Late August 1992 was supposed to be a big moment for Alan Lederman, his wife Joanna, and their sons John and Mike. After months of tastings, training, and stocking shelves, the family was ready to open their new independent grocery store along South Dixie Highway in South Miami. Joanna’s Marketplace was set to make its grand debut on August 24, 1992, but Mother Nature had other plans.
Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida that same week as a Category 5 hurricane, changing everything overnight. “We were, ironically, supposed to open that Tuesday when the hurricane hit,” Joanna’s co-owner Mike Lederman tells New Times. But as Miami rebuilt, so did Joanna’s, and just two weeks later, the shop opened.
Joanna’s Marketplace may have opened at one of the most challenging times in Miami’s recent history, yet it became one of its most enduring local businesses — even winning New Times‘ Best Gourmet Grocery 2024 (an impressive 31 years after opening). Today, the family-owned market celebrates its 32nd year, located on the corner of a South Miami strip mall along U.S. 1, solidifying its place as a local landmark. But before Lederman could talk to New Times about Joanna’s renowned deli sandwiches, baked goods, and legendary catering menus, he needed to go over his impressive culinary family tree.
Recipes Hail from One of New York’s Original Delis
Mike’s great-grandfather, Sussman Volk, a Jewish Lithuanian miller who immigrated to New York, opened one of Manhattan’s original deli-butcher shops. Volk was a religious man who earned an honorary title in the community, “Rabbi.” He permitted neighbors to store their meat at the shop, presumably for the sake of blessings. Volk befriended a Romanian immigrant in the neighborhood and gave the great-grandfather a recipe for pastrami as a token before immigrating back to Romania. “So my great-grandfather would start selling some of the first pastrami sandwiches and turn the butcher shop into a deli,” he explains. “A lot of the recipes we started using came from my great-grandmother — her chopped liver, for example.”…