New menu at Caplansky’s nods to vegetarians

The “leaning tower of Caplansky” has been selling like a pile of hotcakes. Or, rather, a pile of challah French toast stacked three high and layered with cream cheese, blueberry jam and bacon (beef bacon, natch). The tower joins maple-dipped fried chicken, gefilte fish and a slew of veggie options to make up the new menu at Caplansky’s Delicatessen.

Zane Caplansky wants his new menu, which has been nearly six months in the making, to offer something for everyone. No longer is the College Street deli solely a haven for carnivores and smoked meat aficionados. The menu has expanded into vegetarianism with a ratatouille, an “overpowering” mac-and-cheese and a greatly expanded selection of salads. For fish lovers, Ontario rainbow trout is on offer, as well as gefilte fish—an option we’d hoped for when we first heard about the new menu over the summer. The gefilte fish isn’t made in-house just yet, but Caplansky says he has his grandmother’s handwritten recipe, which he’ll put into practice once the kinks of the new menu have been worked out.

While Caplansky’s was known to do omelettes on request in the past, doing so would often back up the kitchen. Now, Caplansky has his kitchen efficiently churning out all-day omelettes that come with latkes and rye toast. Of course, the classic sandwiches haven’t gone anywhere, and neither has the self-deprecation. A sign on the window states, reassuringly, “Great new menu, same lousy service.”