J-Town Deli | Local Flavor

The Honeymoon Bridge, a classic red, covered, single-lane structure spanning the Ellis River is a fitting portal to a village that holds its own as a paradigm of the picturesque. Here, Main Street loops around the central greens of the Wentworth golf course—a course, that in winter, becomes a prime cross-country ski destination. And ringing the emerald expanse is a collection of inns, taverns, the white-steepled Community Church, and the Ravenwood Curio Shoppe—a temple to the Tolkeinesque, with garden fairies, local crafts and stone gargoyles crowding the gardens and aisles of a recycled wood structure that brings to mind a Russian dacha or a wizard’s country retreat.

Further down—or in this case, around—Main Street is a building with fewer architectural charms but equal appeal. It’s a general store, a penny candy shop, a café. Nothing too fancy, just the kind of deli and market that every small town needs. Genn and John Anzaldi became proprietors back in 2005, moving north after leaving corporate jobs in Massachusetts. Years earlier, an old butcher had taught John the art of sausage making (sometimes it pays to know how the sausage gets made), so when John took over the food operations (Genn handles retail, marketing, and baking), he knew he wanted homemade food, marinated meats and sausages to go, and a great deli. That means a sandwich board that calls out with homemade meatballs in marinara, pastrami and Swiss on rye, and a honey-roasted turkey/bacon, cheddar, chipotle mayo concoction that could revive the weariest skier or leaf-peeper. In the morning, there are egg sandwiches and a crumb coffee cake with just the right ratio of topping to cake (which, in my estimation, means 50 percent). The coffee is organic and the sweets case is stocked with homemade pies, bars and, when staffing allows, a half-dozen quirky cupcake flavors (rocky road, blueberry, pumpkin-maple, pink lemonade).

Meanwhile, the aisles are stocked with essentials, vintage bric-a-brac, wine, and local crafts. Sushi rice and Minute Rice stand side-by-side and an entire lane is devoted to candy. “The locals keep us in business,” says Nancy Uggerholt, who has worked at J-Town for nine years. “It’s great with summer tourism and wintertime skiing, but we try to cater to locals and what their likes are.”

That means serving practical needs: a rack of daily papers and a freezer case stocked with housemade frozen dinners. “We have this one older guy, Warren, who comes in twice a day,” Nancy says. “He’d come in and b-line it from the counter to the tables, counter to tables. All of a sudden, he decides to wander through the store one day. ‘I didn’t know you had frozen dinners!’ he said. I said, ‘Warren, they’ve been in there for four years!’” She pauses. “Not the same dinners.”

Meanwhile, the tourists are happy to grab a sandwich and whoopie pie and be on their way. This month, the town will re-launch its “Return of the Pumpkin People” festival, a three-decade-old tradition running October 1 through Halloween. Residents and businesses create high-octane pumpkin tableaus: a stand full of Patriots fans, a table of American Idol judges, Dorothy, the Tin Man & Co. heading down the yellow brick road. It’ll be a busy few weeks. “You learn to hunker down,” Nancy says. “You say, ‘Well, we’ll let you take over the town for now.’” Then Jackson will be theirs again…until Christmas.

J-Town Deli. 174 Main St., Jackson, NH. 603-383-8064; jtowndeli.com. Sandwiches from $7.99.