Duff Goldman Opens First-Ever Restaurant Duff’s Deli + Market (Exclusive)

Duff Goldman may be known for his over-the-top sweets, but now the famed chef is making a foray into the savory space.

PEOPLE can exclusively reveal that Goldman, 50, has opened his first-ever restaurant, Duff’s Deli + Market, on Monday, Dec. 8 in partnership with Areas USA in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta.

The new outpost will mark the Ace of Cakes star’s first savory restaurant with a menu inspired by the traditional Jewish delis and food items of his upbringing.

“For me, a relaxing meal is a pastrami sandwich and a bowl of matzo ball soup. You know, that sounds to me, wonderful, and it’s not something I get all the time,” Goldman tells PEOPLE. “And I feel like, if I was walking through an airport, there’s something you don’t see every day — really good pastrami, really good Reuben. Delis are just part of my background. After Sunday school, we’d always go to the deli, you know, get corned beef of Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry soda … if you sort of had to distill me down into elements, one of them would be pastrami.”

He laughs and continues, “I think a lot of people really haven’t experienced a really good deli … I think everybody knows about delis, because people that have been to a real deli love delis. People that haven’t been to a real deli have heard people that have been to a real deal talk about them,” he says. “I think people are gonna be really intrigued, because it’s just not something you see in the airport.”

Goldman was adamant that the menu reflect his favorite deli foods, like pastrami sandwiches and desserts, of course, like black and white cookies and even a green and white cookie that will come with pistachio and cardamom.

But the chef says that out of all the menu items he’s looking forward to the most, the chopped brisket sandwich is definitely up there.

“It’s very simple, sliced white bread with a little bit of butter on it, just a tiny, little bit of butter, not toasted. And then you take the brisket, chop it up pretty fine … give it a really good chop, and a little bit of butter in the pan. And then you just pan fry the chopped brisket until it gets a little crispy, and then you add some barbecue sauce to it. You let it simmer for a sec. Not a lot of sauce, it’s not super duper sauce-y, it’s mostly meat. Then the meat goes on the sandwich, and then a little bit of diced white onion and then two pickles. That’s it. That’s the whole sandwich. And it’s so good, there’s not a lot of stuff on it. It’s really, really simple. I feel like people really respond to it, because it’s sort of everything you want from a barbecue chopped brisket and sandwich and nothing you don’t.”

Fans of Ace of Cakes who stop by the new restaurant will also have the chance to take home merchandise and sweet treats from Goldman’s famed Baltimore-based bakeshop, Charm City Cakes.

“When people come to the deli we’ll have all the Charm City cake stuff,” he says. “We’re going to have cake jars that we make in the bakery to the airport. So people will be actually be able to go to the deli and get real cake that was made in my bakery, and T-shirts and cupcakes and stuff, too.”

Goldman jokes that it’s time to take the leap into the land of savory, noting that he can’t just be the “cake guy” forever.

“It’s funny, like, whenever I do like anything savory on like Instagram or Facebook or something, there’s always a couple people that are like, ‘Wait, wait a minute. I don’t get it, you’re the cake guy!’ And I’m like, ‘I am the cake guy, and I love being the cake guy, and I will never not be the cake guy. But, you know, can’t live on cake alone, right?!’”

Travelers passing through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport can visit Duff’s Deli + Market starting Monday, Dec. 8.