Pastrami Blog

National Pastrami Day 2012 - Miller's East In San Rafael

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:13:00 +0000

National Pastrami day is here! January 14th is the date started originally by Togo's several years ago. This year Togo's is actually offering sandwiches to someone for a whole year in a contest known as the "Pastrami Challenge". Someone will win the contest by eating one of their two and half foot long sandwiches filled with over a pound of pastrami. Whoa!

I've been celebrating the holiday for the past 3 years and I plan to go to The Refuge tomorrow for the holiday. I know it's a busy weekend and the 49ers play tomorrow, but please find some time this weekend to honor the national holiday. While you're enjoying your pastrami reflect on past, present and future pastrami sandwiches And what they mean to you. To me it means good food with family + friends and always reminds me of my grandpa at Langer's.

I was lucky enough to try the new Miller's East Coast Deli in San Rafael this past Tuesday. They were only open to friends and family as they opened a little too early and were unable to quell the demand of the North bay pastrami urge and had to shut down for some fine-tuning. The official reopen will be this Saturday, just in time for National Pastrami Day.

We showed up around 6:30 for our dinner and Robby Morgenstein, owner of Miller's, also came by to say hi. For appetizers we got the stuff cabbage roll and well as two Empire sodas - one cream flavored and one cola flavored.

Cabbage Roll

Sodas

The cabbage roll was very flavorful and I enjoyed the meat and rice on the inside of the stuffed roll. My girl said the tomatoes may have been canned, but that didn't seem to bother me. The cream soda was just OK, but the Cola was a real winner and I would recommend it to anyone who comes in the restaurant. Cel-ray or Black Cheery Dr. Brown sodas are also excellent, but you should give the Empire Cola a chance.

I got a corned beef and pastrami sandwich and my lady did the same but got it Reuben style toasted with sauerkraut. I actually liked her sandwich better.

My Sandwich

Reuben with Corned Beef and Pastrami

I could tell they were working some things out in the kitchen as they weren't sure they could do a half pastrami/half corned beef Reuben and they had to confirm the cooks could do that. They'll be better in a few weeks as far as knowing the menu and serving the food, however the taste is excellent and tastes similar to that of the Miller's East Coast on Polk. I recommend trying this place soon, but perhaps wait a few weeks for the initial buzz of the first Jewish Deli in the North Bay to calm down before expecting to get your sandwich in under 10 minutes. It'll be busy at the start and I hope they are more prepared for the pastrami demand for their reopening. More business is good, we're "Saving the Deli" in the Bay Area.

Jim's Burgers, Tommy's Pastrami, Reuben Balls, Miller's New Location

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Happy New Year from the Pastrami King!

This installment of the Pastrami blog I tried to find the best pastrami sandwich in the Central Coast of California. With suggestions from yelp, I tried a place called Jim's Burgers in Santa Maria, CA.

Jim's Pastrami

The owner of Jim's is a gruff, rough around the edges. He tried to charge us an extra 50 cents for mayonnaise which is ridiculous when I'm already ordering a sandwich with fries and a drink, but it is his business. He sliced the pastrami with a machine slicer and brought it to our table. My company had recently been to the Refuge in San Carlos, as well as Miller's East in SF and this was the first time she had tried some fast food pastrami. She was disappointed, as was I. The machine-sliced pastrami was the same kind of LA fast food pastrami they serve at The Hat or Johnny's Pastrami (which I reviewed in my old LA post), but this was not taken care of as much and it was drier and less flavorful than the previously mentioned LA fast-food pastrami joints.

Tommy's Pastrami

On the flip side of the fast food pastrami section - I went to the Tommy's Pastrami in Hemet, California. Although it was the same lower quality fast food pastrami, it was much better because they took proper care of the meat. It had it's own steam locker and when you ordered the pastrami the worker would take the pastrami from the steamer and then grill it for a small amount of time before serving it. The result was a delicately soft pastrami that still tasted like hot dogs, but at least they got the texture right! I wouldn't recommend either Jim's pastrami or Tommy's pastrami to a Jewish deli fan - however I think it has it's place.

Reuben Balls

Deli Board made these beauties and called them "Reuben Balls". They featured corned beef, sauerkraut, Russian dressing and some other stuff. It was like a Reuben egg roll. Check the Deli Board menu daily as they have been having them from time to time as well as other awesome specials.

Miller's East Coast Deli is set to open up their San Rafael location this week and I hope the Marin area is ready for that rye goodness. Please go visit the new location that will feature the always lovely Sy Ginsburg pastrami from Michigan. They're truly one of my favorite delis in the city and I wish them all the best with their new location.

Le Smoked Meat

This picture was sent to me from a yelper who has been making his own smoked meat. Thanks Jordan for the awesome photos. I would love to try a small piece of it next time!

National Pastrami Day is January 14th. Mark your calendars and make your plans to have pastrami sometime that weekend - as I know sometimes it's hard to get to your pastrami spots on Sunday. Make sure when having your sandwich you remember the past pastrami sandwiches as well as the future pastrami sandwiches and what this holiday truly means to you. To me - it means smoky, spicy, meaty goodness. What does it mean to you? Leave a comment and let me know :)

A Streetcar Named Pastrami: Cochon Butcher, Central Grocery, Evelyn's Place

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:44:00 +0000

Hello pastrami lovers! I spent my 27th birthday weekend in New Orleans, which is a very charming city. I made it to a few pastrami spots as well as a muffuletta sandwich from Central Grocery.

The muffuletta sandwich is a large, Italian sandwich said to have originated at this small deli by Jackson Square in New Orleans. I just happened to be walking by here on the only day they were open during my trip. Hey - they must call it Central Grocery for a reason, it's right in the middle of the French Quarter across from Cafe Du Monde (the beignet and coffee place).

The store itself is just like every other Italian deli you've been to. There are pastas, spices, fresh tomato sauce and all other specialty items synonymous with a place kinda like Genova's in Oakland or Guerra's in SF. I ordered one muffuletta to split with my dad from this counter. I noticed on the side of him there were half assembled muffulettas with the meat and cheese on the bread without the signature Olive spread. When you order he goes over and finishes the sandwich off with the famous spread and hands it to you. There is a small dining are towards the back, but honestly I wanted to eat outside in the nice, warm weather so we went to Jackson Square.

Jackson square is an interesting and significant place for many reasons. Andrew Jackson, our 9th president and face of the twenty dollar bill, was credited with saving New Orleans from the British during the War of 1812 and the city dedicated the square to him. During the day, it's a perfect place to bring a sandwich. I found a place on a bench and unwrapped the sandwich.

The muffuletta is a very tasty sandwich. The bread is super soft - a sesame roll. The Italian ham and mortadella are complimented well by the cheese and oil. The olive spread wasn't too overpowering and actually made the sandwich, in my opinion. It isn't a muffuletta without the proper olive spread. As I was sitting there with my dad another fellow from Seattle came along and ate a half-one next to us and some other ladies from Memphis and Brooklyn came with a sandwich as well. It seems this would be the muffuletta bench. I'd wager that at least a few thousand muffulettas have been eaten on that bench and everyone from everywhere seems to pass through Jackson Square.

Photo Credit - Nicollette "Lawdy Lawdy Miss Clawdy" H. of Yelp!

At night Jackson square is an eerie place, with a much different energy than the day. I took a ghost tour while in New Orleans and I learned they used to hang people here. Many people lost their lives in the park and some people say spirits are still there. They lock the gates so drunk people don't sleep in there - but what's odd is a bunch of feral cats come out and roam the park and stare at people. They literally people watch. You will not see the cats at day, ever and they survived the hurricane. Also at night, the whole park is encircled with palm readers, fortune tellers, and mystics trying to sell you on a reading. Behind the square is one of the original churches in New Orleans and Pirate Alley where Faulkner set up shop in town and sipped on absinthe. The place has it's own energy - go at both night and day for the full experience.

The next place I went was kinda meh, but is very worth talking about. Evelyn's Place is located on Chartes street about a block away from Canal Street (The Market street of NO, essentially). The old guy sits on the outside and talks people up as they come by promising hot sandwiches and cold brew. He had pastrami, corned beef and brisket - so I was intrigued.

I ordered the corned beef because he was out of pastrami. It was served on a french roll, which I will forgive if it's good bread - but it was just ordinary. The corned beef was warm and that's about all I can say past that. Not an overly salty flavor, but just not as flavorful as many corned beefs I have tried. I'd rather have Chick n' Coop corned beef, which is a hof-brau in Daly City not known for their corned beef. The gentleman who owned the restaurant, Frank, was a character though. I told him I was the pastrami king from San Francisco and he told me to move to NYC. That's all good and well, but I can get waygu pastrami here in SF. Then he proceeded to tell me that Evelyn's place was for workers, not necessarily the employed. He said to me "Look at that guy." I looked over to a guy dressed up like he worked in a business office "That guy is employed, but isn't a worker - big difference." Wow!!! OK. My dad hated his gumbo. Moving on...

Cochon Butcher or simply Butcher is my favorite restaurant in New Orleans and perhaps one of my favorite lunch spots in the country. It's essentially smoked meat heaven. They their own meat and Butcher is a lunch spot only while the restaurant next door that owns it and shares it's kitchen serves brunch, lunch, dinner. I'd like to go to Cochon itself another time, but Butcher was a real treat!

They had so many great things on the menu and in the deli counter to oogle at. They had whole hogs for sale if you wanted along with sausages, rib eyes, salamis.

Duck Pastrami Sliders

Pastrami Sandwich

muenster was not like turkey pastrami as it was richer and noticeably smoky without a coriander spice layer on the outside that is normally synonymous with bird pastrami. It was very tasty, excellent. My regular pastrami sandwich was the best thing of the whole meal though. The pastrami here is some of the best I had because it's smoked in house by a guy that learned from his father how to smoke meat. He obviously was taught well and knows what he's doing because it had a certain smoky quality that was unparalleled to other pastrami I have had...not as sweet, but more smoky than others. I told the guy I liked it better than Carnegie Deli's pastrami and he was touched by that compliment. New York has some great pastrami, but this is just as good if not better than any pastrami in the United States. I say so, and I've tried it coast to coast - winner of the best pastrami in New Orleans. Who dat!? I made sure to grab a shirt from the friendly staff and I plan on sporting it with pride.

Please leave a comment. I really enjoy getting comments and it lets me know people are reading. My E-mail is Pastramiking@gmail.com and feel free to e-mail me with questions, suggestions, and offers. @Pastramiking on twitter and please click "like" on my Facebook fan page which is linked at the top of the page. Thank you for reading and supporting the Pastrami Blog - the only independently written blog dedicated to Deli food in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Johnny's - Antioch, California & Bite Me Sandwiches, SF

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:12:00 +0000

Hey there pastrami fans! I hope you enjoyed my post on the Waygu/Kobe beef pastrami as much I enjoyed eating it. I have some news and a few deli sandwich reviews that I'd like to share with you for this mid-September post.

