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Russ & Daughters
Appetizing store in Manhattan, New York From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Russ & Daughters is an appetizing store[1] that opened in 1914. It is located at 179 East Houston Street, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. A family-operated store, it has been at the same location since 1920.
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History
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Joel Russ, a Jewish immigrant from Strzyżów, Poland, who arrived in Manhattan around 1905, started a business to cater to Jewish immigrants settling on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.[2][3] He began by carrying Polish mushrooms on his shoulders, and saved enough money to purchase a pushcart. He then expanded his operation and sold pickled herring as well as Polish mushrooms. Then, in 1914, Russ opened J Russ International Appetizers, a storefront around the corner from the store's current location.[4]
In 1920, Russ moved the store to its current location of 179 East Houston Street. In 1933, he renamed the business "Russ & Daughters" after making his three daughters Hattie, Anne, and Ida partners in the store.[4] Historically, businesses typically took on the name "and sons", but since Russ and his wife Bella had only daughters, his business became Russ & Daughters. However, Russ was not a feminist.[citation needed] For him, getting his daughters into the family business was not a matter of women's rights, but a matter of parnosa, or surviving to make a business. As he put it, he was concerned with Vi nempt men parnosa, meaning "from where do we take our living."[5] According to Hattie, she and the other daughters had all worked in the store "since they were 8 years old" on weekends, fishing out the herring fillets from the pickle barrels. Once each one of them finished high school, they all worked full-time. Moreover, Russ kept the store open seven days a week.
Calvin Trillin wrote about Russ & Daughters in the 1970s in his New Yorker food pieces.[6]
In 2008 The Jews of New York documentary premiered on PBS, featuring three generations of the Russ & Daughters family (Anne Russ Federman and Hattie Russ Gold, the two surviving Russ daughters; Mark Russ Federman, then the proprietor; Niki Russ Federman; and Josh Russ Tupper.)[7] The documentary tells, among other things, the story of Russ & Daughters from the early 1900s to the (then) present.[7][8][9] The third daughter, Ida, had died.
Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House That Herring Built, by Mark Russ Federman (grandson of Joel Russ), with an introduction by Calvin Trillin, was published in 2013.[6]
Russ & Daughters received the 2013 Jewish Cultural Achievement Award, making it the first restaurant to receive a Jewish Cultural Achievement Award.[10]
In 2014, The Sturgeon Queens, a documentary about Russ & Daughters, premiered. It features, among others, Anne Russ Federman, 92 years old at the time, and Hattie Russ Gold, 100 years old at the time, who were the two surviving Russ daughters.[11][12] The Sturgeon Queens was Joel Russ' affectionate nickname for his daughters.[11]
Josh Russ Tupper and Niki Russ Federman, cousins, now run Russ & Daughters, the 4th generation of Russes to do so.[11]
In 2015 the New York state Senate honored Russ & Daughters with a resolution marking its 100th anniversary; the resolution had been drafted in June 2014 but was presented to the Russ & Daughters staff on January 7, 2015.[13]
Additional locations
In May 2014, Tupper and Federman opened the restaurant Russ & Daughters Café on Orchard Street.[14]
In late 2014, a restaurant cafe was announced for the Jewish Museum.[15] The Russ & Daughters restaurant in the Jewish Museum opened in February 2016, which has since closed.[16]
In early 2019, an 18,000-square-feet location opened at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.[17]
On July 18, 2023, Tupper and Federman opened a new 4,500-square-foot outpost near Hudson Yards.
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In popular culture
Josh Russ Tupper appeared on The Martha Stewart Show to make Chopped Liver, the Oy Vey Schmear sandwich, Whitefish & Baked Salmon Salad and the Super Heebster sandwich.[9]
The Leonard Lopate Show on NPR discussed Russ & Daughters.[9] WNYC featured Russ & Daughters when Amy Eddings reported on "Last Chance Foods", in a segment called "A Palatable Passover: Russ & Daughters explains matzo, gefilte fish and charoset."[9]
Russ & Daughters was also featured on two episodes of the TV series Louie and in the theatrical movie Lola Versus.
Anthony Bourdain covered Russ & Daughters in the 'Disappearing Manhattan' episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (Season 5, Episode 6) with American journalist and novelist, Joel Rose.
In 2021, the Financial Times ranked it as one of the "50 greatest food stores in the world".[18]
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See also
References
External links
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