Zabar, Lillian (c. 1905–1995)

Ukranian-born co-founder of Zabar's, the famous New York City delicatessen. Born Lillian Teit around 1905 in the Ukraine; died on December 22, 1995; married Louis Zabar (died 1950); married Louis Chartoff (died c. 1980); children: Saul, Stanley, and Eli.

Lillian Teit Zabar was born in the Ukraine around 1905. Persecution of Ukrainian Jews caused her to flee her homeland for the United States in the 1920s. The immigration resulted in the ambiguity of her birth year, since she reportedly claimed to be younger than her actual age upon her arrival in America out of fear that immigration officials would think her too old and send her back. Settling first with relatives in Philadelphia, Lillian eventually moved to New York City where she met and married Louis Zabar.

Besides sharing a common origin (both were from the same village in the Ukraine), the Zabars also had a common interest in deli foods; Lillian had a flair for cooking foods such as blintzes, potato salad, stuffed cabbage, and coleslaw, while Louis specialized in smoked fish at an area food store. The pair combined their talents to open Zabar's gourmet delicatessen in Brooklyn in 1934, and later moved the business to its current location at Broadway and 80th Street in Manhattan. Zabar's gained a national reputation for selling the epitome of New York gourmet deli food, eventually building up a customer base numbering 35,000 a week with $40 million in sales a year.

sources:

Stout, David. "Lillian Zabar, Co-Founder of Quintessential Deli," in The New York Times Biographical Service. December 1995, p. 1919.

Sonya Elaine Schryer , freelance writer, Lansing, Michigan