Over Thanksgiving break, my wife and I packed our three kids into the minivan, drove 40 miles (each way!) to the North Bay, and spent $50 on matzoh ball soup. I have no regrets.
When I grew up on the East Coast, deli food was everywhere. There were competing delis across the street from each other, and even basic convenience stores had great cold cuts and pickles.
Out here in the Bay Area, there is some great deli food, but you really need to seek it out.
I was thrilled to discover early this year that Loveski Deli had opened a new location in Larkspur. I visited three times over the summer, and that was plenty to conclude that it’s the best deli in the Bay Area.
Over the break, I had a craving for matzoh ball soup. You really can’t get it here in the East Bay, so it was time to drive from my home in Lafayette up to Larkspur.
The matzoh ball soup at Loveski Deli, I confirmed through my visit, is indeed worth the trip.
Loveski combines traditional Jewish deli food with Thai influences, reflecting the backgrounds of its founders.
“With elements of Martina’s Thai upbringing, and the sensibilities of our time and place, the result is at once irreverent, artisanal, personal, while remaining grounded in the dearly held traditions of appetizing stores and delicatessens,” Loveski says of its food.
Sometimes this is explicit, but other times it’s subtle.
The matzoh ball soup is a perfect example. It has the light, fluffy matzoh balls you’d expect at a traditional deli, as well as ingredients like dill that are very classic.
But the broth itself has a Thai twist to it, spiced with what appeared to be caraway seeds at the bottom and with a creaminess that could only come from boiling down chicken bones.
There’s schmaltz (the Yiddish word for chicken fat) floating on top, just as there should be.
On a cold, dreary fall or winter day, it’s the absolute perfect meal. And if you’re feeling a little bit under the weather, matzoh ball soup didn’t earn its name “Jewish penicillin” for nothing.
Loveski Deli’s prices are much different from what I remember growing up on the East Coast, where deli food was common, almost commoditized.
A bowl of matzoh ball soup at Loveski will set you back around $10. To feed my family of five, we ended up getting five bowls and spending around $50.
The thing is, it was totally worth it. It’s a bit ironic to spend most of a day and a nice chunk of change on a dish that originally grew out of impoverished members of the Jewish diaspora in Eastern Europe.
Matzoh ball soup is usually cheap, simple, and, it must be said, bland. Loveski’s matzoh ball soup is none of these things. Yes, that makes it a bit of an indulgence. But for those who grew up on deli food, the hassle and expense are worth it.
Want to see other Bay Area foods that are worth the drive? Join our free Bay Area foodies newsletter, and we’ll keep you in the loop.
