Menu items from Meshugganah Jewish deli & bakery: pastrami sandwiches, potato knishes and matzo ball soup. (Photo by Berger Media)
Following years of tribulations that included tragic loss and shifting career paths, Rob Clement is getting back in the kitchen with the return of Meshugganah Jewish deli and bakery, the beloved COVID-era pop-up that will soon operate as a takeout in west Charlotte.
Clement on Thursday announced he will reopen Meshugganah for lunch service on Wednesday, Feb. 18, operating out of a 245-square-foot private suite inside City Kitch on Thrift Road in the Wesley Heights neighborhood.
Clement stepped away from the kitchen in 2022 to focus on family after his wife, Franki, was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Franki passed away in January 2025, a tragedy that left Clement reeling as a grieving widower and single parent to two children.
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He explored different career options outside of the kitchen so as to spend more time with his children and in summer 2025 launched Meshugganah Hospitality Consulting, capitalizing on his 20+ years of experience in restaurants without demanding the hours that come with running one.
Opening Meshugganah as a lunchtime deli now allows Clement to return to his passion while his children are in school and serve Charlotteans the Jewish cuisine they fell in love with in 2020.
“Coming back now feels like stepping into the part of my life I have missed – cooking, leading a team and making food people enjoy,” Clement said in a release this week.
The menu will feature longtime favorites like scratch-made pastrami sandwiches, potato knishes and matzo ball soup. Desserts such as black-and-white cookies and rugelach will come from Metzger’s Bakery.
Clement became familiar with Metzger’s, a bakery specializing in handcrafted bagels and pastries in southeast Charlotte’s Oakhurst neighborhood, through his consulting work. He plans to continue to advance the city’s culinary scene through Meshugganah Hospitality Consulting, according to this week’s release, helping independent restaurants with menu development, operations and guest experience.
The history of Meshugganah
Originally a Jewish pop-up deli launched out of Free Range Brewing in 2020, Meshugganah’s famous pastrami sandwiches could be found in breweries, coffee shops and similar spaces across the city in its early years.
Building on the popularity of the pop-up, Clement signed a lease to open Meshugganah’s first brick-and-mortar location. After that fell through in the 11th hour, Clement operated out of City Kitch until Franki’s diagnosis in early 2022.
“When that happened, I kind of put everything on pause, wanting to be available for my wife and for my kids,” Clement told Queen City Nerve in July 2025. “I kind of just took a step back and reevaluated everything, tried to figure out how to be the best husband and father I could be and food kind of took a back seat to that.”
Read more: Rob Clement Bounces Back From Tragedy To Transform Meshugganah’s Business Model (2025)
During Franki’s battle with cancer, Rob worked with his prior employer, Jon Dressler of Rare Roots Hospitality, to run Meshugganah as a mainstay within Joan’s Bakery & Deli, which opened in Midtown in December 2023.
After fighting valiantly for three years, Franki Clement passed on Jan. 8, 2025. Rob shut down Meshugganah that March.
Rob Clement with his late wife, Franki, and their children before Franki’s passing. (Photo courtesy of Meshugganah)
“…[Franki] was the fiercest person I’ve ever known — my partner in life and in business — and the heart behind everything Meshugganah stood for,” Clement said in an Instagram post on the Meshugganah’s page in July 2025. “In the wake of that loss, I’ve had to rebuild. As a father. As a human. And now, as a professional — on new terms.”
Now with the return of his deli, Clement said he wants each dish to serve as a nod of gratitude to the community that supported him during the pop-up era and the hardest moments of his personal life.
“This isn’t your average deli,” he said. “People can taste the difference, and that is what makes Meshugganah special.”
Meshugganah will also provide catering options including sandwich platters and meat platters for offices, gatherings and special occasions with offerings available for events such as bar and bat mitzvahs and Jewish holidays.
Interested customers can inquire through Meshugganah’s website or via Instagram. Beginning Feb. 18, Meshugganah will be open 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Wednesday through Friday, with pick-up orders and delivery available via Toast. City Kitch is located at 2200 Thrift Road.
Annie Keough contributed reporting to this article.
