Filli's Jersey Deli and Bakery in Valatie Combines Two American Deli Traditions
This new full-service deli and bakery is the culmination of the collective culinary wisdom of two local food families.
Ted, Dana and Damon Filli
What makes the old-school breads, pastries and lunch counter classics at the new Filli’s Deli and Jersey Bakery in Valatie, New York so delicious isn’t just the sum of quality ingredients. The secret to the three-month-old Main Street eatery’s overnight success is a deeply ingrained, genetic culinary wisdom passed down to owner Damon Filli and his crew of close relatives, by two families that have been in food service for generations.
“Everything we do is very traditional and old fashioned,” says Filli. “We are making things that might seem basic but if you search around here for what we make, you can't find it.”
Filli was born for this. His mother’s father, Max Slominski, ran the much-loved Jersey Bakery from the 1950s to the 1990s in Hudson, New York. And his father’s father, John Filli, started the Claverack Market in Claverack, New York in 1957. Damon worked at the market, which had a deli and pizzeria in back, under his dad Ted his whole life, until 2014. It had an inviting homey feel and was a local institution until it closed, shortly after a Hannaford was built just down the road at Bells Pond.
Both families originated from the New York Metropolitan area. Grandfather Slominski worked in bakeries in Freehold, New Jersey before coming to Columbia County (hence the “Jersey-style” of the bakery). The Slominskis were Polish Catholics and Slominski cut his teeth working with Jewish delis in Brooklyn before moving upstate. The Fillis were Italians, a big food family in Connecticut.
The convergence of these two ethnic American deli traditions at the new Filli’s makes for an authentic and nostalgic experience for anyone who grew up with this food in their home or neighborhood. It is delicious comfort food made with time-honored techniques passed down through cultures much older than Filli's grandfathers. The flavors are familiar in an almost subconscious way.
Damon Filli leans into his family legacy. Only one of the 14 staff members at the bakery isn’t a blood relative. He’s also using the expertise of his large extended family to taste test recipes as they dial in their new versions of the family’s old offerings.
“We brought the old recipes we could find and asked our oldest family members what they could remember,” Fili says. The older relatives are happy to let him know if he hasn’t replicated something perfectly.
“They’re honest with us,” Filli says with a laugh. “When we launch a product we are 100 percent sure about it. If it’s not perfect, we won’t put it out."
The bread and pastry recipes from the old Jersey bakery have been the hardest to come by. The institutional knowledge from running the Claverack Market is still fresh in Filli’s mind but he says the techniques and secrets from the old Hudson Bakery have taken more time to resurrect.
The sweets are made daily. There are doughnuts, buns, cakes, cookies, cannolis, pies, brownies, danishes, croissant, and a lot more. The spread in the case is impressive and even more so considering that they go through it all in a day. Because the kitchen is small there’s something baking here 24/7. In addition to the sweets they are also baking hard and sub rolls, and Italian bread — with more coming soon.
The quality of all their breakfast and lunch sandwiches is elevated by the fresh-baked pillowy rolls and bread. The cold cuts are choice and they are making a huge number of offerings in house, from soups and pasta to chicken, tuna and egg salads. A signature item that made the trip from Claverack to Valatie is the roast beef. It's cooked rare, served on a fresh roll with just some lettuce, tomato, mayo, and a bit of horseradish. Just one bite of the sandwich is enough to tell that Filli’s is doing things pretty perfectly.
On top of all that they’re making pizza, too, and they do deliveries, and catering, and are starting to do wholesale already.
Because of their previous businesses, the family is well known in the area, which helped build a customer base early. They fulfilled a huge volume of catering orders around the holidays and business has been steady. Filli’s might be a rebuilt classic, but this family deli is offering up food and service that’s as good today as it was when it first came to town almost 70 years ago.
Filli's Deli and Jersey Bakery
3019 Main St., Valatie, NY
(518) 610-8210
Open 7 a.m.–4 p.m. Monday–Saturday
8 a.m.–2 p.m. Sunday
