Edward Serper is like most other small-business owners. It’s 6:30 a.m. on Sunday and he’s already at work. A cordless phone interrupted our interview four times. We met outside so that he could grab a quick cigarette break.
Serper and his business partner, Irina Kanevsky, own Continent European Delicatessen, a largely Russian food store and deli at 4150 Regents Park Row.
Unlike other businessmen, Serper taught himself English at the age of 43, arrived in the U.S. to work as an engineer and hails from Odessa, a small Ukrainian city on the Black Sea.
Serper boasted of selling the tastiest smoked fish, sausages and salami. Cheeses from France, Holland, Switzerland and Finland also stock the refrigerated case. While Serper emphasized his European goods, the delicatessen is distinctly Eastern European.
Jars of dark Russian chocolates, called confetti, and boxes of slabs of chocolate wafers (a popular Russian treat) line the shelves.
A sign near the cash register reads in Russian and English: “We take orders for Black Caviar, $230 per pound. Min. order ” half pound.”
The deli offers pancakes (blinis) stuffed with sweet cheese and plump raisins, blinis filled with chicken and chicken cutlets ” common household chow in Russia.
Lining the deli case are traditional Russian salads, all of which blend an assortment of cooked or pickled vegetables, some with meat. Lettuce salads are scarce in the chillier parts of Eastern Europe.
And of course, traditional warm soups of borscht (beet soup) and mushroom soup are served ” the first course for every Eastern European supper.
For beverages, one could complete the Russian fare with sweet chai (tea), or with Kvas, an ancient beverage of fermented rye bread sweetened with sugar or fruit.
The deli presents a microcosm of life in the motherland. Before noon, a couple licked petite Russian ice cream cones and chattered in Slavic. The creamy desert is hugely popular with Russians at all times of the day and during all seasons.
An older woman wearing a Soviet-era, flower-print dress filled her basket with cabbage, caviar and chocolates.
Oleg Lyuber arrived on bicycle for a breakfast of bread and cheese. He spoke of enjoying all American food, except the bread.
“I can’t eat American bread,” Lyuber said.
Born in Moldava, a small country situated between Ukraine and Romania, Lyuber moved to San Diego 10 years ago and now lives and works in University City as an electrical engineer.
According to Lyuber, a large, scattered Russian-speaking community lives in University City. Former Soviets don’t wish to clump together, however, after 70 years of communism that forced them to live side by side, Lyuber said, adding that Stalin bred a system of mistrust.
“People who don’t know each other distrust one another, but when you make a friend, you’re friends forever,” Lyuber said.
Lyuber enjoys the lifestyle and culture of Southern California, especially the ocean that he frequents every weekend with friends. However, when conversation turned to the museums, canals, parks and white nights of St. Petersburg, where Lyuber once resided, tears began to well in his eyes.
Serper said that running the deli is difficult work. Hours are long and taxes are high.
“We have the same problems like any other small business,” Serper said.
Serper seems to cope well, however. He believes that University City is one of the greatest places to live in the world and he’s proud to work for himself.
“One day I decided not work for somebody else and to be my own boss,” Serper said. “If I would work for someone else, it would just be with my legs and hands, but not with my head.”
Serper and Kanevsky opened the first Continent European Delicatessen at 5961 University Ave. in 1995, and the second one a year later in University City.