Zabar's Is Throwing A Lox-Themed Block Party This Weekend

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Zabar's smoked salmon is a tried-and-true staple at Upper West Side parties, but this weekend, the iconic delicacy is getting a block party of its own.

On Sunday, June 1, Zabar's is throwing a party outside its Broadway and 80th Street storefront celebrating all things smoked salmon with music, a salmon-slicing demo, free taste tests, and exclusive tote bags and shirts that say "LOX OF LEGACY," in the iconic orange lettering in honor of its enduring, 75-year partnership with Acme Smoked Fish, a New York culinary institution.

At the lox-themed block party — which the Zabar's team is calling a "BLOX" party — the grocery store is also debuting an innovative, social media-friendly new sandwich called the Zabar's Chopped Super Nova.

The new sandwich combines finely chopped smoked salmon, onion, tomato, cream cheese and capers, creating a flavor-bomb filling that can be spread on a bagel.

"We tested it with employees in the store, and everyone loved it," Annie Zabar told Patch, after spending her morning assembling 42 of the new sandwiches for foodie social media influencers.

"We've been part of this community for 90 years, and a lot of the stories you hear in the store are like, 'Oh my grandparents used to take me here when I was a kid, and now I'm bringing my grandchildren in,' and it's a story that just keeps getting passed down to the next generation," Zabar said.

"And now, with the new sandwich and the block party, we're looking to bring in younger shoppers and be more hip and try to come up with some new ideas that the younger generation would be interested in."

For as long as Zabar's has been around, the store has been known for its smoked salmon.

"It's really the staple of the store — we sell hundreds of thousands of pounds a year," Zabar told Patch. "It's at all the Jewish holidays, it's at all Sunday brunches, any kind of special event always revolves around smoked salmon, cream cheese and bagels."

But for so many New Yorkers, it's a taste of home.

Growing up, Zabar said she had countless bagels with smoked salmon from Zabar's for lunch at the nearby Calhoun School. Her family's station wagon always smelled like smoked salmon because her dad (Saul Zabar) used it to go to Brooklyn to hand-select fish from the Acme-owned smokehouses.

"He would visit them all and look at each individual fish, and he would taste them and pick out what he wanted," Zabar said of her dad, who is going to be 97 on Wednesday.

"On any car trip in the station wagon, it just smelled like the smokehouse. It's a smell that's just like a perfume to me — I wouldn't wear it, but I grew up smelling that and roasted coffee."

For New Yorkers who also prize the familiar smell, good news: at the block party, Zabar's will be offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal on their packaged lox, while supplies last.

Zabar's is located at 2245 Broadway in Manhattan. The block party will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 1.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.

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