The Passing of Zabar's Creative Director, Andrea Watman

With great sorrow and deepest affection, Zabar's announces the passing of our creative director, Andrea Watman, on June 14, 2011. Andrea was an employee of Zabar's for over 30 years. In addition to being our creative director, Andrea was head of our customer service department, our catering department, and all signage and graphics.

She was also responsible for heading up Zabar's award winning mail-order catalog, which was her pride and joy. All of this was done with a smile on her face and a sense of humor no matter what the situation. Andrea was loved and adored by all of us at Zabar's, and the love and caring that she gave to us all will be terribly missed and felt by us all.

Andrea was not just a loyal and dedicated employee but a true friend, a confidant, and a mother to us all. We will miss her dearly. Andrea is survived by her loving family, sister Joy Segal, brother-in-law Alan Segal, and nephews Ben and Sam, the loves of her life.
-- From Andrea's Obituary, published in the New York Times

Eyewittness News visited Zabar's shortly after Andrea's passing to film this report.
Watch it here:

""She was really the creative soul of Zabar's. She was also everybody's mother. She was like my mother," said Scott Goldshine, Zabar's General Manager.

"A lovely, lovely person. Whenever we had a complaint from a customer, she was the one that I would give the complaint, because she had a way with words," said Saul Zabar, Zabar's owner.

Waltman's legacy is her hundreds of recipes that can still be enjoyed."
- From Eyewittness News, Read the full article

Comments

[Randie Rubenstein]

I'm also so sorry to hear of Andrea's passing. We were all lucky to get to know her through her wonderful stories, recipes and emails.

My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

[Ann Degenhardt]

I was so sorry to read of the passing of Andrea. I so enjoyed looking forward to her recipes each month and trying them out. If I ever had a question about one of them, I could always write her and she would give me her best answer.

My sympathies to her family and colleagues.

[Sandra Gordon]

So sorry to hear this. I saved her Grandma's recipe and have used the Latke recipe several times. She must have been a good person.