Say hello to Dream Deli, a new daytime eatery from couple John Bissell and Jessie Levine bringing Jewish and Italian deli classics to Richmond as of Friday, November 28.
Bissell hails from Ava Gene’s, as well as Boulder’s OAK at Fourteenth and Hippo in Los Angeles, while Levine does public relations for restaurants and writes. Now, their modern deli, which is opening Friday, will make items like corned brisket on marble rye and pane bianco through a Pacific Northwest lens of produce and meat.
“[Jewish and Italian deli items] are some of our favorite deli traditions that we’ve experienced across a couple of different states, especially LA,” Bissell says, “and then being able to take those influences and use that as a jumping off point, then really highlighting everything that the Pacific Northwest has to offer, from the amazing produce to seafood to shellfish to ranches 20 miles outside of the city, and using this awesome bounty of product.”
The “dream” part of Dream Deli references a few of Bissell’s and Levine’s ambitions. Since they got together 12 years ago, they’ve wanted to open a daytime restaurant; the dream started as a butcher shop or a bakery, before they landed on the idea of a deli. (It didn’t hurt that this would also allow them to have similar schedules as friends and family, “for a better quality of life,” Levine says.) Bissell and Levine both have an Italian background, and Levine has Jewish heritage, and the idea evolved to feature dishes from both styles of deli. Another part of the dream was to have a community-oriented restaurant in Richmond, the neighborhood the couple knows and loves.
Christine Dong
Christine Dong
Christine Dong
Christine Dong
Bissell says they’ll launch with a “pretty tight menu” that changes a lot, but one item to expect at opening is the corned beef on rye, with briskets from Revel Meat Co. It’s brined and corned in-house until it’s “fall-apart tender, but still sliceable,” Bissell says, paired with Swiss and Russian dressing.
They’re also planning a new spin on the classic tuna melt. “From the get-go, I was tuna melt or bust,” Levine says. The white fish melt on milk bread is the sandwich that Levine and Bissell are both excited for, and Bissell cures white sablefish with a smoked tea before the fish is poached and prepared for sandwiches, all topped with Tillamook cheddar. “I would describe his cooking style as pretty elegant and refined,” Levine says of Bissell.
The deli serves a vegetarian meatloaf sandwich that looks like a root vegetable terrine with cruciferous greens and grains to hold it together. That one’s on white bread with mayonnaise and crispy onions, similar to how Bissell’s mom does it. The Jewish Wedding Soup, meanwhile, pairs warm broth with both Italian meatballs and matzo dumplings.
Bissell is proud to continue the tradition of butchery he’s been passionate about for the past decade. He’s designing the menu to allow him to use a half-pig “as often as we can,” making his own hams, pancetta, and cooked salamis. Imagine spruce- and koji-cured hams and fennel-crusted porchetta as occasional specials, plus his pancetta sprinkled onto salads.
Reuben knishes Christine Dong
Budino tartlets Christine Dong
For dessert, expect a butterscotch budino tartlet, with “really dark, almost burnt caramel” in the budino. For the tiramisu, Bissell takes spent coffee grounds from local roaster Puff Coffee and turns it into a coffee kombucha to soak the lady fingers. The result is a tiramisu that’s fruitier, but with acidic notes to cut through the richness, he notes. Levine says they’ll ferment things at the restaurant beyond the coffee kombucha, including the half-sours and other types of pickles seen throughout the menu. On the savory side, the deli also offers challah knots studded with pieces of pancetta and Reuben knishes.
For the beer and wine offerings, Dream Deli offers three types of wine local to Oregon and Washington: a red, a white, and a rotating wild card that Levine wants to skew “funkier, and more adventurous.” On the opening menu, “funkier,” means a co-ferment — a blend of apples and grape varietals — like the Art + Science Mutualism co-ferment that pairs Suavignon Blanc with pears. Rounding out the menu is two types of beers, a cider, plus two house sodas made with ingredients or syrups made with byproducts from the kitchen.
Dream Deli will have lunch to start, with the intent to expand to breakfast. Given the early deli hours, they hope to occasionally open at night for pop-ups with chef friends. It’s a small but mighty team, made complete with the addition of Sammy Galvez as sous chef. “He is really pushing what’s possible, as far as our pickling and our fermentation and how to use vegetables in ways that I never really thought imaginable,” Bissell says. “I’m just so stoked to have a team with him, someone who is so talented and so driven, and my wife, and it’s just this little triangle and we get to serve our community of Richmond every single day.”
Dream Deli (3542 SE Division Street) debuts on Friday, November 28, and is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Christine Dong
Christine Dong
Christine Dong
Dining and Cooking