Pittsburgh’s international grocers share their unique stories on how they came to be so popular. S&D Polish Deli and Pitaland have a huge cultural impact on the city, including suburban fans.
Preserving Polish Heritage Through Food and Friendship
At the S&D Polish Deli, nostalgia is conjured by kolaczki, golabki, and kielbasa. That’s the effect Agnieszka Sornek, manager of S&D Polish Deli, strives for when stocking the grocery with handpicked goods reminiscent of home.
“Sure, it’s just a grocery store but you’re giving that connection to memories,” she says. Agnieszka moved to Pittsburgh in August of 2008 to pursue the Artist Diploma in Music at Duquesne University. She notes, “my post-graduate program focused on performance, and my assistantship was accompanying and performing in chamber ensembles.”
A twist of fate led the blooming pianist to Stawek and Dorota Pyszkowski, who had recently immigrated to Pittsburgh from Poland. In late 2007, they opened a business in the Strip District – S&D Polish Deli. Agnieszka joined their small staff in early 2008, just before Easter, to help the deli through the holiday rush.
The part-time job provided Agnieszka with both a piece of home and an income during graduate school. Over time, it became a passion. To her surprise, it also developed into a dual career alongside teaching and performing music.
Mr. and Mrs. Pyszkowski sold the deli to Matt and Gretchen McDaniel in 2016. “When they sold the business, I was still at school, so I declined the offer of running the deli,” Agnieszka says. Between teaching, playing in operas, and graduating from Duquesne, she could not immediately take on the time commitment required to run the grocery and deli.
Serving Tradition, One Kolaczek at a Time
In January of 2017, six months after S&D changed hands, she took on the manager role. With grace and diligence, Agnieszka works to uphold the values of the Pyszkowski’s. She wants to strengthen the ties between many Pittsburghers and their Eastern European heritages.
“The reason I took this job is that I wanted to help represent Polish culture and customs as true to the original as possible,” Agnieszka says. S&D works with suppliers in Chicago and New York who share veneration for authentic Polish flavors to import specialty items from Poland.
Closer to home, Father Miro, a local priest who achieved fame in the community by way of his baked goods, makes kolaczki for the grocery store as he has since the Pyszkowskis opened the deli. “I want to see the store grow and become a center of ‘everything Polish’ in the future,” Agnieska says. During the early months of the pandemic, Agnieszka was concerned for the vitality of the business. She drafted plan after plan to confront the new normal hewn by COVID-19. She wanted to protect the business from permanent closure.
“We’ll open the second register, we’ll do curbside pickup in the back, we’ll advertise the online shopping just to accommodate as many people as we can.” Even with all of the adjustments made by S&D’s staff, Agnieszka attributes their ability to remain open to the efforts of customers.
Agnieszka has stayed with S&D because of the relationships she has fostered with customers. “I’m privileged to hear them,” Agnieszka says of their heartwarming stories. “People want to share because I’m from Poland, and, maybe, I’ll help them recall some saying that their grandparents used to say, like ‘idź do domu spać’ or ‘cicho’ ‘idź z bogiem,’ or how to say a specific name of a dish, or how to pronounce their last name or the town where their family came from.”
A Family Bakery That Rose with Every Loaf of Pita
At Pitaland, baked goods are a delight. When civil war broke out in Lebanon, Mr. and Mrs. Chahine were on their honeymoon. They celebrated their recent marriage with family in Pittsburgh. Joe Chahine began working at his brother’s Brookline business, Chahine’s Mediterranean Bakery & Grocery, with intentions to return to his 3rd and 4th grade French students in Lebanon.
“My dad had to apply for political asylum to stay here for their safety,” says Aleen, the eldest daughter of the Chahine’s, “and then I was born a year later, in 1975, and the rest is history.” What began as a family bakery with a small oven and grocery, became a powerhouse of wholesale Mediterranean specialties. This is, most notably, the pita bread.
In 1990, Mr. Chahine and his brother-in-law bought the bakery and grocery. The change of ownership presented the opportunity for a business name change. Mr. Chahine liked the ring of “Bagel Land,” a business they supplied. “I wish it was more of a creative story,” Donna says of her father’s inspiration. “But so many people, especially our regulars, still call it Chahine’s,” says Donna.
More Than Pita: A Legacy of Hospitality
A section of windows in the grocery is like a portal into the massive room. This room is where 2,000 loaves are portioned, rolled, proofed, and baked every hour. The room is steeped in an ancient pleasure: the sweet and warm aroma of fresh baked bread. Pitaland supplies pita bread to restaurants and grocers across the region. “You could be eating one of our pitas and never know it,” says Mr. Chahine.
Pitaland’s wholesale business was the raft that kept them afloat during the first months of the pandemic. Restrictions and fear kept customers at home. Since then, retail has rebounded and the lunch crowd has returned. The comeback was made evident by the long line of customers patiently waiting to place their carryout orders.
Mr. Chahine takes pride in his pita bread recipe, his customers and in his family, who are instrumental in Pitaland’s success. The Chahine’s four children, Aleen, Joe, Donna and George, have worked alongside their father since they were young.
Their father’s generosity is as much a part of his nature as it is their own. “I remember as a child, working in the bakery, it was very important that we treated every customer with the utmost respect,” Aleen says. “We tried to help them any way we can.”
Pita may have made their name, but hospitality has earned the family business multi-generational support in the community. The support has carried the Chahine family business two doors down and 50 years down the line.
Story by Margaret Heltzel
Photography by Jeff Swensen
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