Would you be happy to chop herring with your husband? Or serve up schnitzels with your wife? Zev and Yasmin Ibgi do just that. Seven days a week in each other’s company, serving up kosher food until 9pm (on six of those days) to locals on the Swiss Cottage/St John’s Wood border from Habiba’s Deli, their business in Fairfax Road. 
“We may spend a little time apart if one of us has a haircut or whatever, but other than that we’re together pretty well all the time” smiles Zev. And they’re still smiling.

He’s the chef, spending much of his time in the deli’s basement kitchen, while she looks after front-of-house and admin, charming the locals in the brightly lit shop.

The counter in front of her is piled with meaty marvels; treats that have my mouth watering, especially the warm, sausage rolls, given an Instagram-edge by the scattering of black and white sesame seeds and a Pringle-like pull from Zev’s secret finishing touch. “I add just a tiny sprinkle of sea salt” he explains to me, as I’m clearing the plate of mini versions he has placed before me.

Their story is as winning as those pastry-wrapped snacks. Both are from restaurant dynasties: Zev’s father, Jack Ibgi, was the founder and chef at Golders Green stalwart, La Fiesta. Yasmin’s Adanite grandmother, Betty Canzi and great-uncle Simon Nissim founded Hendon’s White House restaurant.

Zev has been in the food business since the age of 14. He left school to go full-time at La Fiesta at the age of 16 — in the kitchen, and then front-of-house until just over a year ago, when he struck out to set up his own kosher deli.

Yasmin, 26, also grew up around food: “I lived with my grandmother, and used to help her make dishes like stuffed mushrooms and kubbeh. I waitressed there when I was about 14 or 15.”

Their story of foodie dynasties has echoes of Romeo and Juliet, thankfully more shortcrust than star crossed. You might call them a haimish Jamie and Jools.

Their store is bright and modern, the air filled with the tempting scents of freshly baked sausage rolls; tender Scotch eggs made with spicy lamb mince, steaming chicken soup and other meaty delicacies.

“I have grown up cooking meat so it’s a speciality” says Zev. He has also invested in his own smoker, to smoke a range of meats and fish. “I’ve been perfecting my techniques —I ’ve developed my own spice rub which has 11 ingredients.”

Both spent their childhoods in Stamford Hill. Zev is the fourth child of 10 while Yasmin has one brother. They met at his mother’s home in Shenley. She was one of his sister’s friends. “I was hanging after a heavy Purim party the night before” he recalls. “She was in a neon tutu.”

Hardly love at first sight, they were just friends for years before anything sparked off. Neither had romance in mind, until August 2018, when Zev invited her and a group of his friends round to taste the smoked meats he was experimenting with. He admits the meats were a bit meh, but the romance went slightly better — “I finally decided to step up” he smiles. The first dinner he made for her may have helped: “You made these triple-cooked chips and duck and steaks and served them on a huge plank and popped a bottle of wine” she smiles.

They started dating, but hadn’t planned on going into business together. She was then working for a jewellery company in Hatton Garden.

In January 2019, he opened the deli on his own. Even with mother, Chana (an accomplished Ashkenazi cook) lending a hand in the kitchen (making meat pies, schnitzels and crunchy latkes amongst other things) on some days, he was struggling to manage both the kitchen and the shop floor.

So, in March, he invited her to join him. “I thought, why would I want to pay to spend 14 hours a day with some other girl, when I could be with Yasmin!” Less than a year after that first meal, they married in Israel —”August is a quiet time for business.” Meat remained a theme — a seven course meaty banquet, designed by Zev that included a chicken liver-filled baklava and a main course of steak and chips.

The business is building slowly and Zev admits it has had its challenges. “The night before we opened, all the shelves collapsed and threw the dry goods on the floor!”

It has also been a slower start than anticipated. “I was used to being in Golders Green, where business was booming. We’ve really had to build the business here and it has taken several months to start seeing a breakthrough.”

They now have regular customers, wanting kosher staples plus deli treats and have started delivering; kosher lunches into City offices, and locally via Deliveroo. “We sell a lot of burgers with facon [fake bacon].”

With a large catering job to prepare for this weekend, they say there will be little time for romance. “But this is us — we work together; we ride it through. Every day is Valentine’s,” laughs Zev. “I buy Yasmin flowers every week, and we make sure that we have a date night each Wednesday, and that we go for drinks or dinner or the cinema — even if we’re dead tired, we still make sure we do something.”

Find more info on Habiba's Delicatessen here