My first bit of news - I'm going to be in New Orleans this weekend to celebrate my birthday. I plan to try some pastrami for the blog, but the big, well known sandwich in New Orleans is the Muffuletta which is an Italian style sandwich with olive spread on a round roll (and of course the po-boy). It's normally a sandwich meant to be shared, so I hope my dad will want some or I'll just order a half-muffuletta. I'm also planning on just relaxing and having a sazerac on Canal street. If you have any suggestions for me to enjoy my vacation in New Orleans, feel free to comment on the blog or e-mail me at Pastramiking@gmail.com.

This past week I was able to attend the Giants vs Dodgers game. Giants/Dodgers is a huge rivalry and I showed up in my Dodger gear, which is making yourself a target for smack talk. The only problem for Giant's fans - it's hard to hate on a guy with pastrami. My dad flew up from LA that day to go to the game with me and he brought a gift package from Langer's. We watched the game at AT&T park in SF while eating pastrami sandwiches from Langer's in LA. The guy sitting behind me asked "Hey, where did you get that sandwich?" and I responded "L.A." and he got really interested. "Wow you brought pastrami all the way from L.A.? You must be a pastrami fan." I smiled and gave him my card as well as a small piece of Langer's pastrami, then went on to discuss the fine establishments in SF that carry good pastrami. The Dodgers winning that night was cool, but the highlight of the evening was eating the pastrami sandwich at the game inside the ballpark and having people intrigued by my blog. Awesome!

My first sandwich review is from a place in San Francisco named Bite Me Sandwiches on South Van Ness at 17th street. They had an interesting menu with lots of sandwiches featuring pastrami/corned beef, so I was intrigued to check it out. It's a small sandwich shop operated by two guys who are super friendly and like to make a good sandwich. I ordered a pastrami Reuben and the guy offered it on rye bread because he wanted to make it traditional. I always appreciate that - you can't mess with a classic.

Bite-Me Sandwiches Pastrami Reuben

The pastrami itself was OK, pretty good, but not great. I did like the toasted rye bread, the Russian dressing, and the sauerkraut. The flavor of the classic Reuben was all there, it just wasn't a Carnegie Deli Reuben, but I didn't pay near that price either. The advantages of this place - it has great prices for a big sandwich and has a relatively small line at lunch time compared to Ike's, Deli Board, or Ted's. I'm always down for a new sandwich shop by my work and I will look forward to trying out all their sandwiches till I decide what I really like there.

For my second review - I went all the way to Antioch, California which is about half way between San Francisco and Sacramento. Its nickname is the "Gateway to the Delta", referring to the San Joaquin River Delta which is actually where most of Southern California gets it water from. I had to go out there to measure a building for my job, which was abandoned except for the raccoons that lived on the top floor in the rafters. For lunch, I found a place on yelp called Johnny's Market.

Pastrami on soft roll - Large and in charge

When we were driving to Johnny's, a few blocks before the shop a sign was hammered into the ground advertising "Beef Brisket" this way. I knew I was in for a treat. This sandwich shop has been here for years and this is the place the locals go for their sandwiches. I ordered a big pastrami on a soft roll and sat down at the dining table next to the TV to talk with the other patrons. They told me they had been coming here for years and this was the best sandwich in town - I have to agree that it's a great value and they have great hot meats like brisket, pastrami, and hot links. It reminded me of Ted's Deli in the city, but this was in Antioch - which isn't necessarily known for it's culinary prowess. In fact, they even use the same pastrami as Ted's Market which is Evergood pastrami. I think that it's a four star out of five on the pastrami spectrum. Evergood is a San Francisco based company and their pastrami has a great flavor, but it's a little thin and a bit salty. Overall a very good pastrami, just not grass fed, organically grown, Waygu beef (I'm getting spoiled now). No, Johnny's isn't a petit cafe - it's an old school sandwich shop with friendly owners and a cool room for you to enjoy your sandwich before going back to your work day. If you're ever in Antioch, I high recommend coming in here and talking with the owners and locals.

My last bit of news is a shout out to Rene C. on yelp and his review of the Refuge that reminds me of Langer's and the time my Grandpa told me only a fool would order the cheeseburger. When you go to a place that's known for pastrami a burger is normally a bad call. But to be fair, Refuge has some great burgers, although I'm going to get the pastrami each and every time. Hmm, maybe a pastrami burger? Thank you Rene C. for your wonderful review of the Refuge and I hope you're a pastrami convert for life now!

I hope you enjoyed the Mid-September post and I plan on having another one once I get back from New Orleans. Traffic on the website has been down this quarter, which has been probably due to my lack of posts. I have a renewed passion for the blog and I plan on posting more frequently than once per month now. Keep coming back - I love getting your comments and suggestions for pastrami places. Pastramiking@gmail.com for email, @Pastramiking on twitter, and please join my Facebook fan page - otherwise i'm posting it up on your wall and you have to deal with it :-)

Viognier Restaurant/Draeger’s Markets American Kobe/Waygu Pastrami, Wise Son's Rye

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:30:00 +0000

Happy September. This is my favorite month because the weather is still nice, football is starting, and my birthday is on the 19th. The Pastrami Blog celebrated it's 2nd anniversary on August 28th. It's amazing how far this blog has come. Just in the past two years I've tried pastrami from NYC, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and all over the Bay Area. Also, we've seen great things happen in our backyard as new pastrami/corned beef spots have popped up over the city like Wise Sons & Deli Board. There are still many places to try in San Francisco and other areas of the Bay and I look forward to sampling them for another year to come. Feel free to send suggestions although a small list of places I'd like to try soon include - Giordano Bros on Mission, Orson Cafe, and Spruce Cafe. I'm always happy to get more suggestions from readers and fans - send e-mails to Pastramiking@gmail.com.

With Chef Preston

Lovely Fluffy Rolls

Wrapped Pastrami and Mustard

This post we have something extraordinary - a pastrami made from Kobe/Waygu beef. This product is going to be available soon at Draeger's Market / Viognier Restaurant in San Mateo (Viognier is located above Draeger's market). Chef Preston Dishman makes this pastrami and is a pastrami blog fan - here is another bio on Preston. He sent me a small gift package with pastrami, homemade rolls, homemade mustard, a napkin and a sweet note letting me know about the sugar cure and the blend of spices they used for the rub for the large, smoky outside of the pastrami as well as instructions for the perfect pastrami sandwich.

Holy Marbleized!

Upon opening the package I was very impressed with the way they thought of everything for me to have a perfect lunch - Thanks Preston and Viognier for the lovely care package and chance to try this pastrami.

The pastrami itself got inspection right away. The first thing I noticed with the very marbleized pastrami - this is of course Kobe/Waygu which is known for it's increased flavor and fat content. That was very evident from just looking at the meat - there were many layers of fat within the meat. The large black outside smelled excellent and the sugar cure was also evident in it's aroma when first smelling the pastrami. The flavor cold and hot is tremendous.

Sliced Pastrami - Ready for Warming...or Not.

It's almost a whole different world trying it cold versus hot and both are pleasurable in a different way. When tried cold the fat sort of melts in your mouth like butter but the flavor on the outside almost tastes more like a jerky rub - which isn't bad, just a bit more of a jerky flavor to the rub than normal (spicy). It's honestly so good this way that my roommate has caught me eating cold slices late at night for dessert. He makes fun, but even he likes it when it's cold. When heated up the sugar cure really comes out and it's very sweet, but the peppery outside offsets it in a wondrous way. I would say it's most similar to the Wise Son's pastrami with the cure - much different than Sy Ginsberg which is served at Miller's because of the sweeter cures. Also, like Wise Son's, this was not packaged and was cured within miles of where it was given to me (not stored, refrigerated, and shipped over), which means it's very fresh tasting. When I tried the sandwich I was very impressed with the roll - it was soft and a perfect picnic type of roll for a lunch. I also thought to myself that I'd like to try it on rye bread and since they gave me about a pound (maybe more, not sure) I would have plenty of meat to try a couple of sandwiches on different mediums. I always say a double baked rye bread is the best way to experience a pastrami and I think Wise Son's has the best rye in town.

The Perfect Pastrami Lunch at work

When I went to Wise Son's I got a pastrami and tried to order a rye bread, but they were out. The guy up front tried to sell me a challah roll, but I explained to him it was for something special and that I thought they had the best rye bread around. He asked "Did you read that or somewhere, best rye bread?" No! That's what I think and I have tried many rye breads. They have the double baked caraway seeded rye bread with the chewy outer crust which is essential to a classic Jewish deli sandwich. When I was waiting for my pastrami I explained to Leo (co-owner of Wise Sons) that I had some special Waygu/Kobe beef pastrami at home and that I wanted to try it on his rye bread because I thought it was the best. He found a few slices for me. Thanks Leo!

Double Baked Rye Bread with Kobe Pastrami - Only for the King!

That sandwich description - Kobe beef pastrami on the double baked caraway seeded Jewish rye bread with homemade cheese and homemade mustard, what a mouthful just describing this sandwich only fit for a king! I think that sandwich was good either way though - with the soft roll or the rye bread. One is more for a bright sunny day outside in the park (the roll) and the other is better for and indoor Sunday lunch. Why does the scenery matter? I'm not sure, but I think it does more than the chewy crust versus the super softness of the fresh roll. What do you think? Rye bread or not? It's a hot topic in the pastrami community - leave a comment about it if you have an opinion. I'm glad to say I got to experience multiple sandwiches of each! Overall I would say this is some of the best pastrami in the Bay Area, competing with The Refuge and NimanWaygu/Kobe beef which is praised as some of the most tasty beef - normally reserved for steaks - they made pastrami out of it and the flavor is amazing! The time and care are also advantages as this was prepared by a great chef who knew what flavors he was trying to obtain - kudos to Chef Preston for your vision - the man the man that made the sugar cure Kobe beef pastrami should be hailed by all pastrami blog fans as a royal
culinary genius!

Return to Ike's Sandwiches, Chick N' Coop Closes, Deli Board Moving

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:42:00 +0000

Happy August my pastrami fans! I have some good news and some bad news for you, as well as a pastrami sandwich review.

My first bit of news is a bit sad. The Chick-N-Coop on Taraval has officially flown the coop. There are still the two locations in Daly City and the Outer Mission...but this is the first Chick-N-Coop that I knew, partially because my first apartment was down the block. This was way before the pastrami blog, but I still remember getting the corned beef sandwich on the regular from the Coop. It was definitely a bit of a dive and normally you'd end up eating your dinner next to an elderly couple or a bunch of cops who spillover from the Parkside Police Station. When I first went there, there was this girl working behind the counter that was gorgeous and it kept me coming back. I used to talk to her and see her at campus on SFSU and then one day I went in there and she was gone. Her father was always there though. He was the owner and he had big, bushy eyebrows and an imposing presence...he wasn't mean...he just emanated a "don't mess with me" attitude. Sadly this is the guy that closed the shop as he no longer wanted to keep it open. He retired. That's that. Taraval will never be the same.

