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1669-41 Social, Society,& Local News 1946-1993 a SUN SEP 16 1990 ED: FINAL SECTION: NEIGHBORS MB PAGE: 32 LENGTH: 19 . 04" MEDIUM ILLUST: photo: Mitchell Thal and Harry Thal in The Epicure Market SOURCE: AARON S. RUBIN Herald Staff Writer DATELINE: MEMO: EPICURE MARKET BOASTS A PAST OF STARS When retired baseball star Babe Ruth needed steaks for a barbecue, he knew where to turn: Miami Beach' s Epicure Market. So did John F. Kennedy, who once had dinner delivered to the presidential yacht, moored off Miami Beach. And rock star Bruce Springsteen, in the midst of a national tour, didn't hesitate to spend more than $13, 000 for bountiful helpings of beef, lobster and crab from the Miami Beach institution at 1656 Alton Rd. As Epicure Market enters its 45th year, the grocery' s cast of customers reads like a Who' s Who of Miami Beach pioneers and a compendium of some of America' s most famous personalities and infamous ruffians. Entertainer Jackie Gleason favored chicken-in-the-pot and sandwiches to take the edge off rehearsals. Film comedian Walter Matthau leaned toward deli fare. Mob kingpin Meyer Lansky indulged in a hearty veal meal in the kitchen -- so his wife couldn't see him stray from his diet. When America returned to a peacetime economy after World War II ended in 1945, Edward Thal, a restaurateur and would-be barman, converted the former my kitchen into the Epicure Market. The store took its name from top-of- the-line S.S. Pierce foodstuffs and was the most recent of several markets dating to 1926, Thal said. Originally from Philadelphia, Thal used his Northern connections to stock meat and butter in a time of postwar scarcity, continuing the store' s tradition of supplying select merchandise and catering to the Beach' s upper crust. The market grew, expanding to 41st Street (from 1965 to 1985) and 9417 Harding Ave. in Surfside, and Thal ' s brothers and relatives joined in the effort. The store remains family-run, although its 140 employees have expanded outside the Thal clan. Over the years, the Epicureans claimed a variety of Miami Beach firsts, Thal said: bringing in fresh fruit from California, stocking fresh turkeys for holidays and making deliveries from an air-conditioned truck. "As the times have changed and the city has changed, we have changed too, " said Harry Thal, Edward Thal ' s nephew and manager of Epicure' s kitchen and baking facilities. In recent years, Epicure has gone beyond a full line of prime meats and produce to emphasize prepared meals, expanding into a variety of ethnic delicacies, holiday fare and custom cooking. The market offers a 200-item menu each week, Harry Thal said, and features foods prepared fresh throughout the day. Prepared foods make up more than 50 percent of Epicure ' s sales, said Mitchell Thal, Edward' s grandson and manager of the store ' s retail operations. The items -- priced at $5 or $6 per meal -- are popular because people don't have time or skill to prepare many dishes, Mitchell Thal said. A 24-hour phone recording, 672-1866, details menu offerings. Also popular are gift baskets filled with delicacies, modern adaptations of the steamer baskets that once were given to friends or relatives before they set off on an ocean voyage, Edward Thal said. Mitchell Thal said one such basket led to one of his most thrilling encounters . 1 He sent a basket to an ex-baseball star who was undergoing a heart operation at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Several days later, a man came to the store and said the former New York Yankee wanted to thank him for the basket, Thal said. "I turned around and there was Joe DiMaggio. My knees went weak, " he said. "It ' s something I ' ll never forget. " EPICURE TRIVIA Here are some interesting facts about Epicure Market, 1656 Alton Rd. : * More than 1, 000 customers a day patronize the store. Edward Thal ' s original store, opened in 1945, had just under 2 , 000 square feet. Including kitchen and baking areas, the Epicure Market now occupies 30, 000 square feet. * More than 50 percent of its business comes from buyers of prepared meals . * As more young people move to the Beach, ethnic and spicy foods have become popular. The market employs a Chinese cook and recently began to bake Cuban bread. Epicure pastries are served on Pan Am and Concorde flights from Miami. Epicure is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends. ADDED TERMS : END OF DOCUMENT.