Story by Britney Nguyen
Self-described “part neighborhood eatery and part gourmet food destination” Deli Edison is serving homemade bagels, schmears and sandwiches with locally-sourced meats and cheeses to Chapel Hill.
Sam Suchoff, one of four partners who own and run Deli Edison located at 630 Weaver Dairy Road in Chapel Hill, also owns The Pig, a barbecue restaurant specializing in pasture-raised hogs. He said when The Bagel Bar, a bagel shop next to The Pig, closed, he brought in friends from the restaurant industry to see if they had any interest in the space.
“We were not trying to redefine the deli, but just trying to make a deli that fits Chapel Hill,” Suchoff said. “We wanted the deli to have some southern influence and do bagels and biscuits.”
Deli Edison has homemade boiled and baked bagels with different schmears, breakfast sandwiches like the classic bacon, egg and cheese or lox, and lunch sandwiches like the traditional pastrami and the ‘Porkstrami’ that uses Lady Edison pork pastrami.
Lady Edison Meats is Suchoff’s award-winning brand that sells country ham and other meats like nduja and salami. The pork is raised in local pastures by small family farmers in N.C.
“A kosher deli wouldn’t have pork, but it’s pretty porky,” Suchoff said. “We work with other local makers and artisan food people across the country that I have connections with through the Good Food Awards.”
In addition to bagels and sandwiches, Deli Edison sells “provisions” like jams, dried goods, sardines, chili crisp oil, small farm wines and local beers.
Growing up Jewish in Los Angeles, Suchoff said he was surrounded by all types of delicatessens and ate a lot of bagels. Suchoff’s family moved to Chapel Hill when he was 15 and he attended Chapel Hill High School. He went to New York for college but transferred to UNC and finished his education here.
Suchoff owns and runs Deli Edison with Pete Wagner, C.D. Mock, and Dan Obusan – who worked as a chef in New York with Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Danny Meyer. Obusan helped found Kipos Greek Taverna, another restaurant in Chapel Hill.
The Edison name for both Deli Edison and Lady Edison Meats comes from the nickname given to Beulah Louis Henry, an inventor in Raleigh that Suchoff did a report on in school and who he said reminds him of N.C. ingenuity.
Deli Edison is only doing takeout for the time being. Suchoff said the deli is working on creating a series of rotating family meals that people can take home and heat up themselves.
Suchoff said the deli has done a good job spacing things out for people to wait for their food, and he is excited there could be more business now that students are back for school. With classes all online now, many UNC students are heading home, but the ones who stay now have a new deli for takeout and delivery.
“I hope that the students do get to come out and explore,” Suchoff said. “I think our food is pretty perfect for that. In addition to getting lunch or breakfast, they can get bagels and provisions for bagels.”
Suchoff said Deli Edison is trying to keep food simple and fresh by using local sustainable ingredients.
“We’re here for the community,” Suchoff said. “We are going to do all we can to make a safe space for people to get good quality food.”
Deli Edison is located at 630 Weaver Dairy Road in Chapel Hill. The deli menu and provisions can be found and ordered online at their website. Deli Edison is also on Facebook and Instagram.
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