The Deli Board has shut its doors for right now until - but don't fret, it's not for long. The Board will be back in its new spot on Folsom Street, right around the corner from where their smaller location was for over a year. It's sad I can't get the sandwiches for lunch today, but I know Adam (the owner of Deli Board) is working extra hard in preparing his new spot for use to enjoy even more than we enjoyed the original location. He said they'll be open hopefully in early September. It's going to be tough to wait it out.

The sandwich pictured above is from Ike's Place, the world famous sandwich shop on in the Castro, SF. Ike's is one of the most reviewed (overwhelmingly positive) on yelp and recently won the ESPN Fanwich competition with their sandwich named the "Matt Cain". The pastrami blog was pulling for the Carmelo sandwich from Carnegie Deli when I first saw the competition...but after trying my "Paul's Reuben" at Ike's sandwiches I finally understand why so many people loves their sandwiches. #1 reason = They're delicious.

I pulled a small piece of the pastrami out of the sandwich to give it a try by itself, without the dirty sauce, veggies and cheese and was pleasantly surprised by the taste. I think I said something like "Oh that's very good". It was sweeter than I expected, but not overly so and had a nice fat content that marbleized the pastrami just a bit to add more flavor. The bread was very fresh and a lovely dutch crunch and the fixings are quite unique to Ike's with the dirty sauce (kinda like Italian dressing).

I called this a return, because the first time I went to Ike's it was way crowded and I was unable to get a sandwich before it was soggy. The only reason I would mention this is because they have made it so much better. The owner, Ike, is a really friendly dude who cares about his customer base and understood he was getting too well known to quell the demand for his might sandwiches - so he got a new, larger spot and hired more people. The result is a smaller wait time and a never soggy sandwich. Kudos to Ike for being great owner. I have yet to meet him, but I talked with him via text/e-mail and told him how great his sandwich was and how awesome his staff was to me when I came in. Give it a try if you haven't - it's a unique SF experience.

My next post will likely be about an article that is going to be on Chow.com on pastrami. I was interviewed by a food critic about the status of Pastrami in San Francisco. Hopefully his story is still on and I will have something to post for you about it. I also have a sandwich shop in Antioch, California that I will be reviewing. Drop me a line at Pastramiking@gmail.com. Twitter = @pastramiking. Please like my Facebook fan page at the top of the website. Thanks!

Bloomberg says "Yelp!" , The Deli Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:56:00 +0000

Pastrami Burger from Miller's East Coast Deli

The first days of Summer are here! The sun is shining and you should have had at least one pastrami sandwich in the past few weeks...and if you haven't - c'mon now!!! Get your lunch crew ready and hit up your deli for your favorite pastrami any way you like it. I won't hate on you if you like Boar's head with jalapenos on a soft-roll - just enjoy the sunshine with a sandwich as a favor to me and to yourself.

Since my last post I have been quoted in two major online publications - we're going to cover the news article I was quoted in entitled "Yelp's Online Reviewing Mafia" as well as the editorial done by SF Gate. My quotes were both in Bloomberg News and SF Gate (San Francisco Chronicle) and the yelp drama that comes with any story involving yelp was soon to follow. First I'd like to give a shout out to my boys as Wise Son's Deli. They got a big break and they were featured in a NY Times article - here. Also check out Wise Son's web page for breakfast, lunch specials here.

Deli Summit icon - Awesome!

The owners of Wise Sons, Leo and Evan, are already so well respected in the deli community that Evan was asked to speak on the panel at the Deli Summit - which happened on last month, mid-May at the JCC in Berkeley and also featured some of the owners from Mile End Deli in Brooklyn, Kenny and Zukes in Portland, Oregon and our very own East Bay delight - Saul's Deli in Berkeley (I think they organized the event). That is a pretty heavy panel of deli experts! Check out the video of the first ten minuted of the discussion on Saul's deli web blog which I already linked above. I really enjoyed reading this particular article written about the Deli Summit from the Zester Daily. The writer has some pretty choice quotes from from Evan that I enjoyed reading his anecdotes about "Salvador Deli".

I have to really hand it to Leo and Evan for creating a buzz for their deli. It's only open one day a week - but they seem to have taken the SF pastrami scene by storm and I have to say they have the best rye bread in San Francisco. The big news coming from Wise Sons this week is they have changed their location - they will no longer be at Valencia street and Duboce - but rather 10 blocks down the Street on Valenica at 24th Street at 1270 Valenica street (inside of Heart Wine Bar). Same time, new place.Have you tried it yet? If not - make it a summer mission to get down there on a sunny Saturday.

David Sax - Sandwich Physician

I would like to thank my buddy David Sax from Save the Deli one more time for coming to the Bay Area, writing this article on Yelp, and quoting me in the article. You're the man, David

David was contracted to write an article for Bloomberg Businessweek on yelp - which he entitled "Yelp's Online Reviewing Mafia". Take a look at the link - but the part you really want to read is on the second page -

For others, the rewards are personal. San Francisco architect and amateur pickled meats expert Theodore Ordon-Yaussi, 26, was tapped in 2010 after attending the "Elite Prom" as a plus-one. "My reviews are definitely read more now," says Ordon-Yaussi, who writes under the nom de plume The King of Pastrami. "I get more random messages from people I don't know. I have 20 new fans who follow my reviews." That can be invigorating.

Amateur pickled meat expert - that's Hot! SF Chronicle went on to publish a similar article in the newspaper as well as online at SFgate.com - read it here.

Reaction to the Article

I received mostly positive attention from people congratulating me on the quote. However, the two articles have garnered some criticism from the Yelp community. If you check the web boards, comments below each article - it's absolute anarchy - with people getting into verbal fisticuffs. LA, SF, and NYC all had separate threads discussing the validity and value of the article. Some think the article was spot on and there seems to be a backlash against the Yelp Elites on the web boards as a few people see them as people who would sell their souls for some free wine and food. Other voiced that non-elites are really the best writers on the website and contribute better written reviews. I've met some really cool people on Yelp and for the most part, I think people are generally cool, fun people when you meet them in real life. There are many faceless trolls which won't show up to events (I could be better about attending events to be honest) and there are even more accounts that have no value what-so-ever with 3 reviews complaining about waiter service. This is getting people to start to worry about Yelp combined with the fact they've been repeatedly accused of offering to take down bad reviews of businesses for money. I'm going to keep on doing my thing on there and I think I'll be happier for it. I like reading the reviews, I love going to the Yelp softball games, and I enjoy the talk threads too much. Damn the haters - because I was quoted in two major online publications because of my Yelp status and that sits very well with me.

Please check out my yelp page at Pastramiking.yelp.com. E-mail is Pastramiking@gmail.com and you can leave me a message - I love hearing from people all over the country. @Pastramiking on twitter and I have a Facebook fan page that you can "like" as well. Thanks for reading!

Guerra Quality Meats, Attman's Reuben Dip

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Wed, 11 May 2011 03:56:00 +0000

Happy May, pastrami fans! I have an excellent installment for you this month. I tried and perfected a deli recipe from the book America's Great Deli: Recipes and Traditions from Coast to Coast and also visited an Italian Deli - Guerra Quality Meats on Taraval Street in San Francisco. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did eating the good food.

Reuben Dip @ Yelp Softball Game

This is the lovely Reuben dip I made for two parties. The recipe was taken from an old-school Baltimore deli named Attman's. They're known for their succulent corned beef. The hardest thing about this recipe was finding the large round 12" rye bread.

Here is the recipe from the book.

2 pounds corned beef, chopped
1 pound shredded Swiss cheese
½ cup ketchup
4 tablespoons mustard
½ cup chopped yellow onions
½ cup sweet pickle relish
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1 12-inch round Russian rye bread, for serving
1 loaf rye bread, cubed for serving

Place the beef, Swiss cheese, ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, cream cheese, and sour cream in a large bowl and stir to combine well. Cut the top off of a round Russian rye bread. Scoop out the inside of bread. Add dip to hollowed-out bread and serve with the cubed rye bread. Refrigerate until it is served.

I made a few changes to the recipe that I would like to suggest to you. I used an unspecified amount of mustard in my Reuben dip (seasoned to taste), because when I tasted it the first time around I just thought it needed more of a kick...could be just me. Also, get a good cream cheese - the first time I used Lucerne from Safeway because it was on sale - not as good as the Russian Viola cream cheese I picked up in the Russian Supermarket out on Geary Ave. That is also where I found the Russian Rye bread - in the Richmond District, the area known as "Little Russia" which runs on Geary between 14th and 26th Avenue. The specific shop I found the Rye bread was called Gastronome. All the other shops in the neighborhood had rye bread, but the problem was finding it unsliced. Walked right in the door at Gastronome and I saw it! A large, round, unsliced Russian Rye loaf. Eureka! The lady rang me up at the counter and I paid cash and at the end of the transaction she asked in an accent "Would you like me to slice your bread?" - NO!!!!! If anyone else knows another place to get an unsliced large round rye in SF - please leave a comment. My last suggestion - get corn chips or bagel chips for dipping. They suggest a loaf of rye bread cubed up - but then you need toothpicks and honestly they tasted better with corn chips...one person suggested bagel chips and I thought that was a good idea, but I have yet to try it.

The first party I took this dip to was a birthday party for my good friends Heather and Jessica - it was bad movie night and "Snakes on a Plane" was the winner of the voting process. When I brought in the dip, they hadn't quite gotten the other appetizers out. When I put the Reuben dip down people pretty much mob attacked it. The second time I made it - I knew what I as doing a little better and I think it came out slightly better than the first. That was the one I brought to the Softball game. People loved it there as much as they did the other party - all the girls were exclaiming how much they loved my ""creamy meat".....well at least one girl said that.

Guerra Quality Meats is a place where salami proudly hangs from the drying rack - a true Italian deli. A new friend - Jon B. suggested this place to me. I was happy to "meat" him on a Sunday afternoon....being in the Sunset District - it was nice and foggy.

On walking in - you see their awesome display counter which has loads of goodies either to cook or just eat right there. Deviled Eggs? Don't mind if I do.

They also had an awesome butcher shop in the counter. This place has way better cuts of meat compared to the Safeway a few blocks away. I saw their Marin Sun Grass farms - that's local, organic beef - hard to beat. I don't know if that's where all their meat comes from (probably not) but they promise on their website that the beef comes from "from quality local providers."

I came in with the crown on because Jon wanted to see it - the owner thought it was pretty ridiculous and busted my chops a little bit. Sometimes you have to make a scene if you want to get noticed. I don't think the workers will forget me and a couple of them took my pastrami blog card - hopefully they're reading this. Jon also ordered a sandwich and we took them to the hood of my car to discuss life and playoff basketball. Ugh...my Lakers. Ugh.

