The Borscht Belt Delicatessen
DIGITAL PRESS KIT
Scroll down for various feature photos, video, supporting photos and bios. Click on each image to download. Photo credits associated above in each category. Release copy included. Questions, email Mandee@HammersteinPR.com

Below: Nick Liberato on site at the Stockton Market during construction. Photo credit: Mandee K. Hammerstein

Below: Featured dishes for The Borscht Belt Delicatessen. Photo Credit: Ethan Samuels

Below: The Borscht Belt Official Announcement Video. Direct YouTube Link HERE

Below: Nick Liberato During Netflix’s Restaurants on the Edge. Photo Credit: Patrick Queenan

NICK LIBERATO BIO:
Cutting his teeth on culinary shows Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters” and Paramount Network’s “Bar Rescue”, world-renowned experienced restauranteur, business mastermind and chef to the stars with over 28-yers culinary experience, Nick Liberato takes on his next world-wide adventure as an expert on Netflix’s “Restaurants on the Edge,” (February 28th) when the 6-episode premiere season takes viewers to some of the world’s most spectacular locations:  Malta, Hong Kong, Tobermory, Coast Rica, Austria, and St. Lucia on the edge – mountainsides, water, white beaches, and despite their outstanding views, need a push to live up to their magnificent views in synchronous steps, as executive producer and co-creator, Nick Liberato with his restaurant business expertise alongside his team, the mission is to breathe back some life and take a bite out of these businesses while putting them back on-top and live-up to their potential.  “Restaurants on the Edge” is a premium lifestyle docuseries that invites viewers into some of the world’s most stunning locations, they not only transform the restaurants, but the owners’ outlooks as well.  To do this, the close-knit, lighthearted team tap into the soul of the restaurant’s surroundings and communities, incorporating local tastes, flavors, and textures – remodeling in a way that is uplifting and sets the reinvigorated business and owners up for future success. 

Rising from humble culinary beginnings, to working at local food stands in South Philadelphia growing up with his family in the Italian Market, by age 11, Nick discovered his second love – surfing and snowboarding.  Combining the two passions, Nick followed his love and while working at a local surf shop on the West Coast, stared his own catering company – Calidelphia – that led him to preparing meals for top celebrities including Will Smith, Tom Hanks, The Beastie Boys, Barbra Streisand, Anthony Kiedis, Cher, Hank Azaria, and more.  It was through a connection with Michelin-starred chef and restauranteur, David Myers, that Nick learned he needed to truly dive into every aspect of the business in front and in back-of-house to become a true restauranteur himself, and that’s just what Nick did.  

In just a few years, Nick’s catering business began to thrive and he acquired the long-time Venice fixture, the Venice Whaler.  Struggling to move forward prior to Nick stepping in, he took the business at the Venice Whaler from a mere $3 Million in yearly sales to a whopping $10 Million in sales.  Leading the charge as Executive Chef, Nick made a similar move with The Pier House, and continues to acquire, consult, and invigorate other businesses throughout Los Angeles and internationally with his expertise.

Nick and wife Jennifer committed in 2020 to make the move back home to Bucks County, PA to reunite his three daughters Sofia, Allessandra and Bella with their grandparents and has since launched 618 Hospitality Group with partner Michael Dalewitz and are unveiling the premiere signature concept the Borscht Belt Delicatessen, a New York-Style restaurant, launching in the scenic and artistic-tourism district along the Delaware River in Stockton, NJ.

Below: Michael Dalewitz. Photo Credit: JKP Photographers

MIKE DALEWITZ BIO:
Lawyer and serial entrepreneur Mike Dalewitz has built, restructured and sold for high multiple profits, several multi-million dollar businesses in various industries ranging from legal, technology, fashion and hospitality. With his familialfoundation and early professional experience in the hospitality industry, Dalewitz is also the co-founder and Chairmanof 618 Hospitality which was started with Celebrity Chef, Nick Liberato. Most recently, he launched and serves as CEOof a leading-edge software company called CueLESS (CueLess.io), with a focus on “always on time” arrival and pick upfor POS systems across food & beverage, retail, pharmacy and other areas. Additionally, Dalewitz is a well-knownphilanthropist and serves as a Board Member for BUILD NYC and The Bucks County Playhouse. He shares his expertiseas a professional coach to motivate and guide young entrepreneurs across the country with his Mindful Mentorprograms at https://themindfulmentor.com

