June 16, 2010
Minutes from downtown Ithaca or the Cornell campus at the Community Corners shopping center, we're enjoying a delicious lunch at the Corners Deli. This middle eastern eatery owned by Sam and Alice Sarkissian has been serving up handmade delicacies and fresh deli sandwiches for over twenty years.
Corners Deli gyro pitaI'll start with the deli sandwiches, featuring tender roast beef that Alice roasts right in the store. I'll often grab the Russian, roast beef, pastrami, swiss, and russian dressing on a sub roll, or the Italian, with ham and salami and provolone. But I'll also edge toward the middle eastern by going with roast beef and hummus in a pita. The hummus is creamy and tangy, and of course makes a great pita sandwich all by itself, too.
The pitas, like the American-style deli sandwiches, can be stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and more. Ask for a little hot sauce.
If you're not in a meat mood, Alice's falafel are as good as her roast beef. Falafel are like meatballs but made with chick peas and spices, then fried and served with tahini in a pita. Or try the kafta, meatball kebabs best enjoyed with some tabouli.
Middle eastern meals often feature a variety of salads, and if that's your style you're in luck here. Beyond the tabouli there's tomato-cucumber salad and spinach with chick peas, fruit salad or my favorite, the spicy Armenian salad. Don't forget the stuffed grape leaves.
Corners Deli cinnamon baklavaLeave a little room for dessert, such as traditional baklava or a cinnamon baklava roll, honey cake, or a semolina cookie, along with a cup of the very strong middle eastern coffee -- or regular coffee or tea.
All of this is available in snack trays or to cater your next party. Just give them a ring. Plan on spending $5-10 on a meal. Find the Corners Deli Monday through Friday until 6:30 and Saturdays until 4 at 200 Pleasant Grove Road, in the center of the Community Corners shopping plaza in Cayuga Heights, visit thecornersdeli.com, or call them at 607-257-4019 and tell them you heard about them here.