I ended up ordering a pastrami on Dutch Crunch with Swiss cheese, mustard, tomatoes and a bit of lettuce. That's not a traditional Jewish pastrami (which are my favorite), but this Italian style pastrami was my favorite Italian Deli pastrami I've had. It was lighter, more delicate and not as salty...but still peppery on the outside. You can tell it's fairly lean and thin sliced - which is nice when you want it that way. I also got a side of macaroni salad - which was awesome. It has more vinegar and oil mixed in it and less mayonnaise but I think there was still a little bit of mayo in there to discern it from a regular pasta salad.

If you're ever on the L-line traveling from West Portal to Taraval you'll see Guerra as you turn onto Taraval Street - Get off the train and get a sandwich if it's a nice afternoon. I'll probably go back soon to try another sandwich from their menu - perhaps a prosciutto or coppa. Thanks Jon for meeting me there and pointing out a new spot to check out!

Please leave a comment if you liked this post or if you tried out the recipe. I would love to hear from you! Pastramiking@gmail.com , @Pastramiking on twitter, and my yelp address is pastramiking.yelp.com. Enjoy the Spring sunshine until next time.

Lunch with David Sax, Greenblatts's, Deli Board/Wise Son's: Another Blogger's Take

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 23:58:00 +0000

Happy April! The weather has changed, the sun is out....What better time to enjoy a pastrami sandwich then outside in the California sun. This Sunday I'm going to be at the Yelp Softball Game at Balboa Park and I'm thinking about making one of the dishes that's in the book "America's Great Delis: Recipes from Coast to Coast" by Sheryll Bellman - specifically the Corned Beef Reuben dip that was from a Baltimore Deli. I'll take pictures - but if you'd like to come to the softball game - it's an open invitation to anyone who would like to come (5$ for refreshments I believe).

There is some epic deli experience in this photo above. David Sax, author of the best-selling book "Save the Deli", is on the left with Robby Morgenstein, Owner of Miller's East Coast in the middle. David Sax is deli royalty, but he also writes for various other publications...which is why he was in SF. Sax was writing an article on Yelp and being Yelp Elite and I was obliged to give him some quotes about what being Yelp Elite entails for me. He was interested on how things have changed since I've become Yelp Elite and whether non-elite users talked to me more or if restaurant owners themselves talked to me more because they know of my Elite status. I told him I thought some owners cared more about what I write now and that I get random owners shooting me a message sometimes. Robby Morgenstein offered his opinion on yelp a few minutes later. He was upset about how frugal some of the reviews can be and said "Boy, all I have to do is look at someone wrong and they will give me a 1 star review. Ridiculous." Sitting at the table and listening to David Sax and Robby Morgenstein talk about delis and yelp was a real treat for me - I mean they are two people I respect greatly in the deli community and they're talking about the social/review network I am on daily - pretty special. For the record, I had a grilled NY pastrami as usual and David Sax had a brisket sandwich on a Kaiser roll. At the end of the meal David said to Robby "You know what I want from you next time I'm here?" Robby looked at him with excitement and David replied "I want some onion rings on my sandwich next time - right on top of the brisket." Robby asked "Thin or thick?" to which David said "It's your restaurant." Priceless.

The sandwich above is from Greenblatt's Deli in Los Angeles. Many people have suggested this place to me as having some of the best pastrami in the Southland and I finally made it to the place - it helps they're open till 2 in the morning. The sandwich looked close to the Brooklyn Sandwich at Canter's, but upon first bite I knew this sandwich was slightly better than the Canter's pastrami. The rye bread was that crazy crispy, chewy double baked rye you only get in LA (or at least I've only found in LA) and the pastrami was machine-sliced thin, but had an excellent sweeter less spicy flavor. I was very impressed with my Greenblatt's sandwich and I recommend trying it out if you're on Sunset and feel that pastrami itch. They even have a large selection of fine wines and a big deli counter to take things to go, if you please.

I've been getting pretty chummy with the Deli Board. They know me by name and face now...and I've been going there every week consistently for the past month and I must say I'm always impressed and happy with my meal. The first sandwich above was the "Rach" which is a pastrami on dutch crunch with Russian dressing. I talked about the Bay Area's obsession with Dutch Crunch bread in this previous post and I commend Adam (Owner of Deli Board) for making a sandwich that is both Bay Area and Deli in the same package. The second picture was a trio of sliders known as the "three amigos" special. I think if they were actually the three amigos....I guess Steve Martin would be the pastrami....maybe Chevy Chase...I'm not sure. I have become a really big fan of the Deli Board's soups and salads as well...try a Board Cobb out and tell me you don't think it's excellent, big, and tasty.

I was very pleased to see another blogger's write up for the Deli Board and Wise Son's deli. Rachel Allen of the blog "The Jew and the Carrot" wrote an excellent post on the two delis and how they're opening up the Jewish Deli scene in San Francisco - check it out here and comment on her page and tell her you love Deli Board, you love or are going to try Wise Son's and that the Pastrami King sent me here....You have your instructions my pastrami subjects...make it happen. I honestly get a warm feeling inside when thinking about these two delis and how successful they have been penetrating the deli wasteland of San Francisco. Soon people will be talking about our fabulous Jewish delis - instead of making songs about how we don't have them - like this song from Rita Abrams. We, the pastrami fans of the Bay, need to work to change this attitude that we don't have any good delis in the city and Deli Board and Wise Son's are breaking the old anecdotes that "San Francisco has no worthwhile Jewish Delis". Blasphemy, I say.

Rachel did a tremendous job on her article and it made SF look progressive and hip in the deli community: Kudos Rachel! On the other side of the spectrum, I was disgusted by the recent 7x7 article on pastrami sandwiches in the city entitled "Refreshingly Unhip: SF's Oldschool Pastrami Sandwiches". Take a look at that article folks...there are many things wrong with this picture. My first issue, the writer of this article never used rye bread....ever. I'm sorry....but an "old school" pastrami sandwich comes on rye bread. I'm all for new Dutch Crunch experiments like Adam's Rach (I actually want to commend him a 2nd time down here...way to go making it both Bay Area and Deli at the same time.), but an "old school" pastrami sandwich looks like the sandwich I got at Greenblatt's. It's on rye bread....maybe with some coleslaw...but if it were a truly traditional, old school it would come with mustard and that's it. Four of the sandwiches were on soft rolls....and one was on a Kaiser roll...not very traditional...maybe the kaiser roll...but certainly not a soft roll if you wanted "old school". My second issue with this article is the deli selection. They get gold stars for Moise's Pippic and Miller's East Coast....but the rest of the class doesn't belong in the pastrami conversation. M&L, Yellow Submarine and Roxie center were poor choices...choices that reek of someone who gets subs...but never gets pastrami sandwiches. With a little more research....7x7 could have found out that Memphis Minnie's has a special pastrami on Wednesdays or Wise Son's makes their own pastrami and serves it on Saturday...but of course those places are new, so if you really, really wanted to get Old School SF on em' they could have gone to David's Deli, Max's Opera Cafe, Lefty O'Doul's and Tommy's Joynt on Van Ness. All those places were opened some time ago, are well known to SF locals, and serve traditional pastrami sandwiches on rye bread...hell Lefty's and Tommy's hand slice the pastrami in front of you. Burrfish on you for not taking time to do this article properly...7x7....I'm disappointed.

That's all for now, Folks. @Pastramking on Twitter. E-mail is PastramiKing@gmail.com - my yelp address is Pastramiking.yelp.com and please join my Facebook fan page. My next post is going to be in the Bay Area most likely....was thinking about Spruce or Orson Cafe....please let me know what you'd like to see and I'll try to make it happen.

Wise Son's Pastrami Sandwich, Yelp Praise

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:32:00 +0000

Hey there pastrami fans. I hope you had an awesome Mardi Gras. This past weekend, I finally was able to try the Wise Son's pastrami sandwich...and boy was it awesome.

This sandwich was a bit hard to obtain...as Wise Son's is only serving on Saturdays as a pop-up inside Jackie's Cafe on Valencia (@ Duboce). The pastrami was sweeter than most of the pastrami I have tried - more salty/sweet than spicy. The slices were larger, thicker hand cut slices - which I normally prefer over the machine-sliced, thinner slices of pastrami. The brine had a large fat layer on it that let you know without a doubt in your mind that this was pastrami and not corned beef. I have never seen a corned beef with that type of brine on the outside, although it did have pinkish hue (not as ruby red) that some corned beef has. The rye bread was very good, the rye crust was chewy and crispy...but it still wasn't as good as the double-baked rye of Langer's. A very lovely presentation and a tasty pastrami - a definite 5 star in my book. Can't wait to try it again!

Speaking of Langer's....I had a guy harass me a bit when I ordered my sandwich @ Wise Son's with Swiss cheese and coleslaw. He said "That's not kosher, it goes against the grain." I smiled....this guy is 40+ years old and screams East Coast...but I'm confident in my deli ordering skills. I'm confident because I know the first deli I ever went to - Langer's in Los Angeles - has been proclaimed the best deli in the world by many, many people. "I'm not Jewish, I'm Polish. I do not adhere to Kosher law." I replied - then with a question to him "Where do you like to get your pastrami, usually?" He told me he was a a big fan of Max's Opera Café, but that he's from Brooklyn and "nothing beats Brooklyn." I have a bit of an issue with this statement. Many people try to claim Brooklyn when claiming the best deli food, but more often than not - I ask them which deli and where and their response is some small place I've never heard of or they give me an Italian deli instead of a Jewish Deli as an example. I know of some delis in Brooklyn - Mile End comes to mind as well as David's Brisket House and Ben's Best (Queens) - but I do think it's a cop out to claim Brooklyn without backing any claims. At least give me the name of the place that makes Brooklyn unbeatable. After he claimed Brooklyn, I responded "Oh yeah - Max's Opera Cafe uses Robert's Corned Meat in the city, they do good business." He looked at me like how the hell did he know that? then following up "and if you're going to claim Brooklyn on me - I'm going to have to claim LA. You ever been to Langer's? Best pastrami in the world." He told me "no" and I told him he's "missing out" and I hand him my Pastrami King card. Yes - I can tell a old Jewish maven from Brooklyn he's missing out on the best deli food without flinching - because I am the Pastrami King!

I got some awesome love on yelp this past few weeks - two awesome reviews. The first review was from a a girl named Tram, from San Jose, who reviewed the Deli Board. Check out the review here, but my favorite part is in the beginning.

"Theodore.. if it weren't for your review, I wouldn't have ordered the Boca sandwich.. I came here from San Jose w/ a one track mind: I MUST get Boca or else my heart would stop instantly."

Nice! Thanks a bunch Tram. I'm glad that Boca treated you well and I'm sure the owner of the Deli Board will be happy to know I'm sending him pastrami lovers. The second review that mentioned me was from a friend Luis A. We went to Miller's East together and he was blown away by how good it was. Check out Luis' review here.

A small excerpt "I was referred to this place by 'THE PASTRAMI KING' and now I know why he is called that. This guys truly knows his craft and was not kidding about the food here." I'm blushing from all the praise on yelp. It's amazing to see how many people have reached out and talked about how I led them to a great deli experience.

