Interview with a Pastrami Purveyor
We had a chance to talk with Andy Fredlund of Capones Chicago Eats, a Chicago-style food truck in Holly Springs and new Friend-Level Sponsor for the Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary. [Note: Andy’s culinary opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent the views on meats and condiments held by the Federation.]
Q: What are your earliest memories of pastrami?
A: When I was a kid, I was an army brat. We lived in New York City before we moved to France for three years. I probably had my first pastrami from an automat somewhere. (Ed: An automat is a restaurant where simple foods and drinks are served by vending machines.) All my family came through Ellis Island from Norway and Sweden. My dad’s from Long Island and my mom’s from Brooklyn. I’ve been around New York life since I was a kid.
Q: What inspired you want to go into the restaurant business?
A: I worked in emergency medicine, then in technology. I developed my Type A personality of being able to do things, build systems. I have also always liked to cook as a sideline. I worked in high-touch, high pressure types of environments, so I decided to couple that with my love of food. In 2003, I told my wife, “Let’s buy a restaurant!” She responded, “What do you know about restaurants?” I know about food, I know about serving people, I know how to cook. I can learn the mechanics, no problem.
Q: What brought you to the Triangle?
A: I’ve been coming to visit North Carolina’s mountains since I first went camping there in high school. The Carolinas have always been on my mind! I was living in Florida at the time, and if I was going to leave the place had to have trees, mountains, and water. I have had family members living here since the early 1980’s, so after my sister-in-law was diagnosed with cancer, my wife and I just decided to pull the trigger and move up here.
Q: What’s the Chicago connection?
A: I wanted to start small with my business, so I did research to build the best hot dog cart. I wanted to have the right equipment, the right vendor, and the right kind of business. I researched Vienna Beef hot dogs, out of Chicago, and was told that there was none in Raleigh. That need was being totally underserved, and that’s what allowed us to grow today. For a year running the hot dog cart, we kept hearing, “When are you going to have Italian Beef?” That’s a high-end product for the Chicago market. I would tell people, “When enough of you ask, then we’ll know its time.” Eventually, we had a food trailer manufactured. I don’t have competition, because other people aren’t selling things like this.
Q: What’s your favorite way to eat pastrami?
A: The way we serve it. We use marbled rye that we get from Neomonde, and it’s cut thick like Texas Toast. We put together two slices of bread, two slices of imported Swiss cheese, and navel pastrami, and we prepare it on the flat-top grill. When I hand you that sandwich, you don’t even need to chew. If a person wears dentures, they can still eat the sandwich. If it’s not smooth and soft, that’s not pastrami. Sell it as a beef brisket with barbecue sauce. You eat with your eyes. When you see what’s on the table next to you and ask the waiter, “What’s on that table? That looks delicious!” If you buy food from us, before you take your first bite, I want you to look at it and say “wow!” Your brain knows what’s coming and you’re not going to be disappointed when you take that first bite.
Q: How have tastes for deli meat changed over the years?
A: They changed when I started selling it in Raleigh! The other day, we had a customer come in. He said “My wife’s a vegetarian, but she had a sample of my last pastrami sandwich. Now I need to order two—one for me, and one for my wife.”
Q: What are your goals for the next year?
A: I want growth, but I want it sustained day over day. I don’t want to rocket to the top. Right now, we are on fire! We are hoping to open more than one location. Everything I do is tied to one thing—we are OBSESSED WITH BEING THE BEST. That’s my driving force.
Q: Now for a controversial question. Ketchup on a hot dog: yay or nay?
A: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My take is, I am providing food to someone as a service and they are paying for it. If they desire ketchup on their hot dog, far be it for me to be judgmental.
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