Sidney 'Sheppy' Berg, 95, dead; founder of Sheppy's kosher eatery in Merrick
Sidney "Sheppy" Berg, whose love of Jewish cuisine led him to open his popular Merrick kosher eatery Sheppy's, died on April 9 at age 95. Credit: Berg family
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 of natural causes on April 9. Raised in East New York, Brooklyn, Berg left the borough for Merrick — the “country,” as he called it — as a young man, said his granddaughter Robyn Cooper of Merrick. There, in 1970, he opened Sheppy’s, an appetizing store, deli and caterer that closed 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,” said his daughter Teri Cooper of Merrick. “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, his daughter Gale D. Berg of Long Beach said, someone there recognized the brand on containers.
He developed his own recipes, sometimes with the help of his wife, Evelyn Berg, with whom he created the popular matzo ball soup. Robyn Cooper inherited the family recipe.
Sheppy Berg met his future 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 for 74 years.
Food, the fabric of Sheppy Berg’s life, anchored other important aspects of his life, such as family and community, his granddaughter said. Family members frequently worked alongside him in the restaurant’s two kitchens. He loved vacationing in Florida, but he couldn’t stand to peel himself away from the restaurant for more than a few days, she said. Personal plans on weekends were a no-go: He wanted to ensure he was at catering events.
“He loved feeding people,” his granddaughter 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.”
Whenever Berg phoned his granddaughter, his first question was, “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.
In addition to his wife, two daughters and granddaughter, Berg is survived by his son, Stuart Berg of Merrick; another granddaughter, Jillian Kantrowitz of Charlotte, North Carolina; and a grandson, Chase Cooper of Merrick.
Berg was buried on April 11 in New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon.
Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.
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