I got some news David Sax, writer of the book "Save the Deli", will be in the Bay Area to do a story on yelp and yelp elites. I'm not sure he knew I was yelp elite, but he does now and I'm hoping to have some pastrami with him sometime next week. Hopefully will get some pictures for the blog of David. I am also planning on going to Los Angeles at the end of the month and will be trying a few places there (hopefully).

My e-mail is Pastramiking@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @Pastramiking. My yelp stuff is always pastramiking.yelp.com. and please, join my facebook fan page. There is a link at the top of the page for "liking" the fan page - do it!

Carmelo Hits Carnegie, Seattle Pastramified, Wise Son's and Calabria Bros.

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 07:16:00 +0000

I have lots of material for this post. I'm going to take us to NYC, then to Seattle, then back to the Bay Area. Let's start with the NBA, because I love talking sports.

(Photo Credit Mark McCormick of howiGit's blog)

It's final. Carmelo Anthony has gone to big lights of Broadway...Madison Square Garden...The Knicks. Before the season started, NYC was completely crazy over LeBron James and his possibility of signing with the Knicks. In an attempt to lure LeBron to New York, the Carnegie Deli named a sandwich after him in hopes it would let Lebron know they really, really wanted him in a Knick uniform. I featured it in the bottom this previous blog post and it was also featured in Save the Deli - here. LeBron chose South Beach and New York responded by signing Amar'e Stoudemire to quell the appetite of New York fans. That wasn't enough though, as the Knicks made big moves acquiring Carmelo Anthony, as well as former NBA Finals MVP Chancey Billups. Of course, as soon as Carmelo landed in the Big Apple....Guess what happened? The Carnegie Deli named a sandwich in honor of Carmelo...as he is now the true ruler of basketball in New York (sorry Amar'e, but I do love the apostrophe in your name). TMZ was the first to break the story.

Feast your eyes on the Carmelo sandwich. Talk about stretching it out. It has loads of Corned Beef, Pastrami, Salami, Bacon, Tomato, and of course Russian Dressing. That's just insane....good luck to anyone who would dare order it. Alright...let's get out of NYC...as it's a bit frozen this time of year.

Let's go to a place where the NBA sadly no longer exists - Seattle. This is a view from Kerry Park in Queen Anne. It was remarkably clear - as you could see Mount Rainer in the distance.

We went straight from SeaTac Airport to Roxy's Diner in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. I ordered the pastrami hash with poached eggs and my friend got the challah French toast. The pastrami hash was excellent - a tremendously hardy breakfast with the bagel, potatoes, eggs, and pastrami. I loaded all the ingredients on half bagels and then punctured my eggs to let the yolk saturate the whole bagel...perfect. I highly recommend Roxy's Diner at any time of the day. The servers are cool and cute and the people the patrons are often lively and interesting...plus they have the coolest web address...they got www.pastramisandwich.com - lucky guys.

I Love NYC Deli - Pike's Kiosk

My next pastrami stop off was at Pikes Market to revisit the I Love NYC Deli kiosk... I can't say it was as good as it was last time. My pastrami could have been a bit warmer and the knishes were so dry he just have me one to sample for free. It was alright, but what's going on with the quality control? I don't think the owner, Jon, bothers with his kiosk anymore - it's all about the deli location on Roosevelt Street. My sandwich was OK...maybe it was later in the day (it was about 1 PM...not even quite 2). I suppose my question is why have two locations if one is going to suffer quality wise?

Inside of Pike's down below the I love NYC Deli stand there was the Pike's Place Bakery - where I found the elusive poppy seed flavored rugulas. They also offered a "homemade pastrami" which I found out is actually supplied from Market House Meats - a corned beef staple in Seattle. I asked for a small sample of their pastrami and the man obliged as I just bought some rugulas from him. I didn't want to take out my camera for one slice at a crowded bakery so I will do my best to describe what it looked and tasted like. It was almost without a brine, no black crust on the outside - so it looked like corned beef, but a slightly deeper red color. It tasted a little salty, yet very delicate for pastrami without much spice..with a thinner slice that made it extremely feathery, light weight. I'll do my best to make it to Market House Meats next visit - but I believe they're only open on weekdays, so it might be more of a challenge.

For my next stop, my posse went to Broadway and Pike for a surprise at the HoneyHole. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from a place named the "HoneyHole", but I was encouraged when reading about their pastrami which comes from Painted Hills Natural Beef ~ from the hills of Oregon, an organically grown beef.

The sandwich was named the Corleone and it came on a demi-baguette with mustard and sauerkraut. I added Russian/Thousand on the side. I'm going to make a bold proclamation here - the Painted Hills pastrami at the HoneyHole is the best pastrami in Seattle. It's hand-sliced with large cuts of spicy, robust, extremely flavorful pastrami. I'm talking way more flavor than my sandwich at I Love NYC deli yesterday (their pastrami is flown in from NYC and this is local). My friend was super impressed and said he'd never had a pastrami sandwich that good...and I'd have to agree it was most excellent. It cracks my top 5 list...perhaps..definitely in my top 10. The price was excellent too - the sandwich was only 9$, which is incredible for the quality of the meat. I wasn't all that impressed with the bread and other ingredients - it was the meat that made this sandwich. Check out the HoneyHole next time your around Pike and Broadway in Seattle - they're open pretty late.

Back to the Bay: Wise Son's and Calabria Bros

Do you prefer an Italian Deli or a Jewish deli? I prefer a Jewish Deli, of course but it is up to debate. The Calabria Bros sandwich shop opened about six months ago has a special on Mondays - a hot pastrami. The hot pastrami special was more like a Chicago hot beef sandwich with that chopped up, not as spicy pastrami - more fast food, hot dog smelling than I prefer. It was...edible, but I would suggest sticking to the prosciutto or the mortadella with fresh mozzarella. They have loads of imported meats from Italy that are super salty (some are too much for me). Ask the guys for some help or a taste and they'll help you pick your sandwich meat. Give them a try when your feeling a different sort of salted meat (yes I love pork, bacon, and hot coppa).

My last sandwich is a not a pastrami sandwich, but rather a brisket sandwich from Wise Sons Deli pop-up inside Jackie's Cafe on Valencia (boy, that's a mouthful). This is the braised brisket on a sea salted challah roll with a homemade slaw and pickles. The braised brisket was awesome and the challah roll was probably the best challah bread I've ever tried. Homemade slaw A+ and the pickles were a bit different, sweeter and more cucumber-like than most. I keep on missing the weeks they have pastrami - hopefully it will work out soon. Thanks for the great brisket Wise Sons and I'll be back for pastrami soon.

Thanks for reading my post and please "like" my facebook fan page - I started it about two weeks ago. Twitter @Pastramiking. E-mail is Pastramiking@gmail.com and I love hearing from people from all over the world - so shoot me a letter and I might just respond in my next blog post. Please leave a comment if you liked the post. Also, if you would like to see what I eat besides pastrami check out my yelp stuff at pastramiking.yelp.com

George the Pastrami Maven - Mill Basin Receives NYC Honor - Update: Wise Son's

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:14:00 +0000

Hello pastrami fans. I'm very pleased with my blog right now. January 2011 was the most popular month of the Pastrami Blog by far. I had hits from all over the world since the last post - including a very large portion of Australian visitors earlier this week. How did I get to Australia? There was a blogger in the Daily Telegraph who posted pictures of what he thought was the worst sandwich of all time in a blog post he entitled "Scamwich" - check the link. Under his comments - someone said "I already ate" and then he linked my blog under the word "ate". It was cleverly written and caused lots of people to click the link. My recent visitor map was covered with Australian web-surfers from Brisbane to Melbourne - how awesome!?

Pastrami Blog Milestone - I'm going to upload the first videos of the Pastrami Blog, ever. It's not of me, it's not at Katz's or Langer's. It's two videos of an old soul - a man named George who can't get enough of Pastrami - even at 97 years young. Please enjoy the videos as much as I did.

In other pastrami news - Mill Basin Deli in New York City received the "Best Pastrami" award from the NY Daily News - check out the article here. This is a big deal for Mill Basin, as it's putting them on the map with the big hitters in NYC like Katz's, Carnegie, or 2nd Ave Deli. I can tell you just from what I read I added it to my list of places to visit along with Sarge's and Ben's Best. New York is certainly an Empire...and for me it's an Empire that's quite far away (and frozen right now), which is why my next trip will be to Seattle.

That's right - I'm going to Seattle next week for the long President's day weekend. I'm currently planning my trip on yelp and google maps - was looking a going to a few places for the blog...so keep posted for Seattle Pastrami #2 (here is the original Seattle post from over a year ago). I know I said I was going to do another LA post next, but I had some free tickets and my family lives down in SoCal- so I will be returning to LA sooner rather than later to try Greenblatt's, Art's, and other LA joints.

As a small update to some previous posts - I would like to let you know that Wise Son's Deli has been serving food on Saturdays outside of Jackie's Cafe on Valencia. They have gotten nothing but excellent reviews on their yelp page. I'm excited to try them out, but I didn't get a chance last weekend - I was happy to see one person on yelp took a picture of their pastrami - Thank you very much Amy G. You only have 6 reviews on yelp, but you're an all-star to me for taking this picture (photo credit to her for this next one).

Wise Sons Deli - Pastrami Sandwich

A very special announcement - I have created a fan page for myself on Facebook. I would appreciate it if you would "like" the Pastrami King of the Bay Area on Facebook - the link is here, but you have to be logged into Facebook, I believe, to add yourself to the followers. As always you can e-mail me at Pastramiking@gmail.com. My yelp stuff is at Pastramiking.yelp.com. Twitter @PastramiKing

Super Bowl Pastrami - National Pastrami Day Wrap-up

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:11:00 +0000

Howdy there! National Pastrami Day went very well. I finally got to meet the owner of the Deli Board, Adam Mesnick. Adam invited me to come to the Deli Board for lunch to celebrate the holiday, take some pictures, and talk deli for a minute. Check out the Deli Board's site here and visit them sometimes soon - you'll be happy with your sandwich.

Adam brought me out some pickles and some broccoli cheddar soup to start. The soup was excellent - I could actually taste the broccoli, which is normally not the case in broccoli/cheddar soup. The pickles and peppers were good as well - the half sours were my favorite. The Cali cousin Reuben had a mild, not overpowering sauerkraut with a fatty pastrami that was quite baconesque...on a super soft roll. It's very hard to argue with the finished product - it's just what you want in a pastrami.

and if a bomb sandwich wasn't incentive enough....the Deli Board girls are HAWT! They are really sweet too. Say hi to them when you get your food.

That evening I also went to Miller's for dinner with a couple of friends and some people from yelp. About 8 or 9 people were there in total, which is about what I wanted. We all had pastrami...in different forms. One person got a Reuben, one person had it on an onion roll, and I got the grilled NYC special again. It was a fun time, but I didn't really take too many pictures - I apologize. Here is a link to Miller's website. I give them lots of love almost every blog entry...so you know it's good. Try it out if you haven't yet.

