• Poland •
S&D Polish Deli
February Showcase
2204 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Phone: (412) 281-2906 https://www.polishfoodandgifts.com/ |
Restaurant and Owner
S&D Polish Deli was established in 2008 by a Polish couple who sought to bring a piece of their homeland to Pittsburgh. Operating as both a store and a restaurant, S&D provides customers with an authentic Polish experience. Many of the items and snacks sold in the store are imported straight from Poland, with traditional crackers, chocolates, carved wooden rolling pins, and hand-embroidered aprons. Customers travel across Pennsylvania, and even across the country, to visit S&D and share Polish traditions and recipes, especially during Christmas time and Easter time.
In the mid 1900’s, the Polish church was prominent in Pittsburgh, allowing for the formation of a strong Polish community in Polish Hill. However, in recent years, many Polish families have been migrating to the suburbs, making it increasingly hard to find a sense of Polish community in Pittsburgh. In order to keep traditions alive and re-establish a sense of Polish community, Dorota, one of S&D’s original owners, began to host regular pierogi making classes. Now taught by Martha, these classes are open to the public and require a pre-class registration because they fill up so fast!
Aneschka, the current manager of S&D, provided us with some insight about her experience of moving from Poland to Pittsburgh to attend college. She attended Duquesne University and immediately appreciated Pittsburgh’s warm and welcoming feel. Aneschka attests to the feeling of home in Pittsburgh among the hard-working community, as she comes from a “blue-collar” town. Although it was difficult to be far from home, she has taken comfort in the sense of community provided by S&D, thus allowing her to be surrounded by Polish people and culture, as well as her native language.
Growing up in Poland, food was an important part of Aneschka’s family life. Many of the foods served at S&D are foods that she would eat at home, speaking to the authenticity of the food that S&D serves. Some of Aneschka’s favorite sweets from her childhood are sold in the bakery or store portion of the restaurant as she tries to include staples of Polish cuisine and culture. Items such as pickles in a jar and chocolate covered plums are first shipped into Chicago, where S&D sources them for the deli.
Aneschka also keeps alive the traditions instilled by the original owners in continuing to use Dorota’s family recipes for the dishes. The stuffed cabbage and haluski, a buttery dish of egg noodles with fried cabbage, are two of the family recipes still served at the deli today. However, Aneschka also plans to introduce some new concepts to S&D, such as a new pickled cucumber soup and bigos, which is a hunter’s stew made with kraut, cabbage, and smoked meat. In this lent season, the deli will serve a new and different soup and dish over the weekends with a meatless option on Fridays. Another new item may be black currant crepes with farmers cheese. These new dishes will definitely add to the already delicious items of the deli!
The Food
Popular menu items include pierogies, handmade in the stores, and platters of multiple dishes combined. Several club members tried the kielbasa platter, which consists of a large link of the Polish sausage, haluski, and your choice of pierogies. Club members tasted multiple varieties of pierogies and thoroughly enjoyed their unique textures and flavors. One of S&D’s classic pierogies is filled with potatoes and cheddar cheese. These pierogies are known for striking the perfect balance between the two main ingredients, both of which complement each other well in terms of flavor and sweetness. There are bottles of mustard, one spicy and one mild, on the tables to add to the sausage or pierogies. You can also order just a plate of the deliciously fluffy pierogies of your choice! After the main meal, several of us also went into the bakery portion of the store and ordered paczkis, a Polish donut filled with various flavored creams and dusted in sugar. The options available that day included vanilla or chocolate buttercream, apricot, and plum. The buttercream filling inside the donut, as well as the donut itself, were light and fluffy. The donuts were fresh and of the highest quality- much like the rest of the food in the deli! Club members enjoyed learning about other desserts in the bakery section and appreciating the authentic Polish decorations that filled the bakery and grocery section.