Nickolai is the A&amp;E editor. He was previously the assistant A&amp;E editor for the Lifestyle beat and an A&amp;E reporter.

Nate Nickolai

News

Sports

Arts

Opinion

The Quad

Photo

Video

Illustrations

Cartoons

Graphics

The Stack

PRIME

Enterprise

Interactives

Podcasts

Games

Classifieds

Print issues

Oscars 2026

robots

The employees at Westwood Ralphs deli work with pastas, salads, meats and cheeses for the lunch rush. Timothy Kauthen (above) hopes to perform theater in New York someday, while his coworkers are passionate about horror literature, family counseling, photography and fashion. (Jennifer Hu/Daily Bruin)

https://dailybruin.com/2016/01/13/behind-the-counter-ralphs-deli-employees-dish-on-aspirations-artistic-passions/web-ae_-ralphsdeli-jh_-jpg/

twitter:card

twitter:description

twitter:title

twitter:site

https://wp.dailybruin.com/images/2016/01/web.ae_.ralphsdeli.JH_.jpg

twitter:image

twitter:creator

web.ae.ralphsdeli.JH.jpg - Daily Bruin

Lifestyle

db-story-c1

Daily Bruin

Behind the Counter: Ralphs deli employees dish on aspirations, artistic passions - Daily Bruin

Behind the Counter: Ralphs deli employees dish on aspirations, artistic passions

max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1

As the daily lunch rush begins, the Westwood Ralphs deli staff works fast, taking orders and cooking entrees like macaroni and cheese and fried chicken. Carts full of bread fly in and out of the deli kitchen as a constant exchange of cold cuts overtakes the space above the glass countertops.

https://dailybruin.com/2016/01/13/behind-the-counter-ralphs-deli-employees-dish-on-aspirations-artistic-passions/

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

IN THE NEWS:

Behind the Counter: Ralphs deli employees dish on aspirations, artistic passions

By Nate Nickolai

Jan. 13, 2016 7:40 a.m.