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Struthers deli offers eclectic selection of homemade food
By Sarah Lehr
STRUTHERS
The menu at Lena’s Main Street Deli offers a sort of culinary tour of Lena Stefanski’s life.
Stefanski and her husband opened the restaurant in January at 448 Youngstown-Poland Road.
Several of the items for sale there are inspired by places Stefanski has lived. She was born in Campbell, then moved to Tampa, Fla., with her family when she was 13. There, she first tasted a Cuban sandwich.
“Back in Tampa, you saw those sandwiches on every street corner,” Stenfanski said. “Here, they’re harder to find.”
A pressed Cuban sandwich at Lena’s Main Street Deli, made with slow-roasted pork loin, Virginia ham, stone-ground mustard, Swiss cheese and a dill pickle, costs $7.99.
Other offerings such as pirogis pay tribute to the Mahoning Valley’s Eastern European roots.
Stefanski makes her pirogis, which are six for $4 or $5 depending on the flavor, with extra dough around the edges and says the Polish dumplings are some of her most-popular menu items.
Other crowd-pleasers include a pastry called kolachi, which is homemade by Stefanski’s grandmother, and cheesecake in flavors including deep dish apple pie, caramel toffee crunch and raspberry coffee cake.
Stefanski makes one cheesecake each day. If customers want to try the creamy dessert, they must snap up a slice while supplies last.
A commitment to freshness drives her culinary philosophy, Stefanski said. She learned to cook at her mother’s side and is now passing on the craft to her three children, who regularly help out at the restaurant after school.
Her teenage son particularly loves cooking, Stefanski said. He’ll often get up at 4 in the morning to begin smoking meat for the family’s Sunday’s dinner.
“They’re my best advertisers,” Stefanski said of her children. “They tell all their friends at the middle school and high school to come to Lena’s deli.”
Going forward, Stefanski hopes to expand the restaurant’s dining area and hire more staff. Though the deli is a new venture, Stenfanski has lived in the city for 25 years and has put down roots.
“Struthers is home,” she said.
Lena’s Main Street Deli is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The restaurant also offers catering. Contact the deli at 234-254-8532 or lenasmainstreetdeli@yahoo.com.