STEVEN LAU BIO:
Steven Lau is an experienced entrepreneur in the restaurant and entertainment industries. He currently owns and operates The Salt House in New Hope Pennsylvania, a successful gastropub that has been voted Bucks County’s most romantic spot. Other current projects include the Stockton Farmers Market in Stockton, New Jersey, The Centre Bridge Inn, a 300-year-old Inn on the Delaware River, the old Point Pleasant Firehouse Brewery and The Borscht Belt, a modern Jewish deli concept.

Until 2020, Steve served as the Vice President of the local Chamber of Commerce and as a board member of the New Hope Borough Council Economic Development Committee. He is also actively involved with numerous local charities and serves on the advisory board of “The Lowline” the first underground park in New York City built in an abandoned underground train station.

Prior to moving to the New Hope area, Steve grew up in Hershey Pennsylvania where he founded the alternative rock band The Ocean Blue. The Ocean Blue was signed to Sire /Warner Brothers Records and the band garnered three top five alternative singles on the Billboard Charts and was a regular on MTV in the early 90’s. Steve recorded three records with the band   and moved to New York City in 1990 where he lived for 25 years. During his time in New York, and post The Ocean Blue, Steve founded and operated a joint venture label with Warner Brothers Records. He ultimately sold this company to Sony Entertainment after 12 years of successful operations and chart success. Upon selling the company, Steve lived in the mountains at a Buddhist Meditation Center for one year and then attended The Culinary Institute of America in The Napa Valley to study winemaking. It was during this period Steve founded Volta Wines, an award winning and high scoring Cabernet Sauvignon. Volta’s accolades include a rare 93 and 94 points from James Laube at Wine Spectator and Gary Vaynerchuck at Wine Library, respectively.  As a consultant, Steve has worked with The Standard Hotels in New York, Miami and LA, The Chateau Marmont, The Sundance Film Festival, Wente Vineyards and Lincoln Center.

PRESS/MEDIA Contact:

MANDEE K. HAMMERSTEIN
Mandee@HammersteinPR.com
1.908.246.0882

-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-

NETFLIX CELEBRITY CHEF
NICK LIBERATO & PARTNERS
TO LAUNCH NEW RESTAURANT CONCEPT
THE BORSCHT BELT DELICATESSEN 

618 Hospitality Group and Steve Lau to Unveil
NY-Style Jewish Deli Concept in Stockton, NJ at Stockton Market

OPEN TO PUBLIC APRIL 2021

STOCKTON, NJ (3/4/21) –618 Hos­­pitality Group founders Nick Liberato (Paramount Network's Bar Rescue, Netflix's Restaurants on the Edge), Michael Dalewitz and Steve Lau officially announce their partnership and the launch of The Borscht Belt Delicatessen, a New York-style deli that has been declared as Liberato's "love letter" to the Jewish Deli.  The Borscht Belt will be located within the Stockton Market at 19 Bridge Street, Stockton, NJ.  The Borscht Belt will assume the market’s near entire West side with planned indoor and outdoor seating to accommodate 72 guests (post-Covid restrictions) and offer a 6-day-a-week, robust dine-in, take-out, and catering menu.  With a full and part-time local staff in the development, the opening is slated for April 2021, a public-opening date in April is TBA.  More at TheBorschtBelt.com

The Borscht Belt Delicatessen concept is Liberato, Dalewitz and Lau’s answer after a solid year of joint ethnographies and research throughout the Northeast, searching for a unique yet resilient restaurant business model within a current Covid-world.  Combined with the appreciation of the American Jewish Deli and culture, and the lament of beloved NY delis slowly disappearing, the Borscht Belt plan was born. "Restaurants are on the Edge everywhere, and determining a business model that not only works for us during this time but the community is of optimum importance. Top-priority is to serve-up safe and convenient NY-style, "old-school" delicatessen favorites with a savory and contemporary twist, satisfying a variety of food-connoisseurs while keeping every wallet size in mind” – stated Liberato 

