Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky.
Nicolas and Clare Abrams locked up Ethel’s Delicatessen on Dec. 22 for what they thought was a holiday break, giving themselves and their staff some well-deserved time off during the holidays.
When it came time to reopen the Petaluma eatery in early January, the couple made a different decision. On Jan. 10, their social media accounts reported they would not be reopening at all.
“Choosing to close a business is an almost impossible decision,” they wrote. “But one that we needed to make.”
“I wish it were different,” Nicolas Abrams told J.
While the Covid era saw a spate of new Jewish delis open in the North Bay — including Loveski in Napa and Larkspur, Drewish in Healdsburg and, very recently, Bubbala’s in San Anselmo — Ethel’s is the first of them to close.
I first reported on Ethel’s Bagels in June 2020. It started as a bagel and schmear operation by delivery and then moved to farmers markets. In 2023, Abrams decided to go all in and opened Ethel’s as a Delicatessen, offering pastrami, babka and other Jewish favorites. The business continued selling at a few farmers markets as well.
“Maybe we should have just opened a bagel shop, but we thought a deli is more creative and exciting,” Abrams said. “We did a great product, and people loved everything that we made. (Numerous comments on Ethel’s social media accounts confirm this; in a competitive and discerning marketplace, some considered their bagels to be the best in the North Bay.) “We couldn’t make our rugelach quickly enough, but many of the deli items are very labor intensive,” he said.
For much of the 18 or so months they were open, they hoped the numbers would add up, but in the end that was not the case. Abrams cited the high cost of construction, including remodeling the Petaluma space, as well as the high cost of food.
“We had a lot of momentum, but we needed a little more time to get our feet on the ground,” he said.
They have considered doing wholesale and haven’t ruled it out entirely, but for now they’re taking time off to figure out what’s next.
Also in late December, Daily Driver, a multiple-outlet bagel maker in San Francisco known for making its own cream cheese and churning its own butter, also closed all locations after six years in business. I first wrote about it in June 2019. Its Instagram account said simply “the model isn’t working.”
The bagel outfit’s flagship store in the Dogpatch neighborhood will reopen soon under new ownership.