Pastrami On Rye... Thats It!

Living in New York City for the past six years has widened my scope of how I view traditional Jewish deli. Just walking a few blocks in this concrete jungle, you are bound to stumble across multiple delis claiming to have the best ___. Jewish families that I know personally claim that dining at their deli of choice is a religious experience and should be taken very seriously. So with that in mind, I needed to decide which deli will become MY deli. It took a few years, but I found it. It was easy for me to decide. Even after hearing an opinion from one of my food heros like Tony Bourdain (chopped liver- Barney Greengrass), I was forced to bite my lip and shake my head in disagreement. I found 2nd Avenue Deli... Or maybe it found me, because it felt like fate when I stepped inside and was greeted by a steaming hot piece of pastrami (freshly cut, of course) and a piece of challah bread slathered with the best chopped liver that has ever graced my food orifice.

Before I go on, I feel forced to put this ongoing debate to rest: 2nd Ave Deli, or Katz Delicatessen?

2nd Avenue Deli is far and away better than Katz's Deli (which isnt even kosher; its kosher style, so naturally the ladder is an imposter). Who am I to decide? Just look at this link from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delicatessen. Notice under Notable Deli's, they list 2nd Avenue Deli first. Or this link from about.com: http://gonyc.about.com/od/restaurants/tp/best_delis.htm

SQUASHED! DEBATE OVER! The cyber gods have made their decree.

While other delis boast some impressive stats like Carnegie Deli- one sandwich can feed a family, Stage Deli- famous people, Ben's Deli- Large and many locations, and Katz's- History, and hand cut pastrami; some come close to what 2nd Ave had managed to perfect-- the pastrami on rye.

When you walk in, its packed, which is a great sign for any eatery's quality. A short, delicious wait (see above) and your party is whisked away by a waiter to a table that never hosts enough leg room. By the way... A few of the wait-staff look and act like they have been there for decades (which is probably true). I always order one of their tasty and traditional app's. With items like chopped liver, stuffed derma, p'tcha (I dare you to try it), chicken fricassee, gribenes (kosher pork rinds), and even cholent (traditional jewish stew) 2nd Ave never disappoints. Even their matzo ball soup was features on Bobby Flay's Throw-down (Bobby didn't know how to make a matzo ball, so he said he went to the best place he knew of in the city for a little help) Follow that up with a hot pastrami on rye and a Dr. Brown's Black Cherry and you will melt away like their pastrami when it hits your tongue.

Its the consistant quality at 2nd Avenue Deli that brings me back there when I find myself in the neighborhood. Most delis across the country use lean cuts of pastrami that are better for you and yield more meat, but at MY deli they use a fattier cut. Its obvious that fat = taste, but it does something truly special to the texture when it gets steamed all day long in its peppery coating. The heat from the paper-thin slices of meat steam the jewish rye bread and intensify the flavor of the caraway seeds, speckled throughout the soft, doughey loaf. It's as if the bread they use was created just for this purpose. When the first bite hits your mouth, you quickly realize that the bread (as great as it is) is only there to act as a device to get the pastrami in your mouth. You close your eyes and it melts on your palate. To quote Bourdain yet again, "its food porn!"

If you decide to try the food that this historically great establishment, you are making the right decision.