwbe1jnlL8

— ⭐️bex schwartz (@starbex) December 7, 2021

Others shared within the pleasure in replies to her submit. Author Jason Diamond wrote, “My aunt used to speak about it prefer it was the peak of all meals.”

“I used to be obsessive about this place as a child! We affectionately referred to as it Schmulka Bernstein’s and I at all times received the spare ribs,” wrote one other consumer.

“Went there within the late 60s/early 70s when buying downtown with my grandparents. My grandfather would order a scorching canine to have as an appetizer whereas he waited for his corned beef sandwich. That is the place I realized to like Cel-Ray!” stated a 3rd.

Opened in 1957 at 135 Essex St., Bernstein on Essex was operated by Solomon Bernstein, who named the restaurant after his father, Schmulka, who owned a kosher butcher store on Ludlow Avenue. In 1959, Schmulka Bernstein’s started to supply Chinese language meals, utilizing veal, beef and hen liver in lieu of pork in sure recipes.

The Bernsteins have been the cousins of Schwartz’s grandmother, who spoke of the restaurant homeowners as in the event that they have been celebrities.

“For the Bernsteins to return to my brother’s bris was like the most important attainable deal,” she stated. “It turned a track I performed in my head once I was a child: ‘The Bernsteins are coming! The Bernsteins are coming!’”

“To me it was simply this factor my grandmother was obsessive about as a result of they have been household,” she added, “so it’s so good to see how essential the restaurant was to them, too.”

Over time, the reminiscence of Bernstein on Essex has been saved alive in varied kinds, from a chunk in Bowery Boogie final 12 months, to a characteristic within the analysis venture “Mapping Yiddish New York” out of Columbia College, to an explainer on the empty storefront in The New York Instances. Columbia journalism professor Ari Goldman write a nostalgic essay in The Jewish Week in 2012.

Michele Clark, a niece of Sol Bernstein, has additionally written a weblog about her childhood on the Decrease East Facet, through which Bernstein on Essex is closely featured.

Lately, 135 Essex appears to be occupied by Sons of Essex, a New American bar and restaurant. Earlier than that it was a Chinese language meat wholesaler. On the identical block is a hookah bar, a taco joint, a dentist’s workplace and a luxurious rental constructing.

In different phrases: a curious, unlikely combination. However possibly that’s the key to New York.