Last week I picked up a big pastrami for the NFC/AFC Championship games from Robert's Cornet Meat. I had some guests over and my Royal Pastrami Chef, Josh, was nice enough to cook the pastrami and slice it up for us. Please enjoy the pictures.

You can tell boxer face's attention is on the pastrami...my boxer face, mmmy my boxer face.

Royal Chef with Boxer Face (Josh and Zeus)

Finished!

I received some interesting e-mails since the past post. One of the e-mails I received was from a gentleman named John in Walla Walla, Washington. He was talking to me about his home-cured pastrami and invited me to come try it if I ever make it to the Eastern part of Washington. Here is a link to the guys blog. I know I get some readers from Washington because of my older Seattle post....maybe I'll make it Spokane soon...who knows.

Another e-mail I received from a fan was from a man named Joel who wanted to show me his "cheater" pastrami. He made the pastrami in a crock pot because he did not have access to a smoker...his pictures look pretty damn good - look at it here. The pictures really did impress me and he seemed to be a genuine pastrami fan (in his note he reminisced about Pastrami King in Queens, NYC). Thanks for the info, Joel!

This is proof that if you e-mail me I will respond...if you'd like to E-mail me send it to Pastramiking@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @ Pastramiking and my yelp stuff is always at Pastramiking.yelp.com (if you'd like to see what else I eat besides pastrami - check yelp).

National Hot Pastrami Day - 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:53:00 +0000

Togo's Pastrami

Happy National Pastrami Day - January 14th! I hope everyone had a great holiday season, but this is the real holiday everyone should be celebrating.

Togo's was the first place I know of celebrating National Pastrami Day. The sandwich franchise from San Jose, CA has offered coupons for pastrami sandwiches the past few years to the first 100 customers that entered the store - not a bad deal. This year, however, they are not going to offer free sandwiches. They will be offering a coupon for a free 20 oz. soda when you buy a regular sized pastrami sandwich (BOO!!!!). Well at least it's something and I give them mad props for celebrating the holiday. Langer's deli in Los Angeles mentioned the day on Facebook and was encouraging people to stop by and try their world famous #19 sandwich. I'm celebrating the holiday tomorrow with a double down of pastrami - the first sandwich will be from the Deli Board and will be enjoyed at my office at lunchtime. The double-dipper will be at Miller's later that evening (might be a half sandwich) and I set up an event on yelp to invite people to join me at Miller's - check it out here. I'm not expecting too many people to actually come and say hi to me at Miller's, but hey you never know. I will post pictures in the next post, which should be a quicker, smallish post. After the pastrami, there is going to be another yelp event I will be attending called the Klassy ladies event - so if you miss out on pastrami that evening come have some drinks with me on Broadway.

I had a visit from a big pastrami blog fan back in December. Ellen F. came from New Jersey and we got to try the Refuge and Miller's, which she wanted to try both of those after hearing me rave about the pastrami at both places. It was all pretty standard and excellent at both places - the new thing I have to tell you about the Refuge is the "Goofy Fries".

I talked to the owner of the Refuge, Matt Levin, and he told me the goofy fries were actually made up by some customer and became "perplexingly famous" to the point he had to have it on the menu. It's cheddar sauce, fries, pastrami with some garlic....yeah it's pretty heavy, but oh so good. I would recommend trying them next time you're at the Refuge - you'll love em!

The picture above is actually a homemade smoked meat from a yelper that messaged me. Jordan C. is an ex-pat from Canada that swears by Schwartz's deli in Montreal. He made his own smoked meat because he couldn't find another suitable substitute in SF. I think his favorite pastrami sandwich in the city is at Tommy's Joynt on Van Ness. Give him a yelp compliment on his profile. He deserves some praise!

In some other Bay Area pastrami news - The restaurant/deli that was going to open up as Treyf decided to change their name to "Wise Sons deli" and they are planning a launching party in February and will open to the public soon after. Check out their website - they are also going to serve a breakfast on January 22nd at Jackie's Vinoteca & Cafe on Valencia Street in SF. I'm excited for this new deli to open - so I will keep you posted as I hear things from the owners.

I also have some material in Los Angeles that I'm saving for a later post - I visited Art's deli which was good - but I'd like to get another post dedicated to the Southland - so I will be holding off on that one right now - stay tuned for another LA journey soon (Art's, Greenblatt's, pico kosher, and maybe some others - let me know what you'd like to see).

I Love Canter's - LA Halloween 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 08:34:00 +0000

My Kingdom Come

Canter's had always had a special place in my heart as the beginning of this mystical, meaty journey started one late night at the famous 24 hour deli with an O' Malley's sandwich. It finally came full circle in my eyes on Halloween 2010, as I was lauded the Pastrami King with a round of applause from many hungry Halloween deli patrons.

As I was waiting for a seat the host came up and looked at my shirt. I <3 Canter's - it's the same shirt the waiters wear and he started cracking jokes "I need you to take those two tables and go in the back and check the orders for these tables." I promptly pulled out my card and the guy's attitude changed..."Oh, you're for real. Right this way, King." as I walked down the aisle the host shouted "All Hail the Pastrami King" - everyone turned their heads and there I was, in my glory with crown and cape - while doing a parade wave to the crowd. Priceless.

I also went to Langer's with my dad earlier in the week (stellar, as usual) and I picked up this awesome book at the counter. Sheryll Bellman covers many of the famous delis in the USA, the origin of the deli foods, and also gives you some recipes to make some of the items at home on your own time. I wanted this book about a year ago and was unable to get it from Amazon - as I think they were backlogged. I finally got it and wow! I'm going to have to make all these deli dishes and share them with friends and foodies. Stay tuned for some homemade posts!

Deli Board, The Sentinel, L'acajou and Perry's in Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 02:29:00 +0000

Hello, Bay Area Pastrami fans. I celebrated two birthdays since the last post - the birthday of the pastrami blog and my 26th birthday. For the pastrami blog birthday I just went to Miller's East and got a sandwich to go - pretty quiet. On my actual birthday I returned to Saul's Deli in Berkeley, which has made some great strides recently - I suggest you revisit the Berkeley gourmet deli. My best birthday present didn't come until a couple weekends ago - a trip to the Windy City.

I did a whole bunch in a little time in Chicago. I went to a Cub's game, I visited the Sears Tower (now know as the Willis tower - or "Big Willy"), and tried a whole bunch of awesome food. Chicago has three claims to fast food fame - the Chicago deep dish pizza, the Chicago dog, and the hot Italian beef sandwich. I got the trifecta done and I even had time to sneak a nice steak at Harry Caray's as well as some nice Polish food in a neighborhood that is still Polish at heart. I had time to make one pastrami stop and I chose to go to Perry's Deli, mostly because the pictures online reminded me of the Langer's #19, and also because I had already reviewed the old-school classic that is Manny's Deli in previous posts. The small differences : the #19 is a pastrami on rye with coleslaw, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, while "Perry's Favorite" was Corned beef on rye with coleslaw and jack cheese. Traditionally the Midwest is more into the corned beef than pastrami so that explains the corned beef. I have no explanation at all for the jack cheese, but hey let's roll with the jack and see how it tastes.

I ordered the Perry's favorite with pastrami, because that's what this blog is about although the corned beef was probably better. The sandwich was pretty large and in charge. I thanked the deli man for making it for me and he said "pretty good for my first day, huh?"...yeah he's probably been there making sandwiches for fifteen years.

I think the fact the pastrami was in a bin and not hand sliced make it not quite as good as when it's hand sliced or even machine sliced right before order. However it's still acceptable in a steam vault, but it can be better. I found out their pastrami is from Eisenberg's, which is a Chicago sausage/meat company that has been around since 1929. The rye bread was alright, not as good as a double baked rye bread from LA, but better than the bread at Carnegie in NYC. The Russian dressing on the sandwich was a bit thicker than usual and had a deeper color than most Russian dressings.

Perry's Favorite with Pastrami

Dad's sandwich - pastrami with Russian and tomatoes

It was right on point with the great deli flavor you can expect, however it did have all the deli items you can expect at Manny's like a potato pancake and a knish. Perry's focuses on the sandwiches only and has a few sides (macaroni salad and potato salad). I had half my sandwich wrapped up and took it to go and ate the 2nd half while waiting for my plane to board at O'Hare...such a clutch 2nd half as I enjoyed it as others were forced to overpay at the kiosks in the airport. FYI - I found at another deli in the Chicago loop area carries "Manny's" brand pastrami - the Halsted Street Deli. I also noticed a small deli called the Shalom Deli, which I did not have time to visit - so there are plenty of more options to explore in Chicago.

Jack in the Box and Trader Joe's pastrami

I don't know if you've noticed, but the pastrami sandwich has been becoming more mainstream. Recently, Jack-in-the-Box the fast food chain started offering the Pastrami grilled sandwich offering "premium" pastrami with deli mustard, pickles and an artisan bread. The commercial even pointed out how the bread was superior to rye - or that at least a panel of people chose it over rye bread. Note the look of the pastrami in the pictures and videos - Jack advertises thick pieces of pastrami with a nice grilled bread...I tried it and was pretty disappointed, to be honest.

Say now....my Jack in the Box pastrami looks a little different. The sandwich certainly doesn't look as full as the one on the ad. It's that Southern California chopped up pastrami that you can find at places like Johnny's pastrami and the Hat...only I think I like them better. The bread was just kinda meh...although I say that to most rye breads, but the mustard tasted more like French's mustard than deli mustard I thought. It wasn't Hebrew national or Gulden's - that's for sure.

Pictured above is the Reuben wrap from Trader Joe's. This is an interesting addition to the mainstream pastrami world. It's an attempt to make the Reuben healthier and smaller - just a small Reubenesque snack you can pick up for a small fee (about 3$). I was skeptical when I bought it, but I have to give it a thumbs up. The pastrami wasn't the best...but it was acceptable (slightly iridescent though, like it had been packed for awhile), but the pickles, the Russian dressing, and the rye flavored pita wrap seemed to capture the essence of a deli sandwich. I was surprised and I recommend picking one up next time you're in Trader Joe's....try it out and comment on how you liked it. I'm curious to know if other people thought it was a fair representation of a pastrami sandwich in "wrap" form.

Back to the Bay

The Sentinel in San Francisco's FiDi is infamous for their corned beef and gruyere sandwich. It's so indulgent and decadent that it made the top 100 things to eat in SF before you die - several years in a row (#74 in 2010). It also featured in the San Francisco Magazine's opinionated guide to sandwiches - in which Jan Newberry, editor of San Francisco Magazine, describes her love of the classic Reuben sandwich (not the corned beef with gruyere). I tried the corned beef on ciabatta with gruyere so I could mark that one off my list in SF - although next time I think I'm getting the Reuben.

