Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House
Encyclopedia
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
located at the intersection of 172nd Street and Collins Avenue
Collins Avenue
Collins Avenue runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean in Miami Beach, Florida, one block west. It is also State Road A1A. Collins Avenue was named for John S...
in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
Sunny Isles Beach is a city located on a barrier island in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The City is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway on the west...
, which opened in 1954 and closed on March 30, 2008. Sporting a large neon sign in the front, the building was designed in the 1950s "MIMO
Miami Modern Architecture
Miami Modernist Architecture or better known as MiMo, is a style of architecture from the 1950s and 1960s that originated in Miami, Florida as a resort vernacular unique to Miami and Miami Beach...
" style (Miami Modern) which is common to much of the northern precincts of the Miami-area beaches. The neon sign makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the video for "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees.
Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House was not the same as the original Wolfie's, another famous Jewish deli and restaurant in Miami Beach, also started by Wolfie Cohen, on the corner of 21st Street and Collins Avenue (closer to South Beach
South Beach
South Beach, also nicknamed SoBe, is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. It is the area south of Indian Creek and encompasses roughly the southernmost 23 blocks of the main barrier island that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay.This area was the first...
). 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). That restaurant closed in 2001. Cohen also founded a third Jewish deli, Pumpernik's, at 67th Street and Collins Avenue, which also closed.
In 2005, Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
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.
Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House location was converted to an Epicure Gourmet Market, owned by Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House's parent company Jerry's Famous Deli
Jerry's Famous Deli
Jerry's Famous Deli is a chain of delicatessens famous for its large menu, which has offered as many as 700 items. The original deli was founded in Studio City, California, in 1978 by Isaac Starkman and Jerry Seidman...
, headquartered in Studio City, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It opened in 2008. 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 put an end to the condominium project.
Food
Matzah brei
Matzah brei , sometimes spelled matzah brie or matzo brei, is a dish of Ashkenazi Jewish origin made from matzo fried with eggs.Numerous recipes exist for this dish...
, a breakfast meal consisting of strips of matzoh cooked like scrambled eggs.