Kneller's Delicatessen is hosting a series of four collaborative pop-up dinners over the next two months, starting this weekend.
Local businesses are partnering up to bring Tucsonans a unique experience and a space for the community to connect this summer.
Jeremy Kneller-Hernandez, owner of Kneller's Delicatessen, said the summer slowdown pushed him to get creative and find a way to help local businesses and restaurants survive.
"Summers are really, really hard on local businesses from experience and I'm sure everyone knows, so really we gotta get creative, we gotta collab, we have to love on local, be synergetic," Kneller-Hernandez said.
Kneller's is an east coast style deli. Kneller-Hernandez says he's trying to bring that New York nostalgia to Tucson that's been missed for so long.
"We're from scratch. We bake our bread. We are starting to do our bagels. We do knish, pickles, house cured lox, house-brined pastrami, corned beef, everything in-house the right way," Kneller-Hernandez said. "It all started with a little pop-up cart, you know, and that's how it is in the Bronx."
There will be a total of four events over the next two months, each featuring a different restaurant or business. The first event is June 14.
"Sunday with Crystal at Vertigo Wines downtown. It is a phenomenal local wine bar with house Arizona wines, and we're doing a five course wine pairing dinner," Kneller-Hernandez said.
Kristel Johnson, owner of Vertigo Wines, said her wine bar is one of a kind.
"It's actually Tucson's only urban winery because we're aging, blending, and bottling wine on site. And our concept is barrel to glass, so all of our wines are in barrel and we're pouring directly from the barrel into the glass," Johnson said.
She says she sources most of her wine from Willcox.
"So my focus is Arizona wine. I have two vineyards that I primarily source from, but I'll work with other vineyards that I can get juice or grapes or other wines from," Johnson explained. "I primarily work with two different winemakers in Southern Arizona that produce our wines for us."
Johnson said she couldn't pass up this opportunity to partner with Kneller's because she is passionate about collaboration, growing businesses, and community.
"That's my favorite thing about Tucson. Tucson grows each other. We support each other, we love each other. Tucson has built a community and I love the community that we're in and just continue supporting us, especially in the summer. It's hot, but we keep it chilly and cool, so come in, have some wine, relax." Johnson said.
The event, called "Sunset Sips," takes place Sunday, June 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $89 and include a wine pairing and five-course dinner.
Future events:
6/28: Deli local flea market at 6pm with live DJ and local vendors
7/9: Deli pop-up Sonoran Jewish fusion dinner with Chef Angela from Chulas Cocina at 6pm
7/19: Deli pop-up soul food Jewish dinner with Chef Cort from Cookin Wit Cort
To stay up to date on events, follow Kneller's on Instagram.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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