That is definitely unlike any other corned beef sandwich I've had in my life. The corned beef on ciabatta was very good. It was Robert's corned beef with a light coleslaw with an amazing Gruyere cheese on some pretty awesome, fluffy bread. I thought the gruyere cheese overpowered the corned beef taste a bit, which is why I will be trying a Reuben next time.

L'acajou Cafe - Corned beef special

Speaking of Robert's Corned beef - The cafe on the corner next to my work (about 100 steps from Robert's) - Cafe L'acajou - started offering a corned beef sandwich with a homemade coleslaw. The Robert's Corned beef will pretty much make any corned beef sandwich taste awesome and I think I enjoyed this one more than the Gruyere cheese at the Sentinel, because I got the full corned beef flavor and the roll and slaw were decent enough. They seem to have it when they have it and then they run out...I'm sure he can just get more from the supplier the very next day. This Cafe is fairly new (it used to be the MotoJava Cafe) and is generally a coffee/pastry place, but has some lunch items - another notable lunch item - the pulled Moroccan lamb sandwich. Check it out on the corner of Bryant and 9th and I might just bump into you!

I saved my favorite of the new bunch for last. The Deli Board in SoMa San Francisco was brought to my attention by yelp some months ago. The ordering rules are a bit strange as you have to be in biking distance from 7th and Harrison in San Francisco between the hours of 11-2 Monday through Friday and the order has to be at least 20$ - so call hungry. I'm assuming he has some claim of sorts on the catering of business lunches, but I'm not quite sure how his racket works...but I'm down with large mouth-watering sandwiches featuring pastrami, corned beef, and brisket. I'd bet dollars to donuts that yelp HQ has ordered a couple of sandwiches from this spot - as they are right down the street. I e-mailed the owner, Adam, and told him I was eager to try his sandwiches, but due to his ordering policies, I would have to order with my co-workers and that might take some time to coordinate. To my surprise, Adam has actually heard of my blog and was just as eager for me to try his pastrami as I was. I finally got around to it this week!

Boca Sandwich

I ordered the Boca which came with corned beef, pastrami, and brisket - my favorite 3 meats of all time on a French roll with their special "deli board" sauce, brown mustard, and pickles. When you open your sandwich and pull the two halves apart from each other....the cheese stretches out from your sandwich like it would a mozzarella stick...it makes you really want to take that first bite. The roll was soft, the sauce was tangy, and the meat was superb. My coworkers mentioned they liked their roast beef and black forest ham and that they were also high quality like my pastrami. I loved every part about this sandwich...even though it wasn't a traditional East Coast pastrami, it still had all the elements, smell, and taste to bring you back to that traditional meaty, deli flavor.

I e-mailed Adam to let him know how much I loved his sandwiches and to ask him where the pastrami comes from. He wrote me back this nice little blurb:

"Oh my--- I have been waiting for this email! The pastrami king! I am so pleased you enjoyed!

I use a brisket cut for my pastrami, which many people shy away from, which is usually the most expensive cut out there---"

That makes me feel pretty good about the Deli Board and pretty awesome about being the Pastrami King of the Bay Area. I haven't quite broken into Abe Froman status...but some people are starting to recognize my name and blog - which is a great feeling.

I have gotten some great compliments from writers and readers a like....here are some of my favorite of the past year -

I love Miller's. But everytime I eat a Pastrami sandwich at Wood Tavern in Oakland, I think of you. - Betty H of Yelp

Read most of your blog... I was salivating for some delicious pastrami. Katz's made me nostalgic. Guess you are the "Pastrami King" - Maureen M. of Yelp

Your passion for pastrami is enchanting. Great list! Loli L. of Yelp

Oh, you dog. I've clicked on a gazillion blogs and have never really cared enough to read through them, but you went ahead and made a blog about pastrami--my one weakness, my kyptonite. If there's one food that's always on my mind, it's pastrami. Mario C.

I Love Theo's Blog - he is the real king of pastrami. Look - he even wears a crown :) Great Blog! Jay. S of Yelp

As a Seattle native living in the bay area, I appreciated your reviews. I haven't been to "I love NY deli" but was just invited to a book signing with David Sax. - Anon

Dude. Your blog is really well written. Props. - Kenan W.

Dean Wixom asked if you were a professional writer. - Richard Y.

It's been a pretty crazy trip over the last year. I've met some great people to eat pastrami with like Ellen F in Jersey and Al. S in Laguna....I've met some awesome owners like Matt Levin at the Refuge and Robby Morgenstein at Miller's East...and most of all I've tried some killer pastrami, all the while establishing myself as a creditable source on what pastrami should taste like. I really appreciated all the love and positive feedback I get from this blog - and I'm sorry it took so long to get this post out! Keep on sending comments and compliments - they make my day.

Gunter's and Toast Eatery - Treyf's Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:48:00 +0000

Hey there pastrami fans. I have an awesome post for you this time. Fresh off the Save the Deli presses, I would like to announce the opening of a new Jewish deli in SF called "Treyf". Treyf means non-kosher, basically the way I like my sandwiches with Russian dressing and/or cheese is considered treyf - so I'm super excited that there is going to be another premier deli opening in this town. I'm not sure when/where they are going to open, but I will find out ASAP. I first read about it on Save the Deli, but you can check out Treyf's blog here. Tell them I sent you.

I did some great field work, making it down to the San Jose to try out the Jewish/German - Gunter's Restaurant. I rarely make it down to the South Bay, but I had business down there a few weekend's ago and I wanted to track down the best pastrami in town. I think I found something that may have mixed up my ratings for favorite Pastrami in the Bay Area (not to worry Refuge or Miller's - you're still 1 and 1a) - as the Gunter's New Yorker pastrami sandwich was pretty hard to argue with.

Gunter's New Yorker

Great Baked Goods...mmm Black & White Cookie

The pastrami was a bit thinner, than I normally like...that being said it had an excellent flavor and I know plenty of people who prefer their pastrami on the thinner side like Gunter's serves. The rye bread and pickle also had an excellent flavor...no component of this sandwich was the best ever - but putting it all together....the rye bread with the pastrami and Russian dressing - something magical happens...it becomes a delicious delicacy treat most people think they can only get in NYC. About half way through my meal - a gentleman seated on the other side of the deli exclaimed "That looks like a Katz's sandwich." I talked to him a minute, gave him my card as he was leaving he asked "So, How did it compare to Katz's" - the answer - comparable bread, thinner pastrami, but just as tasty. Next time you're in San Jose, stop by Gunter's and try it out...it's worth the visit (They also do catering).

Toast Eatery (Photo via Toast Website)

The last place I went for this installment was Toast Eatery - located on Church street close to 30th Street in the Noe Valley Neighborhood of San Francisco. This is one of my favorite neighborhoods in SF truth be told. Ever seen the movie Sister Act? St Paul's Church right down the street was featured in the movie as they transformed the posh Noe Valley neighborhood to look like a crime ridden community.

St. Paul's Cathedral - San Francisco

Toast features a pastrami sandwich (on a roll with mayo...some people might have a problem) or a "pulled" corned beef Reuben. I was interested to find out what the "pulled" corned beef looked like so I ordered the Reuben.

"Pulled" Corned Beef

The pulled corned beef had the consistency of chipped beef you eat on toast, but still had the lovely corned beef flavor instead of the cheap Stouffer's chipped beef flavor - it was just a bit different than hand sliced or machine sliced corned beef which is something I'm always intrigued to explore. It was a very good, unique Reuben sandwich - try it out if you're in the Noe Valley neighborhood anytime of the day as it sounds like they have an excellent breakfast menu as well. Can't wait to try the pastrami next time (perhaps not on a roll with mayo)!

August 28th is the anniversary of the pastrami blog...so it's been about 12 months since I've been breaking down pastrami like an organic compound for ya'll. It's kinda crazy when I look back on how far this blog has come - I've had a great time establishing myself as the Pastrami King of the Bay Area...and I've had countless pastrami sandwiches across various states....gotten many compliments from fans....and made a couple of friends along the way. I'm looking forward to keeping it going strong for another year!

Pearl's Kitchen, Ted's 2-way Combo, The LeBron.

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:48:00 +0000

Howdy Pastrami fans. Some bad news to start. I fell down running at the beach and fractured my wrist, going to be in a cast until July 21st. I've been eating some great food to make myself feel better...starting off with Pearl's Kitchen. I first read about Pearl's Kitchen in Save the Deli - here . Wow...a street vendor that specializes in home cured corned beef sandwiches...I'm intrigued. I started following Pearl's Kitchen on twitter and found out they would be serving up their special corned beef this past Saturday at an event called Outside in 5 - a food vendor street festival in the Dogpatch neighborhood.

I showed up at 5 PM on the dot to wait for the Pearl's stand to set up. The anticipation and excitement were high...many others started gathering for the food. Jon - one of the owners of Pearl's showed up, took out his rye bread, his mustard, and his hot trays of beautiful corned beef. He looked at my shirt which read "I heart Canter's Fairfax" and he said "you must be the pastrami guy." I talked with Jon for a minute about his business - he likes to use Prather Ranch meat for his corned beef, but doesn't always use them as a supplier. Jon would like to get a pastrami going soon, but he needs to get a smoker to smoke the pastrami. For now...he just has killer corned beef.

6$ for a half corned beef sandwich. Jon starts by slicing a piece of his home made rye and slathering the piece of bread which seems like to be too much mustard...but it's just the right amount. Jon then hand slices the corned beef, against the grain, with great precision. His corned beef slices are just the right thickness...very uniform..he's good with his knife. I took the half sandwich over to a nearby bench to examine the specimen.

The corned beef was a deep, ruby red - a good sign. I sank my teeth into the sandwich and smiled. It tasted exactly like it would at a deli....probably better. The rye bread had an excellent flavor...and the crust was a bit chewy like it's supposed to be. A superb home made rye. The mustard was sharp and tangy - just the way you want it to be for this type of sandwich. and the corned beef....i think it was some of the best corned beef I've ever had...almost brings tears to my eyes thinking about it now...it's simply marvelous. I also sampled a piece of the noodle kugel - still hot from the oven. It had a sweet cinnamon flavor with a consistency of eggs and noodles...a sweet treat. Check out Pearl's Kitchen on twitter to see where their cart we'll be set up, trust me you'll thank yourself for trying this gem.

Ted's 2-way Combo

I've been coming to Ted's market at Howard and 10th for a few years now. I know they have tri-tip on Mondays and Wednesdays....while they have pastrami every day. If you can get to Ted's market on those days before they run out of either meat you can order a half tri-tip, half pastrami. You could have it on rye, but it's pictured above with the baytastic Dutch Crunch. The stars have to align for you to get this sandwich...and to my knowledge - I'm the only one crazy enough to order it. Now you know about it and knowledge is power folks - get to Ted's and try their pastrami - it's one of the best in the city for under 10$.

