Robert Protzel’s name is synonymous with traditional Jewish fare in St. Louis. At the family business, Protzel’s Delicatessen, 7608 Wydown Boulevard in Clayton, he discovered as a child—he calls the store his babysitter—his love of making people happy by serving them good food. That’s probably why he works in catering management at Straub’s, which has four stores in the St. Louis area.

At 6–foot-5, Protzel, 29, is a towering yet pleasant figure who laughs easily. He lives with his wife, Catherine Protzel, and their daughter in Creve Coeur. They are members of Congregation Shaare Emeth, also a long-standing family home. In 2001, Protzel graduated from Parkway North High School. When asked about his college experience, he said: “School of hard knocks.”

How has his Jewish heritage shaped his life? Protzel replied “my religion at Shaare Emeth allows me to be very egalitarian. I’m big on equal rights across the board.”

We talked last week in a small meeting room at Straub’s in Clayton.

Why don’t you work in the family business?

When my father [Ron Protzel] sold the business, I left too. I did not want to run my own business. I wanted to work for someone else.

Why?

When there are a lot of problems, it’s not really my problem. I don’t bring it home with me. Working for a company like Straub’s gives me a lot more flexibility.

What is your job?

I’m the assistant deli manager at the Town and Country store, and I’m catering manager for the company.

So if anyone wants to cater a party, you’re the guy to talk to.

I’m the guy to talk to.

Have you had other jobs in the company?

I was an assistant manager at our store in Ellisville, which has closed. It was one of the greatest learning experiences I’ve had in my life.

What did you learn?

The whole dynamics of opening up a store. It’s extremely complicated. You’re always looking at your watch. The things I learned in Ellisville you cannot get from a textbook. I was watching a store being built from the ground up. It was just an incredible experience.

Do you expect to go to college someday, get an MBA and wear a suit and tie?

Not necessarily a suit and tie. There’s probably a school in my future someday. Straub’s is a big family. I really feel at home when I am here. I have no plans to leave. I don’t want to leave. There’s probably not a better company to work for in St. Louis.

That’s quite a statement. Why do you say that?

The bosses know everybody’s name. They know about everybody’s family. They ask the right questions. They just make you feel really good. During holidays, there’s a tradition where Tripp [the owner, J.W. “Tripp” Straub III] walks through the store and shakes every person’s hand. You know, a handshake goes a long way.

What do you have to know to be a caterer and assistant deli manager?

Every single bit of product that we have. And a lot of things we don’t have, but we can get in. We have to know what we can get, how we can get it, who to call. I know quite a few chefs who know their business. I had a customer from Spain who was looking for a particular black truffle. Very, very hard to get in the Midwest. Chefs usually know how to get them, but they won’t tell you. So I had to do a little work, digging around, finding people. One chef kind of got mad at me but he told me how to get ‘em. You have to know what strings to pull.

So you got the black truffles?

I did, and the customer was happy. I did my job. The No. 1 thing we do is customer service, and quality.

When you are considering cheeses and salamis and other cold cuts, are you able to get anything a customer wants?

If it’s available in St. Louis, we can get it. Even if it’s not, we’ve got things coming in from all over the world.

Can’t Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s do that, too?

We are able to get things they cannot because we are small. We don’t have to have a big meeting to get it.

How do you react to the local food movement?

We support local foods. We’re a small guy, and it’s important to support the small guy, too. It might be a chili or a cheese. One of my favorites is from the Iowa border. It’s called Prairie Breeze, made in a Mennonite community. It’s incredible — very sweet, semi-firm, cheddar.

We specialize in chocolate. We can get chocolate from anywhere in the world, but I think Bissinger’s is the best.

Has the local food movement and Whole Foods been hard on an older, more traditional specialty store like Straub’s?

We are well-established with our customers. Competition is good for business. We can learn a little from them. They come in here and learn from us. We know that. It’s part of business.

But Whole Foods must be very competitive with Straub’s for younger customers.

They carry organic. We do not. We are a specialty foods store. We have balsamic vinegar that’s 100 years old. I’ve tried some that was 75 years old. It was incredible.

Is there a market for that sort of thing?

Oh, yeah. People are eating at home a lot now. People don’t like to eat like they used to.

Is there a particularly Jewish way to do what you do?

Everything I do. The way I was raised, I am very proud of it. I have a couple of [catering] orders I am doing right now for a couple of temples. They are my people. I am proud of my people.

Could you prepare a Passover meal?

It would knock your socks off, but it wouldn’t be kosher.