Dayton has a brand new delicatessen.
Rump and Roll, at 526 6th Ave., officially opened on Oct. 1. They initially started working on the space this spring.
Described as a “deli and bakery,” they offer freshly prepared breakfast sandwiches, deli sandwiches and hot soups. The deli sandwiches include a Charcuterie Sandwich, a Kentucky Cuban, a Corned Beef Reuben and more.
Before opening Rump and Roll, owner Tavis Rockwell oversaw Louvino’s five restaurants in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, including one located in Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine neighborhood.
“My wife and I had been talking about wanting to open a deli with fresh-baked breads, cakes and baked goods for a long time,” Rockwell told LINK nky earlier this year.
Rockwell left Louvino after the COVID-19 pandemic. For a while, he stayed home with his kids, then started working as a restaurant consultant. He always had an eye open for the perfect space for the deli he had in the back of his mind, “And then the space showed up, and I just kind of went for it.”
And for the name? Rockwell said they did a lot of “throwing darts and just saying names. But we like Rump and Roll. We just thought it was fun. You know, a lot of deli meats and things and braises are made from the rumps of animals. And you roll most breads in some form when you’re making them.”
The deli also offers fresh-baked goods, such as croissants and desserts like ginger-carrot cake and triple-chocolate-chunk cookies, oatmeal-butterscotch-cranberry cookies and almond sugar cookies.
Customers also can take home food items from the deli cases, such as marinated flank steak, bone-in New York strip steaks, prime filets, ribeyes, pork tenderloins as well as deli salads like broccoli salad, braised greens salad, deviled egg salad and pimento cheese chicken salad.
For people coming into Rump and Roll, Rockwell said, “Don’t necessarily have expectations. Just come in with curiosity and see what we are. Everyone thinks of certain things. Everyone thinks of butchers and bakers as certain things. But we’re just going to have what we have.”
To his customers, he said, “I want to work with you. I can order you anything if you want it. I mean, if you want to come in and order a full prime or wagyu tenderloin for Christmas, I will figure it out, I will get it for you, and we’ll figure out how much it costs. I want to enrich this little community. I’m going to be a part of it.”
Rockwell has also appeared as a chef contestant on the Food Network program Chopped! And in 2014, the Louisville Forum recognized him as one of the city’s top local chefs under age 30.
“Dayton, Kentucky, is fast becoming a culinary destination in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati, and Rump and Roll is a great new addition to our repertoire of restaurants,” said Dayton Mayor Ben Baker in a press release. “We are proud of the diverse dining opportunities our city offers, and we encourage people to visit us to enjoy the culinary experience our city offers.”
Rump and Roll is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Find more information on its Facebook Page.