The Brooklyn deli's weekly supply rhythm
Most Brooklyn delis run a quiet seven-day rhythm — Monday is for prep, Tuesday is steady, Thursday is for guessing the weekend, Friday and Saturday are the breakdown lane.
Read the post →
A Popina column
From the Popina desk
Short notes from Brooklyn — observations from supplying NYC kitchens since 2020. Occasional and unfiltered.
Latest note
Five years after the foam ban: what NYC kitchens actually use now
Five years after Local Law 142 phased out foam takeout, kitchens settled into a mix nobody really designed — kraft for shows, fiber for compost stickers, plastic for sauce, foil for everything else.
Read the post →More notes
Why same-week delivery quietly beats next-day in NYC restaurant supply
National wholesalers built next-day delivery for warehouses with empty parking lots, not for a deli on Atlantic Ave at 11 a.m. The boring local model — same-week, scheduled — is what actually works here.
Read the post →Being a business owner can be so stressful, but knowing my supplies will always be in my store on time — or whenever I need them — makes my life easier. Highly recommend.
The first time I called Popina I had a question about hinged container lids at 7:30 a.m. on a Tuesday. They picked up. That has not changed in three years.
We were chasing five different vendors for foil pans, soup cups, gloves and bags. Now it is one phone call on Tuesday and the truck shows up Friday. The week got noticeably calmer.
Honest pricing, no surprise minimums, no chasing invoices. They treat a 4-case order the same as a 40-case order. Rare in this city.
Luis, our driver, knows where to leave the cases. He knows the back door is sticky. He knows my prep cook’s name. That is the supplier you want.
No notes match that topic yet.
Want the next note in your inbox?
We send a short email every few weeks. No spam, no ads, just one observation from Brooklyn.