Genessee Royale’s Todd Schulte plans to open traditional deli on the West Side

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Update: Todd Schulte responds to commenters, below, by saying he has no plans to change the name of his unopened deli business — Speak — because another Crossroads business is also using the name.

“That business is a hair salon,” Schulte says. “Our deli is a completely different kind of business at a different address. There’s no conflict of interest. “

Todd Schulte and his wife, Tracy Zinn, the operators of the five-year-old Genessee Royale Bistro in the West Bottoms, have plans to open a traditional delicatessen in January, in the front half of Schulte’s retail soup operation — Uncommon Stock, at 1000 West 25th Street, which he owns with Bill Haw..

“It’s a good-sized space that’s been underutilized,” says Schulte, who sold his and Zinn’s Columbus Park sandwich shop, Happy Gillis Café & Hangout, to Josh and Abbey-Jo Eans in 2013. “I wanted to do another sandwich shop and a deli, but I vacillated about wanting to pick up where Happy Gillis left off,” Schulte tells me. “What I really wanted to do was a traditional deli that serves high-quality pastrami, corned beef and lox. I don’t think I’ll do whitefish salad or gefilte fish.”

Schulte plans to call their new culinary business Speak.

“There’s a piece of graffiti down the street from us that has this dark figure and the words ‘Speak’ that has caught my attention,” he says. “I’ve been photographing it for a while now. I think it’s a fitting name for the neighborhood.”

Because the bathrooms in the three-year-old Uncommon Stock space are not ADA-approved, Schulte and Zinn’s new deli will be carryout only. “Customers can come in for a sandwich and a quart of our matzo ball soup,” he says.

Schulte and Zinn hope to have the new business open by mid-January 2016. The tentative hours will be 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.