Jarrett and his partner just made the front page of the Restaurant section for the Boulder paper (daily camera).

I’m attaching his review.

'Jimmy & Drew's rocks'

Exploring the wonders at one of Boulder's best delis

'That's why we're so much more fun than Christians," Larry said as he took in the steaming bowl of matzo ball soup. "Our food doesn't make any sense ... but it's GREAT."

I wasn't arguing as our spoons cut through light, tender matzo balls, bringing up draughts of incredibly deep and clear, honey-golden broth swimming with shredded, white-meat chicken and fat chunks of carrot and celery.

I'd brought Larry to Jimmy & Drew's 28th Street Deli because the stories of his mother's cooking are legend. His was the house all his friends wanted to eat at when he was growing up in Chicago. Everything done from scratch, old-world style, classic Jewish culinary art. And now Larry was conceding, "I have to say, the cooking here is right on her level."

That's more than likely because classically trained chef Andrew "Drew" Marx has a pretty fine resume: CIA, Kevin Taylor's Dandelion, Atlanta's Ritz-Carlton and Canoe, and, most recently, a three-year stint at the Greenbriar.

And in deciding to return to his roots cooking the food of his childhood, Marx enlisted his mother, Sarah Marx, for consultation and carrot cake. Marx teamed with childhood friend Jarrett "Jimmy" Eggers, ex-food and beverage director for the Pepsi Center, to open Jimmy & Drew's. While Eggers is a Colorado native, he and Drew started hanging out in Rockford, Ill., when he would visit his grandparents as a kid.

This is the real deal. While some "authentic" delis will offer meat and delicacies imported from New York or Chicago, Marx smokes his own pastrami and corns his own beef. He makes homemade kishke, chopped liver and herring in cream sauce. He even makes gefilte fish from scratch.

Jimmy & Drew's
FOOD
SERVICE
AMBIENCE
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2855 28th St., Boulder. (303) 447-3354. Delicatessen. Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday_Saturday. All major credit cards, checks. Wheelchair accessible. Vegetarian entrees. Noise level: Low-moderate. Recommended dishes: Latkes, kugel, kishkes, knishes, salads, pastrami, matzo ball soup, sandwiches, carrot cake, pastries.

The food is such a goldmine of succulent flavor, so carefully prepared, such a perfect marriage of polished technique and generational richness, that I found the conclusion simple: Jimmy & Drew's rocks.

It's not huge on atmosphere; the space that was once home to Kebab House with its hookahs, cushions and paintings of Damascus is now a streamlined, black-and-white checkerboard-floored cafeteria. Chicago and New York photographs mix with family pictures on the walls and bentwood chairs and red vinyl booths surround tables emblazoned with the giant pickle logo.

It's the same giant smiling pickle that's been strutting its stuff on the edge of 28th Street and Valmont Road for the past few months. That would be Dilly or Dillilah depending on which staff member is climbing into the pickle suit and bright green Chuck Taylor's to dance around outside or get chased by kids inside.

The kitchen is where "Jimmy's Favorite" sandwich ($9) comes together. Forget the rye bread, how about potato latkes sandwiching thick slices of pink corned beef, tangy tangles of sauerkraut and melted Swiss? Those dark brown, crispy and tender, shredded potato latkes also work well as a side ($3), dolled up with a little sour cream and applesauce.

Juicy slabs of herb-flecked, homemade meatloaf anchor "Drew's Favorite" ($9), accented with sharp cheddar and sweet, caramelized onions. The only drawback is an assembly line onion bun with no sass.

Both the "Rocky Mountain High" ($9) and "The Coach" ($9) also deserve something with more soul than commercial French rolls. What's not to love about marinated roasted eggplant, zucchini and peppers teamed with Haystack goat cheese and pesto? Or killer, Kosher salami layered with house-roasted turkey, provolone, radish sprouts and pickled pepper relish?

The "Spudnik" ($9) is just plain dangerous, but what a way to go: hot shaved corned beef and the best pastrami I've ever put in my mouth, topped with coleslaw, melted Swiss, and, yes, homemade French fries, all sandwiched in grilled rye. And for the classicists, there's "Chicken Lickin'," with shaved, smoked tongue and chopped chicken livers or "Arnold Marx N'egger's" liverwurst and fried eggs.

Salads include ahi tuna, chicken Caesar and the "Ty Cohen" ($9), a dazzling Cobb with homemade ranch dressing. Chicago dogs, house smoked salmon, chub or whitefish plates ($14), and, after 5 p.m., $12 entrees like beef brisket, meatloaf and gravy, stuffed cabbage and kasha stuffed peppers.

Sides have no problem keeping up with the headliners. Creamy turkey gravy with bottomless flavor accompanies both kishke and knishes. The kishke ($3), a sausage made from the vegetables simmered in chicken stock, distills that nourishing flavor into slices of pure bliss. Flaky pastry surrounds ground beef and rice in the flawless knish.

As for desserts ($5), there are no bad choices. Sarah's carrot cake is epic, a 10-inch tall wedge of dense, spiced cake slathered with lightly sweetened cream cheese. Cottage cheese blintzes arrive bathed in homemade strawberry preserves and sour cream, and eggy, raisin-dotted noodle kugel offers more comfort food joy than should be legal.

Follow the dancing pickle. Go see what all the fun is about.

Contact Camera Restaurant Critic Catherine Christiansen at boulderdining@yahoo.com.