Key menu offerings will include various platters with fresh lox, meats, spreads, daily fresh bagels and baked goods, pickles, Bubby Bell's Matzo Ball soup, Borscht Beet salad, and piled-high pastrami sandwiches fresh from their custom-built pastrami machine made in New York. Coffee will be poured fresh directly with an exclusive arrangement made with award-winning, Paper Plane Coffee, a 5th generation Colombian-family coffee company.  The Borscht Belt will open each morning at 7 am with varying closing hours throughout the week and weekend.

“Living in New York for 27 years and considering New Hope my now full-time home for the past six, I was wanting to create an elevated deli experience at the market, then I met Mike and Nick and they were on the exact same track.  Plus, they’re two of the biggest menschs you’ll ever want to meet, it was a match made in heaven, really. The Borscht Belt will be the perfect welcome-gift I was looking to offer fellow New Yorkers who are either here as fellow transplants or weekenders”- stated Steve Lau, restaurateur and owner of the award-winning Gastropub Restaurant, The Salt House.

The restaurant's name lends itself as a nostalgic salute to the most memorable days of the entertainment-loving, Jewish summering-community in the Catskills during the mid-20th century.  Partner Mike Dalewitz whose family helped run the iconic landmark institutions, The Pines Hotel and The Red Apple Rest, speaks fondly of the era and states the most important ingredients of their concept is to celebrate what he believes the original Borscht Belt represented; community, family, large amounts of laughter and entertainment, and of course, mounds of mouth-watering NY-style Jewish cuisine.  Within the restaurant's design, the accents of bold, vintage colors, textures, and ambiance will all echo the era and its energy.  The group's hope is when personally able and ready to "walk-in and sit-down in a Covid-free dining world," clientele may not want to leave.  Executive Director of Greater Lambertville Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, Cindy Kunnas, states: "I'm excited that Nick Liberato is back in the area!  His Deli will truly be a fantastic addition to the Stockton Market and will certainly be a draw for locals and visitors who recreate on the towpath. What a treat to have someone of his caliber serving up good eats, coupled with such a creative vibe for our river town community!" To learn more about The Borscht Belt Delicatessen, sign-up for special announcements and offerings, visit TheBorschtBelt.com 

ABOUT 618 HOSPITALITY GROUP:
618 Hospitality has an established investment fund to assist restaurants and bars who lack in profitability and are considered in distress or who are simply plateauing. They offer a full array of consulting services, as seen in Nick Liberato’s featured roles on Bravo’s Bar Rescue and Netflix’s Restaurants on the Edge.  Together the backgrounds of Nick Liberato and Entrepreneur Mike Dalewitz lead initiatives that will create new profitability, ROI and ultimately restructure restaurant businesses and elevate the current state of the hospitality industry.  More at 618Hospitality.com

ABOUT THE BORSCHT BELT DELICATESSEN: 
The Borscht Belt Delicatessen concept launched from the group’s reaction to the communal-cry in 2020 for the longing for missed family, culture, and authentic food that ties us all together.  Instantly, the “Shangri-la” days of the Borscht Belt era came to mind as a source of reference for founders Celebrity Chef Nick Liberato and partners Mike Dalewitz and Steve Lau; thus, extensive research, passion, and development ensued for an exciting 2021 inaugural launch in Stockton, NJ. The Borscht Belt Delicatessen promises to deliver a heightened culinary experience featuring the best of the NYC Delicatessen, Bagels, Appetizing and Baked Goods.  Like the Borscht Belt of the Catskills, they promise that laughter will flourish and we will serve as a place to find comfort and nourishment.  With an array of safe and friendly dining and catering options, this reimagined delicatessen salutes a bygone period that has long needed a home to remind us how food, family, and friends were once served and how they can be again. Always offering a taste of the past, yet delivered with a contemporary gourmet-twist, food-connoisseurs across the foodie-spectrum with wallets of all sizes will relish and celebrate; this is The Borscht Belt Delicatessen.  TheBorschtBelt.com
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