July 8, 2015 at 2:01 p.m.
CT's Deli now open for business
CT's Deli now open for business
It was a soft open, Jicinsky said, to make sure everything from the credit card machine to the servers taking orders were ready for the public.
"It's going really well," Jicinsky said. "Facebook is a powerful tool. The minute someone found out they put a picture on Facebook and it's been a steady stream."
The deli features indoor and outdoor seating as well as a full-service bar. Kitchen hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The bar is open from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Customer favorites so far are the Spicy Italian sandwich, the pulled pork, and the smoked brisket, Jordens said.
It's kind of a lifestyle change for the pair, Jicinsky said, because Jordens had been feeding people at night for 20 years (many of those at Holiday Acres restaurant in the town of Pelican), and Jicinsky had been in the food industry for 10 years. They were accustomed to working nights and weekends.
As they looked forward to their next chapter, Jicinsky said, they decided to start feeding people during the day.
The other inspiration for their deli came from Jordens, who likes to go off and learn different things, Jicinsky said.
He started to make his own bacon, brats, and other meats. "Charcuterie became very popular," Jicinsky said. "It's huge now. So that gave him another avenue to experiment. He's always done smoked meats. So we thought, why not a deli?"
A benefit of the deli for their careers is that they can limit and choose how much time to work on the weekends, Jicinsky said. "So that was the business plan, that's the vision," she said.
"For me, I add a lot of different sauces," Jordens said. "It's not just your basic sandwich. It's a whole different experience. It's different levels of flavor that will explode in your mouth as you eat your sandwich. It's not just a sandwich, it's an experience."
"As we get more into it, we will offer more options for vegetarian and gluten-free," Jicinsky said. The deli is gluten-free certified, with vegetarian and gluten-free items on the menu.
"We want to cater to (customers) as we develop more sandwiches," Jicinsky said. "We'll grow in that area too. We'll always have a vegetarian wrap, a vegetarian soup. We want to be mindful of the diversity of the customers we want to serve."
"We want to do a focus group with them, and see what they want," Jicinsky added. "We won't make quinoa salad, if they don't want quinoa salad. That's what this open concept is about. So (customers) can talk to me, talk to the chef, they can say, 'Hey, why don't you do this as a special.' We want to do fun Facebook contests, like create a sandwich of the week, and if your sandwich is picked, you get a free sandwich all week."
In the future, the deli will offer cooking classes, wine tastings and food pairings, and live music in the beer garden.
For more information, call CT's Deli at (715) 369-8988.
Katie Perttunen may be reached at [email protected].
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