Motorcyclist Steve Goode was zooming along recently, well on his way to Zingerman’s Delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But he admitted he wasn’t too sure exactly where he was.
“Indiana, in … what the hell town am I in?” Goode said with a laugh.
Turned out he was in Richmond, Indiana, a few days into a 75-day, 16,000-mile trek called the “Great American Deli Schlep,” during which he will stop at 42 Jewish delis across the United States to raise awareness about hunger and food insecurity.
Next Friday, June 18, at 11:30 a.m., Goode will stop by and have a nosh at East Baltimore’s renowned Attman’s Deli of Lombard Street. (The following day at 11:30 a.m., he will drop by Wagshal’s Delicatessen in Washington, D.C.)
Goode started out at Manny’s Cafeteria and Delicatessen in his native Chicago, then hit Shapiro’s in Indianapolis, then Stevens & Stevens in Louisville, Kentucky, before turning around to go back up to Michigan. It’s all part of a meticulously mapped-out sequence that will bring him in contact with every state in the continental United States.
A retired real estate developer and longtime cross-country biker, Goode, 66, was inspired to organize the schlep by a map of the country’s best Jewish delis compiled by The Nosher in 2018. Published by 70 Faces Media, The Nosher is a go-to guide on Jewish-themed food, recipes and restaurants around the globe.
Goode partnered with Mazon, a Los Angeles-based national Jewish nonprofit working to combat hunger, to help with the logistics and get the word out.
On each stop, Goode tries to meet with the deli owners for conversation and photo ops. He said some have been rather wary to connect with him because they think he’s going to ask for money for the cause, which he’s said he’s not.
Goode said he is well aware of how the pandemic battered restaurants — even many of the well-known delis on his list, like Katz’s in New York and Canter’s in Los Angeles — in addition to low-income families and service industry workers.
“Before the pandemic, the number [cited by Mazon] is like 38 million people are food-insecure, which means at some point during the year, they didn’t know where their next meal was coming from, or how they were going to feed their families,” Goode said. “That has jumped, according to Mazon, to about 80 million” during the pandemic.
He’s also hoping to meet with local residents who can follow his trip in blog form on Mazon’s social media pages, and to ride into town with local chapters of the Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance, a national network of groups of Jewish motorcycle aficionados with names such as the Chaiway Riders (Goode’s Chicago club) and Hillel’s Angels in New Jersey.
Goode wants the New York City branch to help him navigate the Manhattan traffic he finds intimidating on his way to Katz’s on his 2018 Honda Goldwing Tour bike.
“Yeah, that’s going to be a frightening ride,” he said.
Born to Nosh
Goode, who has served on the board of his Reform synagogue, B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim in Deerfield, Illinois, and helps organize the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival, has been in love with motorcycle touring since high school.
In 2013, he touched all four corners of the continental U.S. The following year he touched all 48 states. In 2017, he visited all 47 national parks.
The ‘Deli Schlep’ has been the most challenging to plan, he said, in addition to the most rewarding. He credits his wife, Judi, who used to accompany him on some of the excursions, with reaching out to Mazon with the idea, because he admits she is even more involved in Jewish causes.
Although she’s not with Goode on the “Deli Schlep,” they talk several times a day through the Bluetooth system he set up in his helmet, and have dinner together on Zoom each night.
Goode has also already observed some pandemic-era changes on the road, too. “I don’t know if the beards are longer because of COVID. They appear to be, though. A few more tattoos, too,” he said.
As for the delis he’s most looking forward to visiting, he said he’s heard a lot about Canter’s in L.A. and Corky & Lenny’s near Cleveland, which have slung Jewish sandwiches since 1931 and 1956, respectively. But he’s having trouble tuning out the many suggestions of his friends, who he said clearly aren’t looking at the map he and Mazon took meticulously planned.
Two Jews, several Jewish deli opinions, to paraphrase the old joke.
“Every friend of mine who lives somewhere outside of Chicago, even in Chicago, has an opinion. Surprise, surprise,” said Goode. “So when they start yelling at me about, you know, ‘This deli is not as good as this deli, you should be going to visit this deli in New York and this in Boston,’ I’m like, guys, stop. This list was assembled by Nosher magazine. I’m just riding. … I mean, that’s the one thing everybody’s got an opinion about: food.”
For information about “The Great American Deli Schlep,” visit mazon.org/events/delischlep.
Gabe Friedman writes for the JTA global Jewish news service. Jmore staff contributed to this article.
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