Call Your Mother specializes in bagels and other deli favorites (Photo courtesy of Call Your Mother)

There are a few things that go into the perfect deli menu, according to Andrew Dana, who, along with the rest of the team from Timber Pizza, is preparing to open the self-described “Jew-ish” deli Call Your Mother in Park View.

“You have to have pastrami,” he says. “You have to have a good kosher-style hot dog. I don’t know if people call that classic, but I always ordered it growing up. You gotta have a black and white cookie. And tuna salad.”

He knows there’s more to it than that, though, which is why the Call Your Mother team is asking for help from the public to construct its menu with a recipe contest.

Diners with killer recipes for deli-inspired dishes can submit recipes for their famous potato salad, matzo ball soup, potato knish, and more to andrew@callyourmother.com by August 15. Call Your Mother’s team will recreate the emailed recipes and select the best dishes to appear on the deli’s menu. Winners will get to help name their dishes, and will get to feast on the dish for free for a year.

“Delis are always super nostalgic and evoke childhood,” Dana says. “We want Call Your Mother to be a neighborhood staple and a familiar place.” He’s adding these community-sourced recipes, he says, “so people feel a connection to the space.”

The menu will likely include two to four recipes gathered from the contest. “What we’re hoping for is to get a recipe for something we’re not thinking about,” Dana says.

The restaurant’s team, including chef Daniela Moreira (also of Timber Pizza), is planning to fill the rest of the menu with bagels, about eight sandwiches, a custom coffee blend from Lost Sock Roasters, and more. Dinner will be supper-club style, with a rotating menu that includes fried chicken, Peking duck, and New York-style pizza.

As for Call Your Mother’s opening date at 3301 Georgia Ave NW, Dana is aiming for early fall. “We’re the kings of ish: Jew-ish, Neopolitan-ish, so I’d say September-ish,” he says.