Peter Vogl, the much-loved former owner of the famous Panzer’s deli in St John’s Wood, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 82.
He worked at the store, loved by generations of Jewish families, for more than 50 years.
Regular customers included celebrities like Paul McCartney, TV presenter and writer Denis Norden, and author and director Jonathan Miller.
Peter supplied caviar that was snapped up by Barbra Streisand and Kensington Palace.
He once told how he asked a “very scruffy-looking fellow” to leave the store. "Apparently, it was one of the Gallagher brothers of Oasis. Was I to know?”, he added.
Current owner David Josephs, a local customer who bought the store from Vogl in 2015, posted on the deli’s Instagram that Vogl was “a gentleman and a mensch” who “will be greatly missed by us all – not least for his great sense of humour and wisdom”.
One previous blog post, recounting visits to Panzer’s, reads: “I immediately felt at home as the owner, Peter Vogl felt really familiar. He could be seen working in the deli most days, Sunday mornings were always very busy but he was always friendly and was there to help.”
The deli’s post had more than 200 comments at the time of writing.
One said: “So sad. Peter Panzer supported and advised me when I just started baking from home and for many years after. Will always remember him fondly.”
Another read: “He was a true legend and was missed when he passed ownership and will always be remembered by his battalions of customers as a good bloke who smiled was on top of his game and I’m not sure my smoked salmon beigles will ever taste the same.”
The deli is known for its smoked salmon and bagels.
When Vogl handed the reins Josephs, the pair spent 18 months working side by side which Josephs spent “absorbing the history, the idiosyncrasies and, crucially, what made customers come back week after week”.
The deli also now boasts a pizzeria, which Vogl, described as “Panzer’s royalty”, dined at last year.
Next to a photograph of him smiling with a pizza, an Instagram post reads: “His legacy lives on in every corner of the shop, so we’re glad he approves of this new chapter!”
In 1964, at the age of 22, he started working at the St John’s Wood store, which was opened two decades prior by his father, Walter.
He took full control in the 1980s and ran the shop for more than 30 years selling up to Josephs.
Walter Vogl was a refugee from Czechoslovakia who went into business with one Mr Panzer, an Austrian refugee who had served in the military.
Against the backdrop a Britain reeling from the Second World War, the pair opened Panzer’s delicatessens in Willesden Green and Golders Green, before opening the iconic St John’s Wood location in 1956.
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