Panzer’s, the culinary institution in St John’s Wood, has turned 80. It’s never looked better. After a nine-month refurbishment, the deli and greengrocer has taken on a swish new coffee bar, an extensive covered terrace, a rotisserie chicken and roast potato offering, and an in-house pizza oven with hole-in-the-wall takeaway and dine-in menu. Talk to owner David Josephs, though, and he’s just as likely to effuse about his new state-of-the-art refrigeration units (“a 40 per cent improvement in efficiency”), Diespeker terrazzo floors or his dream one day to take over the building next door, currently occupied by the only bank branch in the country he fears will never close.
The store was established in 1944 by Austrian refugee Mr Panzer and his Czechoslovak business partner Walter Vogl, who ran it until 1964 before passing it to his son Peter. “I had known Peter since my grandparents brought me here for smoked salmon and bagels on Sunday mornings in a pram,” says Josephs, now 60. Despite a background in industrial electrical engineering, Josephs always harboured a passion for food. “When I was five or six, I used to go round with a notebook reviewing restaurants,” he says. When, in 2015, Peter decided to sell, Josephs asked to take over.
As Panzer’s “custodian”, Josephs has grown the team threefold and breathed new life into the store. This latest refit follows the multimillion-pound touch-up shortly after he took over. For both refurbishments, Josephs has had to tread carefully so as not to vex the die-hard local fanbase. “The first refurbishment was met with trepidation, with many customers voicing their concerns publicly and asking us not to change anything,” he says. “This time around, we’ve built enough trust that it’s been met with excitement and optimism. At the core, it remains the same local cornucopia Jewish deli but with a 21st-century twist.” With plans for chef pop-ups and evening drinks, among other initiatives, Josephs is determined Panzer’s doesn’t go the way of places like Partridges, the iconic grocer whose Chelsea store closed last month. “If someone says I’ve been to Panzer’s and got a tea towel, I’d give up,” he says. “I want people to come here because it’s a real shop. You can buy ingredients, go home and cook.”
Modelled on the classic New York deli, Panzer’s remains an exciting retail experience. Among the rare seasonal produce available at this time of year are Gariguette strawberries, Japanese Amela tomatoes, Muscatel grapes and Lebanese loquats. Josephs wants customers “to see and try what’s out there” beyond the limited selection in supermarkets, which he loathes for devaluing food and contributing to the death of the high street.
He talks about the 2,600 varieties of apples and 600 varieties of pears grown in this country, compared to the three or four varieties sold in supermarkets and kept in cold storage for months. “An apple picked 24 to 48 hours ago tastes completely different,” he says. Among Panzer’s most exclusive global imports are Australian R2E2 mangoes, which sell for £25 each. When a customer queried the price, Josephs cut one open for him to try. The customer was blown away but still objected. “Would you like to buy it at cost?” Josephs asked. “That’s £33.”
Panzer’s is not an isolated case. The rise of the gourmet greengrocer has been epitomised by independents like Andreas of Chelsea Green and Bora & Sons in East Dulwich, which until recently was run by Josephs’ former business partner Muharrem Bora and is opening a second store in Walthamstow. The knock-on effect can also be seen in neighbourhood fruit-and-veg shops such as mine in Peckham, where the stock now includes everything from purple heritage carrots to organic sea moss.
Before taking over Panzer’s in 2015, Josephs had joined forces with three Kurdish partners on greengrocers in Newington Green and Maida Vale. Another site in Camden was added and a wholesale operation launched. In 2020 he bought out two of his partners. Now, alongside Panzer’s, he co-runs three All Greens greengrocers across London. You won’t find the same luxury items there. But a similar philosophy prevails among its buyers of sorting through crates to find the best fruit and vegetables. “Customers know things have been carefully selected,” Josephs says. “You walk into those stores, see the abundance, smell the herbs.”
“Have good produce, sell it at a fair price and people will come” is his advice. Many customers prefer to support small greengrocers over supermarkets because the produce is fresher and more varied, and you get to interact with the staff instead of paying for plastic-wrapped food at automated tills. “Bora is a smiley character,” Josephs says of his former colleague. “He races around. He gives a banana to a child. He is brilliant in a store. That’s what shopping is all about.”
@ajesh34
Where else to eat in St John’s Wood
Cinder
The sister of chef Jake Wood’s Belsize Park restaurant of the same name, this is all about the char from the kitchen’s Josper oven. The food takes its influences from around the world, and the house Margarita with burnt jalapeño paste comes highly recommended. We love the lamb chops, but save space for dessert, especially if the Cinder doughnuts are on the menu. 5 St John’s Wood High Street, London NW8; cinderrestaurant.co.uk
Oslo Court Restaurant
Walking into this dining room on the ground floor of an art deco flat block is like entering a time warp. From lobster bisque to melon and Parma ham, sole meunière and crêpe suzette, the classic French dishes that brothers Tony and Jose Sanchez served when it first opened in 1982 are still present and correct, as are the pink tablecloths and napkins and legendary waiter Neil Heshmat. It’s like the 1980s never ended. Charlbert Street, London NW8; oslocourtrestaurant.co.uk
Soutine
A Parisian-style brasserie in north-west London, this was Chris Corbin and Jeremy King’s seventh restaurant when it opened in 2019. Now owned by the Wolseley Hospitality Group, it continues to serve the classics – steak frites, roast duck breast, escargots à la bourgignon and tarte au citron. Look out for local talents: Lena Dunham described it as her unofficial office when interviewed in The New Yorker. 60 St John’s Wood High Street, London NW8; soutine.co.uk Tim Auld
