The two women had just finished lunch when a reporter pounced, peppering them with questions.“What did you think of the food?” “How was the service?” “Would you come back again?”And then, “Do either of you keep kosher?”“I’m not even...

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...