An elderly woman squeezed the arm of Martin McClanan, the CEO of Elephants Delicatessen in Portland, Oregon, and gave him a word of advice: Don’t ever mess with the Mama Leone’s chicken soup recipe.
“I didn’t realize a 90-year-old could have such strength!” McClanan says.
It may be surprising to spot an Italian soup on a deli menu, but loyal customers like this show how a growing number of West Coast delis blend tradition with unexpected twists, inspiring the kind of devotion usually reserved for institutions back East…