If you are looking to run into some of the nice and intelligent people who work for Northwestern University Press, not to mention others who attend classes or teach on N.U.’s Evanston campus, it would be a good idea to drop into Al’s Deli around lunchtime. Actually, there are many good reasons to visit this small and special place at 914 Noyes St.
Al’s has been a popular and relatively secret spot since it was opened in 1949 by Al Pottinger. He had been a cook in the Navy during World War II and later worked for a time at a Jewel store before setting out on his own, launching Al’s as a grocery store that sold sandwiches. Over the years the place has evolved into one of the best restaurants we’ve ever visited.
Al’s son Bob, the white-haired man in Osgood’s photo, joined the family business after graduating from college and working on George McGovern’s unsuccessful 1972 presidential campaign. “My father had to go in for cataract surgery and he said, ‘As long as you’re a bum, you might as well run the store while I recuperate for two weeks.’ That two weeks has turned into 42 years.”
His brother John, behind him in the photo, started at the deli in 1975, and together they have created a place of high quality food with a distinctly French twist.
“We are both Francophiles and pick up a lot of ideas when we are in France,” says Bob. He is going back later this month and has a ticket for an opera gala on New Year’s Eve. “It’s black tie, so I have purchased my first tuxedo.”
On his last visit to France he noticed a long line of students waiting to get into a tiny bakery. Discovering the reason–a multi-seed baguette–he returned here with a sackful and worked with his pals at Red Hen Bakery on Milwaukee Avenue to re-create the special baguette for the deli.
“We are always adding items to the menu, experimenting. And we must be doing something right,” says Bob. “And not to brag, but I consider myself to be the best soup maker in America.”
None of the regulars would argue, filling the place six days a week (closed Wednesdays) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and ordering soup, sandwiches and, as one of the women editors from nearby N.U. Press enthusiastically attests, “the greatest cookies on the planet.”
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rkogan@tribune.com
