Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House
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Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House was a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...
located at the intersection of 172nd Street and
Collins Avenue Collins Avenue, partly co-signed State Road A1A, is a major thoroughfare in South Florida, United States. The road runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean in Miami Beach, Florida, one block west. It also runs through the cities of Surfside and S ...
in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. It opened in May 1954 and closed on March 30, 2008. Sporting a large neon sign in the front, the building was designed in the 1950s Miami Modern style. The establishment catered to vacationing New Yorkers of Jewish descent; PanAmerican Airlines offered Wolfie's Cheesecake as a menu item on flights between Miami and New York, while Northeast Airlines had the restaurant cater its same flights exclusively. The neon sign makes an appearance at the beginning of the video for " Night Fever" by the
Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...
. Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House was established after the original ''Wolfie's'', another famous Jewish deli and restaurant in
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
, started by Wolfie Cohen on the corner of Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue in South Beach and another at 21st Street and Collins Avenue, a few blocks North. For several years, Wolfie's featured a sign that read "The only thing that needs to come dressed is our chickens!" (meaning dining was casual, not clothing optional). The restaurant at 21st Street closed in 2001. Cohen also founded a third Jewish deli, Pumpernik's, at 67th Street and Collins Avenue, which is also closed. The restaurants became known for its baskets of unlimited assorted varieties of miniature rolls and danishes and stainless steel buckets of half-sour pickles, cold sauerkraut, and other vegetables that were served at no additional cost with meals. The recipes for the breads and danish came from head baker and pastry chef Manny Miklowitz, who learned his trade from his father, Sam Miklowitz, who owned two bakeries in
Brooklyn, N.Y. Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...
Manny Miklowitz started at Pumpernik's and within a year was chosen by Wolfie Cohen to open the bake shop at the Rascal House in 1954. Manny Miklowitz continued to run the bake shop until he retired in 1974 and continued to reside in Miami Beach with his wife, Esther Gurfein Miklowitz. Cohen's daughter, film actress
Robin Sherwood Robin Lyn Sherwood (born January 24, 1952) is an American actress, best known for her roles in ''Tourist Trap (film), Tourist Trap'' (1979), ''Blow Out'' (1981), and as the role of Carol Kersey in Charles Bronson's film ''Death Wish II'' (1982) ...
, owned the Rascal House from her father's death in 1986 until 1996. In 2005,
Hurricane Wilma Hurricane Wilma was an extremely intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane which was the most intense storm of its kind and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part ...
damaged both the original Rascal House sign and the building. The building was repaired and reopened but the old sign was torn down and replaced with a plain sign lower to the ground. In 2008, Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House location was converted to an Epicure Gourmet Market, constructed by prominent local Builder Kevin M Rafferty of KMR Construction, owned by the corporation that bought Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House, Jerry's Famous Deli of Studio City,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Originally, the Epicure Market was to be contained within a new condominium building on the location, but a downturn in the real estate market in the late 2000s (decade) put an end to the condominium project. Epicure Market closed in 2017, and the building currently sits vacant.


Food

Rascal House had the quintessential elements of a Jewish delicatessen, namely a large selection of deli soups and sandwiches (typically listed on an oversized laminated menu), a bowl of cold pickles and a basket of assorted rolls for every table. While Rascal House's featured dish was their classic stacked corned beef sandwich, they also served Jewish home cooking, such as
matzah brei Matzah brei ( yi, מצה ברײַ ''matse bray'', literally 'matzah porridge'; he, מצה בריי, ''matzah brei'', or , ''matzah metugenet'', literally, "fried matzah"), sometimes spelled matzah brie, matzoh brei, or matzo brei, is a dish of ...
, a breakfast meal consisting of strips of matzoh cooked like scrambled eggs.


In pop culture

The establishment is often mentioned in the 1980s and early 1990s sitcom ''
The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty White ...
''. The sitcom is set in Miami, and the characters often refer to eating at "Wolfie's". The restaurant is seen in passing during the
Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...
video " Night Fever". Wolfie's is also seen in ''
Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...
'', season 1 episode 19; in a brief scene Don Johnson's character is driving by the establishment. Wolfie's is also seen in '' The Crew'', a movie featuring Richard Dreyfuss and Burt Reynolds. Carlos "El Puerco" Valdez tells Jessica Tate he was captured at Wolfie's in Miami in Season 4 Episode 4 of Soap.


See also

*
List of Ashkenazi Jewish restaurants Following is a list of Ashkenazi Jewish restaurants: * Attman's Delicatessen * Canter's * Caplansky's Delicatessen * D.Z. Akin's * Henry S. Levy and Sons * Katz's Deli, Houston * Katz's Delicatessen, New York City * Kenny & Zuke's Delicatess ...
*
List of delicatessens This is a list of notable delicatessens. A delicatessen is a retail establishment that sells a selection of unusual or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany during the 1700s. They later spread to the United States in the m ...
*


Sources


One of Miami's top 10 restaurants


References


External links

* Epicure Market - Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House Home Page]
Miami Herald - Death of a deli: Rascal House closing for good
{{Restaurants in Miami Ashkenazi Jewish restaurants Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Florida Jewish delicatessens in the United States Jews and Judaism in Miami-Dade County, Florida Restaurants in Miami Defunct restaurants in Florida Buildings and structures in Miami-Dade County, Florida Restaurants established in 1954 Defunct Jewish delicatessens