Wexler’s Perfect Pastrami and More Comes to Santa Barbara Public Market

Even though owner Mike Kassar has been tasting his Wexler’s pastrami for 10 years — they originally opened in Los Angeles’s Grand Central Market in 2014 — when executive chef and partner Chris Requena cuts him a slice to sample at their just-opened Santa Barbara location, his eyes bulge out with delight. His involuntary expression of pleasure makes clear why he wears a sweatshirt that reads “I am my own happiness dealer” across its back.

Kassar, New York born and bred but a West Coaster for 20 years, relishes bringing deli “back to its roots, by providing craftsmanship, quality, and tradition.” And now bringing deli to the Santa Barbara Public Market. Kassar has always loved Santa Barbara — he and his wife were married here — and admires the “warmth of the community, and how the area is appreciative of good food.”

But it turns out the Public Market came looking for him. He reports that market owner Travis Twining did a taste test of Los Angeles pastrami, and chose Wexler’s. Twining reached out to Wexler’s Instagram, but Kassar said he frequently gets offers from developers, so he initially put the query off. Undeterred, Twining found Kassar’s personal IG account, DMing him there. “We wound up having a great chat,” Kassar sums up, “and here we are, less than a year later, ready to open up.”

The counter across from Rori’s Artisanal Creamery is a mere 250 square feet (there’s a downstairs walk-in refrigerator), with white tile decorated with Wexler’s usual vivid art from Gregory Siff. Kassar is quick to note how proud he is that Siff and Wexler’s have had a similarly timed ascendant arc in Los Angeles. While Wexler’s became famous for being the only deli to smoke and slice its own meat and fish on location in L.A., that won’t be happening in Santa Barbara. But as Kassar points out, “Smoking was meant as a way of preservation before refrigeration,” so getting the goods shipped up the 101 a couple of times a week shouldn’t hurt. Bagels will come from Yetz’s in Isla Vista — Kassar lets on he knows Santa Barbara well by suggesting that “a lot of people don’t get out that way….”

Kassar came to be a deli king through a circuitous route himself. He went to the prestigious Cornell University hotel administration program, worked under names like Danny Meyer and Daniel Boulud in New York City, staged at Michelin-starred spots in Europe, and then ran the front of house at Spago for five years. He and then-partner Micah Wexler (the two went separate ways in 2020) opened Mezze, featuring Middle Eastern cuisine in Los Angeles, and were originally closed on Sundays. So they started a deli night.

One frequent patron of deli night was Adele Yellin, owner of Grand Central Market, and the woman responsible for its recent revival. Kassar recalls, “She’s like, ‘Hey, Mike, great deli has always been a part of the market, and I’ve got a great stall for you.’ This was 2013, and downtown L.A. was not the place it is today — you had to be on high alert.” Kassar and Wexler took the chance anyway.

The late, great Jonathan Gold called their pastrami as good as L.A. institution Langer’s, and the rest is growth history — with locations in Santa Monica, at the Aria in Vegas, and now in Santa Barbara. “It seems like such a long time ago, now,” Kassar says about journalist Gold’s importance, when a single review could make or break a place. “Now we have so many venues of information.”

Along with the typical Wexler’s menu of lox, whitefish, corned beef, and pastrami, there are two S.B.-only menu items at the Public Market. One is cheekily called Oprah’s Neighbor, for Kassar jokes that every Montecitan declares they live right next to her. Featuring Santa Barbara uni, sturgeon caviar, cream cheese, and onion, it’s indulgence in bagel form. The other site-specific sando is Prince Harry’s Garden Turkey, a bit lighter/healthier version of the L.A. Bird with its coleslaw and Russian dressing. “With the names, we’re having some fun with the local community,” Kassar says, only to be sure to add, “not that Oprah and Harry represent the Santa Barbara community.”

Wexler’s Deli is open daily, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Santa Barbara Public Market (38 W. Victoria St.). See wexlersdeli.com.