In October 2021, Edith’s, a Brooklyn eatery specializing in foods of the Jewish diaspora, announced on Instagram that they were planning to hand out cans of Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray—the chartreuse celery-flavored soda that’s a staple in Jewish delis—to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Elyssa Heller, founder and CEO of the restaurant, explained that she wanted to introduce more folks in the neighborhood to the drink. But there was a problem: As they prepared to place a large order of the soda from their distributor, Heller’s team discovered there was no Cel-Ray to be found.
Missing celery soda might not seem like a big problem in the midst of a pandemic; if you didn’t grow up frequenting such delis, especially those in the Northeast, you may have never seen Cel-Ray at all. Or perhaps you’ve reached for Dr. Brown’s black cherry or cream sodas instead, because, well, a vegetable-flavored beverage might not necessarily be anyone’s first pick. But I can say with certainty that no Jewish deli experience is complete without a can of Cel-Ray. Cloying and vegetal all at once, it cuts through bites of fatty pastrami and corned beef with every sip. When it comes to Cel-Ray, if you know, you know.
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