Purveyor of London’s Finest Reuben Secures Funding for Expansion [Updated]

Monty’s Deli, the celebrated “Jewish comfort food” restaurant whose salt beef and reuben sandwiches, and homemade chicken soup, are among the most celebrated in the city, has announced that it will, for the first time, offer equity to those outside of friends and family ahead of a planned nationwide expansion. The restaurant announced today (20 August) that it has hit its £150,000 crowdfunding target, two years after a Kickstarter funded the flagship Hoxton Street site in east London.

Founded in 2013, over the past five years, Monty’s — which is named after owner Mark Ogus’ grandfather — has grown from a one-day-a-week stall on Maltby Street in Bermondsey to a business with two outlets and a total of 22 staff. A statement released to Eater today says that “it all started with a sandwich. A sandwich made with pastrami smoked in Mark Ogus’ parents back garden. A sandwich that tasted of New York and nostalgia, one that went on to win accolades, but a sandwich, nonetheless.”

Since April 2017 when Monty’s opened the Hoxton Street site, it has sold over 25,000 reuben sandwiches, and over 10,000 bagels, all baked on site, according to the statement issued today. “After travelling America, and having grown up eating the Jewish food so beloved of his grandpa, Monty, Mark had realised that London needed its own Katz’s [in NYC], its own Canters [in LA],” the statement adds. When chef (and now co-owner) Owen Barratt joined prior to the opening of the flagship, he and Ogus set about “creating the Jewish deli of their dreams — reintroducing latkes, chrain, blintzes and the traditional Shabbat dinner to the city.”

Ogus says that “The idea was to give London something it had been lacking for a very long time; a real ‘kosher style’ Jewish deli, where the meats and the mustards, breads and pastries are all made on site. This place would hold all the secret recipes that make a great deli.

“We call this “Jewish soul food” because, in essence, soul food is all about roots. Recipes with a history, made by hand by people who really care. It’s restorative, comforting food. And you feel part of a tradition when you’re eating it.”

In January, Monty’s added a second site to its portfolio — at the ‘Kitchens’ development at Old Spitalfields Market. It is in this mould that the new fundraiser is aiming to rollout similar market stall-style sites across the U.K.

“Our experience in markets is proven, and our love for the food we make is unrivalled. We have spent years perfecting recipes, and we now have a year under our belts as restaurateurs. The stage is set for us to roll out Monty’s Deli across London,” Ogus said.