By Emily Keeler Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNews
What’s Robin Leventhal, Seattle restaurateur and former “Top Chef” competitor, doing going to work for a community-based Jewish delicatessen on Mercer Island? The first answer that comes to her mind: Kismet.
“It’s been a magical process,” Leventhal says. “I truly feel like this has been a gift.”
Stopsky’s Delicatessen, which will open next month on “the rock” under the directorship of locals Jeff and Lara Sanderson, will feature traditional Jewish food “updated,” calling on Northwest resources and fusing them with an international flavor palate. Leventhal will take the helm as chef.
Perhaps surprisingly, Leventhal spoke less like a competitive chef and more like a girl in love, frequently describing her job in spiritual terms.
“This is a heritage project,” Leventhal says. “This is a business model that is about community.”
Stopsky’s focus is on community as much as it is about food, and will feature panels about local families and history on its walls.
“It’s about a celebration of love,” she says. “We need community and that sustenance. That’s what drives me in life.”
What brought Leventhal and the Sandersons together, however, is not nearly as romantic: The Sandersons made a cold call.
“Lara did some research,” Leventhal explains. “She stumbled across my name, was endeared by my spirit…my history and my work experience.”
Instead of consulting, Leventhal offered to be the chef. The result is “bringing their vision to light paired with my creativity.”
Leventhal was planning on a job as a corporate chef before the opportunity to work for Stopsky’s presented itself. But, she says, “I wasn’t feeling the passion.”
Leventhal, who studied ceramics in college and originally thought she would go into advertising, thought that after her experience on the popular Bravo network reality show she might take her career in another direction.
“I thought I would get away from the kitchen,” she says. “I kind of walked away from part of it because it wasn’t true to who I was.”
She started to design a tableware line but became disillusioned. “I don’t like to spend my time doing things that are meaningless.”
As for her “Top Chef” claim to fame?
“It’s a piece of me. It’s not what defines me,” she says.
The kitchen, ironically, is “still dominated by men.” Despite great female chef role models, Leventhal admits, “It’s not for the weak.” Her own innate competitive personality gave her the strength to push through the drama.
“I was a fighter before agreeing to take that challenge on.”
That competitive edge in large part comes from her business-oriented, independent mother, who raised her to be tough.
“I’m not afraid to voice my opinion,” Leventhal says.
This character trait surely comes into play regarding her health: Leventhal’s experience with cancer — she had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is in permanent remission; her non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma will be with her throughout her lifetime. Still she says, “My health is a gift.” And she doesn’t necessarily mean a gift to herself: Ten percent of pickle sales at Stopsky’s will benefit the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Leventhal added that her Jewish roots factor into her strong character, even though she was raised in Idaho without a strong sense of identity or community.
“There is a part of me that’s a little lost,” she says.
At the same time, “I feel very lucky that I am Jewish. It has given me strength and spirit,” she says. “I feel like I’m worldly because of my Jewish heritage. I’m proud to be Jewish. I feel really luck to have that part of my cultural makeup.”
The fluidity of identity informs Leventhal’s approach to the kitchen and to her relationship with Stopsky’s, which she wants to take beyond the standard delicatessen menu to embrace world cuisines.
She has what she calls “perfect creative license,” Leventhal says. “I’ve been given the perfect job.”