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Doylestown Welcomes Matzah Balls,
Its First Jewish Deli
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
B efore Matzah Balls was the
name of the new Doylestown
Jewish deli, it was a web-
site domain name Kevin Aniess, the
restaurant’s business manager, sat on
for 25 years.

In the age before Google, Aniess
scooped up the name and paid a heft y
(at the time) $70 for it. He originally
had plans to create a website for all
things Jewish — a database for syn-
agogues, JCCs and recipes — but
instead, the website sat dormant for a
quarter of a century. He always had a
hunch about it.

“I always wanted to save it for some-
thing special,” he said.

Th e domain is now home to the web-
site for Matzah Balls, the Jewish eatery
Matzah Balls chef Franco Federico (center) cuts
the ribbon on the deli’s opening day on Aug. 19.

Courtesy of Kevin Aniess
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on 24 N. Main St., which opened on
Aug. 19.

But the wait for the website’s use pales
in comparison for how long Doylestown
residents have waited for a Jewish deli;
Matzah Balls claims to be the borough’s
fi rst Jewish eatery in 250 years.

Helmed by Franco Federico, the chef
behind 17 area restaurants including
Ariana’s Ristorante Italiano, Matzah
Balls will off er the usual Ashkenazi fare:
kasha and bowties, housemade corned
beef and pastrami and, of course, its
namesake dish. It will source bagels
from the nearby Warrington Village
Bagel Co. Th e nonkosher restaurant
also will pay homage to Federico’s
Italian roots, with room on the menu
for chicken piccata and osso bucco.

Aniess described the concept as “an
authentic Jewish deli restaurant with a
kiss of Italian.”
Ashkenazi Jewish cooking relies on the
same abstemious sensibilities.

“It’s comfort food,” he said.

Th ough Federico found harmony
between the cuisines, the decision to
open up a deli was not as natural.

Before Matzah Balls, the space on 24 N.

Main St. was La Dolce Vita Da Franco,
a fi ne dining Italian restaurant that
Federico also owned.

Because of the restaurant’s upscale
nature, COVID impacted its business
signifi cantly.

“When COVID hit us two or three
months aft er opening, it was not easy
because people were not going out to
eat for fi ne dining,” Aniess said. “And
where other Italian restaurants were
able to pivot and do pizzas to-go and
sandwiches to-go ... People weren’t
going to spend $80 for two chicken
parms to-go.”
The chef wasn’t surprised about his
newly discovered roots. With a thick
beard and Semitic features, [Franco]
Federico felt he looked the part.

Th e combination of the two cui-
sines is more than just a mishmash of
dishes Federico will serve to please his
loyal following; it’s refl ective of his own
identity. Federico, originally from Rome, Italy,
found out several years ago through
a DNA test that he had Jewish roots.

In the 1930s, his family fl ed south
to Sicily, changing their names from
something like “Feinstein” to the more
Christian-sounding Federico.

Th e chef wasn’t surprised about his
newly discovered roots. With a thick
beard and Semitic features, Federico
felt he looked the part. He coinciden-
tally had a customer base of 75-80%
Jews, he said.

“I’ve always known,” Federico said of
his Judaism.

Federico’s cooking history makes his
Italian and Jewish dishes feel at home
with one another on his expansive menu.

He describes his upbringing as in a
“ghetto,” a small village where fami-
lies would be prudent with their food,
scraping the prickly choke from the
center of an artichoke to use the tender
meat of the vegetable. It’s a similar
mentality to using the brisket of the
beef to make corned beef or pastrami.

Naturally tough, the boiled and cured
preparation of the meat in traditional
Aniess, who is Jewish, nudged
Federico consistently, suggesting that
he open up a Jewish deli to fulfi ll
a community need. Doylestown had
plenty of Italian restaurants but no
delis in sight.

Federico was unconvinced, only
budging when Aniess posted on a pop-
ular Doylestown Facebook group, ask-
ing group members about their interest
in a Jewish deli in the area. Th e post got
more than 1,000 likes and comments in
two days.

Th at was a few months ago. Th e
transformation of the space began in
earnest only three weeks ago, when
La Dolce’s Italian decor was stripped
and replaced with deli cases, a pickle
bar and a new logo of a steaming bowl
of matzah ball soup displayed on the
windows. Th e main dining room of the restau-
rant will seat 40, with 15 seats by the
deli and another 35 outside.

For Federico, the fresh start for the
deli is buoyed by a fanbase who enjoyed
his previous restaurants and a cuisine
he loves to cook and eat.

“Never once [have] I disappointed a
customer,” Federico said. “Th at’s been
my life, my name, everything I do.” JE
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