Sidney “Sheppy” Berg, a restaurateur whose passion for Jewish cuisine launched a kosher eatery bearing his name, died earlier this month. He was 95.
Berg, who earned the nickname “Sheppy” from childhood friends and went by nothing else, died from natural causes April 9. Raised in East New York, Brooklyn, Berg left the borough for Merrick — the “country,” said granddaughter Robyn Cooper — as a young man. There in 1970, he opened Sheppy’s, an appetizing store, deli and caterer that was shuttered in 2006.
Food was Berg’s inspiration. At Sheppy’s, diners could load up on a smorgasbord of offerings, including egg salad, bagels and lox, chopped liver (even a vegetarian version), Southern fried chicken, latkes, knishes and franks in jackets. The food was a staple at events, his family said.
“He loved it and it was his life,” daughter Teri Cooper, of Merrick, said. “There wasn’t a platter that we made or food that we cooked or a recipe that we made that he didn’t have to taste first before he allowed it to be sent out.”
Since Berg’s death, former customers have shared stories of seeing Sheppy’s familiar logo on the dining table at get-togethers, said Teri Cooper. His food was so popular that during a visit to Israel in the early ‘70s, daughter Gale D. Berg, of Long Beach, said someone there recognized the brand on her containers.
He developed his own recipes, sometimes with the help of wife Evelyn Berg, with whom he created the popular matzah ball soup. Robyn Cooper, of Merrick, inherited the family recipe.
Berg met his wife on a blind date at the movies where they split Life Savers, only to find they both fatefully abhorred the green ones and tucked them back into the pack. They were married 74 years.
Food, the fabric of Berg’s life, anchored other important things, such as family and community, Robyn Cooper said. Family members were frequently in the restaurant’s two kitchens working alongside him. He loved vacationing in Florida, but couldn’t stand to peel himself away from the restaurant for more than a few days. Plans on weekends were a no-go so he could ensure he was personally at catering events.
“He loved feeding people,” Robyn Cooper said. “He was inviting them into his home. Everybody was just welcome. That’s how my mom raised us … Everybody is always welcome and there is room for everyone at the table.”
When Berg phoned his granddaughter, the first question he peppered her with was simple: “What did you eat?” His passion for food inspired Robyn Cooper’s art thesis, which was about food, love and family.
“Food is love in this house,” she said.
Berg was buried April 11 in New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon. Besides his wife, two daughters and granddaughter Robyn Cooper, he is survived by son Stuart Berg of Merrick; son-in-law Alan Cooper; granddaughter Jillian Kantrowitz of Charlotte, N.C. and grandson Chase Cooper of Merrick.
