It's not often that a rabbi personally shows up to bless a new restaurant, even if there is a sandwich named after him.

Or that customers rejoice, practically getting down on bended knee, soup spoons in hand, hoping aloud that it prospers so that those schleps to Baltimore and New York for a real Jewish nosh — as in a decent bowl of homemade matzo ball soup, not the stuff in a jar from a supermarket — remain a thing of the past.

But Mort's New York Style Delicatessen, which recently made its debut in Lancaster, isn't just another eatery. It's been some 30 years since there's been a real Jewish deli in the Red Rose City, and for some in Lancaster — with its three synagogues and a Jewish Community Center — it couldn't have come soon enough.

From the point of view of a transplanted Nu Yawk Jew by way of Los Angeles (myself), there's nothing fundamentally wrong with such Lancaster County staples as chicken pot pie, pork with sauerkraut and Amish potato salad.

But safe to say no matter where Jews settle, we generally have a nagging hunger to return to our culinary roots whenever we feel like splurging. As opposed to kosher food, which is prepared according to Jewish religious rules, Jewish food is mainly a cultural thing, though it can also be kosher. The traditional, old-time fare is the cuisine that originated primarily in Eastern Europe and Russia, the ancestral homes of many Jews.

We crave the sights and smells that transport us back to the warm embrace of our Bubbes' (grandmothers') kitchens. Or the big-city neighborhoods that once teemed with Jewish delis, such as New York's Lower East Side.

The standard deli menu usually includes chicken soup with carrots and onions, known as "Jewish penicillin" (for whatever ails you), and is the basic broth for matzo ball soup, with dumplings made of matzo meal.

Other fare includes: kasha, buckwheat grain mixed with noodles or stuffed in a pastry shell known as a knish; chopped liver; bagels and lox (smoked salmon); pastrami, salami, corned beef and Jewish potato salad, which is more salty than sweet; halvah, a sesame candy; and last but not least, egg creams, the Jewish version of a milkshake, made with a special chocolate syrup that's been around for decades.

So how do you go about re-creating Delancey Street on the Lower East Side on Roseville Road in Lancaster?

Funny you should ask.

Co-owner Andy Gerofsky, an outgoing sort who hails from Philadelphia and gained local acclaim as the "martini czar" while dreaming of owning his own restaurant, says it all started almost a year ago.

While mixing it up at a Lancaster event, some folks started quizzing him about how he might run a Jewish restaurant. Someone in the crowd — a potential investor — liked what Gerofsky had to say and made him the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse.

His love of food and restaurants, coupled with what he says is an ever-growing number of big-city transplants in Lancaster — especially New Yorkers — Gerofsky saw a recipe for success.

He approached caterer and pastry chef David Davis, a transplant from the D.C. area, whose food he liked. Davis signed on, bringing a treasure trove of old-time family recipes.

Together they transformed what was once a karate studio into a restaurant and dubbed it "Mort's" because their families shared a common bond — a Mort as a relative. They also decided that "New York Style" would be an integral part of their style.

"New York-style," Gerofsky said, "means big."

"Extra-creamy," Davis said.

Outsize portions, and outsize, big-town attitude and personality. (Expect a lot of good-natured ribbing from the friendly owners. A hearty sense of humor is also a vital ingredient in a Jewish deli.)

All nice, my late Bubbe, may she rest in peace, might have said. But how's the food already?

Pretty impressive. It's all there: Hebrew National-brand kosher corned beef, salami, pastrami and tongue (a delicacy I hadn't seen since childhood). Many of the traditional favorites are homemade, from the matzo ball soup to the brisket, knishes, chopped liver, challah bread and rugelach pastry. Not to mention the egg creams.

With the money I've dropped in New York and L.A. delis over the years trying in vain to recapture those childhood memories, I consider myself something of a maven. And I thought the chopped liver, matzo ball soup and kasha knishes were The Bomb. One bite, and I was back at Bubbe's dinner table.

Keep in mind that this is an authentic, 21st-century Jewish deli, which means it's adaptable.

The soup doesn't contain much salt, for those on restricted diets. And because the owners want to give back to the community, they buy Lititz-based Wilbur chocolate for baking, along with local turkey, eggs and produce.

And a sandwich special named for Jack Paskoff — the rabbi at Congregation Shaarai Shomayim in Lancaster, where Mort's owners are members — consists of salami and mustard, an old favorite. But this version comes with a Diet Coke and a side of M&Ms.

When the rabbi showed up for the traditional Jewish ceremony of hanging a mezuzah (a sacred scroll) by the door, he confessed that it is, indeed, one of his favorite food combos.

"Hard to believe we're here, in this place, in Lancaster," Paskoff, a Long Island native, giddily told the crowd, many of whom were from his congregation.

But there are plenty of patrons who aren't.

Erin Green, an Irish Catholic from Chicago, drove up from Quarryville with her family after discovering Mort's on Facebook. She and husband John had been searching for a good Jewish deli ever since leaving home. He found himself raving about Mort's chopped liver; she was right at home with the rabbi's sandwich special. "I'll be so depressed if this place doesn't make it," she said, laughing.

And Candy Occhiogrosso, who's from Denver by way of Long Island, stopped in after the Mets game she'd planned on attending in New York had been rained out. Mort's, she hoped, would be the next best thing to the game and her favorite Big Apple deli.

She, too, was not disappointed.

Mort's New York Style Delicatessen is located across from the Fruitville Pike Kmart, at 241 W. Roseville Road. Call 824-3518 or find it on Facebook at facebook.com/pages/Morts-De....
Laura Lippstone is a journalist and travel blogger who's been known to travel to Pittsburgh and Prague for matzo ball soup. Follow her at www.planetlippstone.com.