It’s been a relentless year and a half for Elyssa Heller, the Jewish-American restaurateur behind the Edith’s pop-up and sandwich shop in north Brooklyn. In 2020, Heller appeared somewhat unexpectedly on the borough’s restaurant scene, operating a pop-up bagel in Paulie Gee’s kitchen while the pizzeria was temporarily closed due to the pandemic. It was a sold-out smash. The first-time restaurant owner continued with a small sandwich counter – also named Edith’s, named after her great-aunt – last spring, and this week her popular bagel rolls got a new home.

On January 11, Heller opens the doors of Edith’s Eatery & Grocery, a restaurant and grocery store at 312 Leonard Street, on the corner of Conselyea Street. “That has always been the plan,” she says. “It’s actually on our behalf from the start.” Zoom into her restaurant’s Instagram profile photo and here it is – “Edith’s Eatery & Epicure” – the same logo that’s been hiding in plain sight for most of the past two years. He is located about five blocks from his sandwich shop in Williamsburg.

The “restaurant” is really more of a restaurant, bakery, delicatessen, grocery store, small bookstore and a place to linger. (Eventually, there will also be a bar.) According to Heller, she wanted to open the kind of old-fashioned Jewish restaurant where people can come and eat – but also celebrate birthdays, mourn losses, meet on business, etc. “Today’s Jewish deli is really not like that,” she says. “Many of those that still exist are so ancient and iconic that they have become tourist destinations.”

Heller, who has previously worked in operations for companies like Milk Bar and Dylan’s Candy Bar, hopes Edith can be different. “This is Zabar for the next generation,” she said. Or in her case, Barnum and Bagel, the Barnum and Bailey circus-themed Jewish deli where she grew up going to Evanston, Illinois.

Like these New York establishments, a large deli counter spans a length of Heller’s restaurant, displaying smoked fish, aged meats, pickled vegetables and cheeses, much of which is prepared on site. Across from the counter, a handful of “aisles” – shelves just deep enough for a customer to walk in and be surrounded on three sides – are filled with spices, coffees, bottles of whatever seasoning for. restaurant bagels and other pantry items.

“I want to make it easier to integrate these foods into your daily life,” Heller says, and indeed most of the items sold here come with handwritten notes with staff recommendations and tidbits of history.

Everything can be ordered and eaten in the front dining room of the restaurant, or in a small cafe in the back, where pastries and breads are sold and a fridge is stocked with frozen foods: tahini chess pies, a collaboration with Petee’s Pie Company, and frozen Chicago-style pizza, a nod to the owner’s hometown of Emmett’s in Soho. There are about 20 places in total.

A Small Kitchen is run by Chef Christina Jackson, who has worked at Edith since her days as a pop-up in Greenpoint. She and Heller come from across the Jewish Diaspora with an all-day menu of malawach – a Yemeni Jewish flatbread made here with grated tomato, herb oil, green harissa, and a large amount of butter – and syrniki, a Russian cheese pancake that comes with currant jam.

Other dishes are closer to the Jewish classics found in many of the city’s long-standing grocery stores. There’s the meaty chicken consomme, with celery slices and matzo balls, and a plate of chicken cutlets and cornbread. A separate dinner menu will follow later this spring, according to Heller, as will a list of cocktails served at a bar.

For now Edith’s Eatery & Grocery is open Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.