Congrats to my Lakers for taking their 16th title....the 8th title since 1985. I think this win...the game 7 to become back to back champions while simultaneously avenging our loss to Boston 2 years ago, was the biggest win in Lakers franchise history. The Lakers have little to do with pastrami, but this is my blog and I get to gloat however I damn please on here. How empowering.

So what does the NBA have to do with pastrami? The "LeBron".

This is the biggest free agency market in NBA history....leading the pack of those looking for multiyear, multimillion contracts is super talented LeBron James. People have been speculating since 2008 that LeBron might be bound for NYC, as he is friends with Jay-Z and has been seen at various spots in New York sporting a Yankees cap. The Knicks are obviously one of the worst franchises in the league and the City sees LeBron as its basketball savior. People started making LeBron to NYC teeshirts, LeBron posters were seen all over the City...and of course - The Carnegie Deli offered a 5 pound, 1 foot tall sandwich called the LeBron MVP to honor the basketball star's impending arrival in the Big Apple. Just look at that sandwich for a minute folks....holy moly...the lettuce, cheese and tomatoes at the top of the rye bread just get lost amid the pounds of staggering, stacked-high meat. The best part of the article, is at the end when the owner of Carnegie, Sandy Levine, offered the winning patron another free LeBron sandwich...on the house, which he declined to take. Yeah that's the Carnegie....it's overdone in a great way...great sandwiches with great pastrami. The Carnegie is a must visit for me every time I go to NYC in the future. However, I don't think I'd like to give up Langer's and the Lakers....LA really has it going when it comes to pastrami and basketball. This little blurb will be really funny if LeBron decides to go to Chicago and eat Manny's with Obama instead of NYC. Only time will tell.

My last subject is a shout out to another food blogger. While roaming the outside in #5 event I met a man who reviews street vendors and street food. Very cool, San Francisco based food blog. Check out his photos on his blog and you'll notice a picture of a guy wearing the "I <3 Canter's" shirt. That's me still being the phantom of the deli, not showing my face. Check out roaminghunger.com. Very cool, unique food blog.

Thanks for reading my best post in months. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did creating it! until next time...Pastrami King out.

The Phantom of the Deli - The Bay's Dutch Crunch

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:45:00 +0000

How goes it pastrami fans? I've been busy - with school and personal growth. Went on a diet for a little bit - gave up the rye bread and soda for a month and lost some weight. I'm hiding my face - a la Phantom of the Opera, until I feel ready to reveal the new me.The pastrami I have been enjoying has been a dinner plate with brown rice and veggies. The spots to get a pastrami plate in the Bay - Tommy's Joynt on Van Ness, Brennan's in Berkeley, and of course the Chicken coop - all locations...all these places hand slice their lovely, smoky pastrami right in front of you!

Did anyone catch the Food Wars episode on pastrami? They took the challenge to New York to put the 2nd Ave Deli vs Katz's Deli to find out which one would win a taste challenge to be deemed the best pastrami in NYC. Check out the teaser on youtube. My good friend and pastrami brother David Sax made a nice cameo as he declared the war between 2nd Ave and Katz's would be an epic battle of two heavyweights. Sax also had a great article on San Francisco Deli food where he proclaimed "The city is on the fringes of deli greatness." Read the article here. It leads into an article from the Jweekly - a SF Bay Area Jewish magazine - with a nice story on the owners of Pearl's kitchen, which is a new food cart that serves corned beef/pastrami. The next event where they will be serving their meats will be June 26th at an event called Outside in #5...there are going to be many food vendors at the event from 6-11 - read about it on SF Weekly or RSVP on Facebook here.

I'd really like to give also give some props to my newest NYC blogger friend Brian Hoffman of Eat This - New York. Brian has been working really hard trying out all the corned beef and pastrami combo sandwiches in New York, while also taking on other foot categories such as pizza...although I have a sneaking suspicion his real true love is the smoked, cured meats. Check out his video where he went to Carnegie Deli and Katz's deli and also his great blog here.

My last topic - Dutch crunch. What is Dutch crunch? Dutch crunch is a type of bread made with sesame seed oil and rice paste that cracks while baking leaving a distinctive markings on the bread. It was first made in Holland, but it was called something different - tijgerbrood and in the UK - tiger's bread. If you're from San Francisco...odds are you've had a sandwich with Dutch crunch or you've at least been offered it as an option. I wonder how Tiger's bread in Holland stacks up to the Dutch crunch here in SF? This bread is selectively available in LA (I originally thought it didn't exist)...it's not available in NYC...It's something truly unique to the Bay Area, something we've taken and expanded upon. It's so widely available that deli men ask you in passé "Would you like sourdough or Dutch crunch." and people don't even blink...they don't even think "Hey, that's weird. I've never seen this bread outside of SF." A pastrami on Dutch crunch? Only if you live in the Bay.

San Francisco Magazine - No Beef with Pastrami

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:51:00 +0000

This post starts at the San Francisco International Airport. Have you tried to fly into or out of the Bay Area recently? I think I've been delayed the last four out of five times when dealing with this airport. They blame it on the fog bank...and while I can see their point...I find it completely hilarious that I can fly in or out of Oakland with no problems, while flights at SFO are being delayed down the whole board. I'm not sure there is a fix to this problem, but I have noticed the airport has gone completely downhill since Virgin America made the airport it's hub. Coincidence? I think not. Travel and Leisure ranked SFO as the 7th worst airport when concerning delays...I think it's up in 2010 from my personal experience.

I was planning to catch an 8:20 flight to Los Angeles on the evening of April 2nd - going down South to enjoy the Easter festivities. I showed up without an Ipod or a book - I totally failed on preparing media for my one hour flight - but it's just an hour right? Wrong. My flight was delayed until 10:20...and like I said this is like the fourth time in a row and I'm getting pretty sick of it. I decided to buy some magazines while I enjoyed my 12$ chicken salad sandwich from the Max's Café extension in the airport (yeah I know, but chicken salad is really good too!). I got some regulars...Sports Illustrated and National Geographic...as I was about to check out I passed the new San Francisco Magazine. It came out the day prior - the April issue - and promised to deliver the 40 sandwiches worth waiting in line for in San Francisco. My pastrami senses went up...this magazine normally features the new trendy spots to eat/drink in SF, but I've yet to see an issue dedicated solely to sandwiches.

Before I bought the magazine I thumbed through the pages extensively to see if they included pastrami in their search of the Bay Areas greatest sandwiches. I was pleasantly surprised when I got the page entitled "No Beef with Pastrami". Jan Newberry, writer for SF Mag, started the article with a soliloquy to the Bay Area's pastrami endeavors

"Like bagels and foldable slices of pizza, pastrami is one of those iconic New York foods that former residents of that city complain we don’t have here. The Bay Area still needs a decent bagel, and the pizza question may never be resolved—but when it comes to our four best pastrami sandwiches, former Gothamites can shut their pieholes and eat." That's right folks...we have pastrami sandwiches around here...and they're some of the best around - bar none! Check out the rest of the article, including other sandwiches to die for, here.

There were 5 sandwiches featured in the magazine - 4 pastrami and 1 corned beef - two of which (The Refuge and Wood Tavern) I have already reviewed and loved, but then there were two surprises in the Orson and the Spruce. I am really anticipating trying the house baked rye bread and the Orson and the Spruce pastrami has a smoked gouda with a red cabbage slaw. Towards the top of the article there was mention on the corned beef sandwich at the Sentinel which features either a classic Reuben or a corned beef with gruyère cheese. The Sentinel and the corned beef sandwich were mentioned in the top 100 things to eat in San Francisco before you die at #74 on the list and it is a favorite of people in the Financial District. However, it is rather hard to get to if you don't work around the area as there is no parking and they're only open weekdays till about 2:30 PM.

San Francisco makes some of the most appealing, interesting food in the nation and our pastrami sandwiches are fresh and exciting. The classic NY pastrami on rye is still in minds of the chefs, but they like to push the envelope in creating something uniquely San Francisco, uniquely Californian by adding such ingredients as a home baked rye bread, a special creamy cheese never thought to be compared with pastrami, or simply homemaking your pastrami - like the Refuge. The result is one of the most delicious, unprecedented pastrami scenes in the USA.

If you get to one of these places before I do, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Click the interesting/funny/cool button I put at the bottom if you liked my writing. Don't forget to pick up your issue of San Francisco Magazine as well. Take care and enjoy the nice April weather!

Let's go Irish!

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:21:00 +0000

Happy St. Patrick's Day! The traditional meal on the Irish holiday is corned beef with cabbage, so it's only natural that they also have excellent pastrami at most of these tray-grabbing cafeteria style pubs. The examination of the Irish meat market in San Francisco has led me to a great revelation - I know where everyone gets their meat comes from. That's right...all the spots I visited buy their corned beef and pastrami from one spot in the city - Robert's Corned Meats.

I've walked by this building every weekday for the last two years - it's actually one block away from my work. One of the largest distributors of pastrami in the Bay Area had been operating under my nose, right by my work in SoMa at Bryant and 9th. I've paid some attention as I've walked by..."Hmm...that's awfully alot of beef brisket." I'd think to myself as I walked by a palette full of meat on my way to get a soda from the Shell station around the corner, but I've never actually had the gall to walk in the place...even though I knew at some point. I recently hooked up with Greg Dixon (the man behind the counter!) on facebook and I had the pleasure of speaking with him on location this past Thursday. It was by far one of the best conversations I've had about pastrami in the Bay Area.

The owner of Robert's Corned Meat is Jim Dixon AKA Corned Beef King of San Francisco (I dare not challenge his title). The Examiner had an article celebrating Robert's Corned Meat 100 year anniversay and Jim Dixon's unique corning method. Some of the success of the corning technique
he attributed to Hetch-Hetchy, the Bay Area's source of crystal clean drinking water. Greg, Jim's son is the man I went to for my pastrami blog answers. The place shovels out 10,000/lbs of meat per month which includes pastrami, corned beef, brisket - all top quality prepackaged meat. They have many different types of pastrami made from either the navel cut, the brisket cut, or the bottom round cut. Traditionally the navel cut is the most flavorful and most desired for pastrami while corned beef is normally made from the brisket "chest" cut which is naturally less fatty (we're talking relatively less), while the bottom round pastrami was a little new to me. Greg really broke it down for me who uses which type of meat at each of the big named Bay Area Irish restaurants and even added a few places I had been wondering about. "Bob Kantor of Memphis Minnie's came here looking for uncured navel cuts, but all out stuff is comes precured." I was excited when he mentioned the Lower Haight BBQ shack as I had been wondering how Mr. Kantor does his Wednesday only pastrami sandwiches and reubens. "Memphis Minnie's actually uses braised short ribs and then smokes them until the meat gets so tender it falls off." He even mentioned the Jewish style deli - Miller's East Coast Deli - the premiere pastrami spot in the city - "Miller's get their corned beef from us and in a pinch they'll use some of our NYC style pastrami, but most of the time they get their pastrami from Sy Ginsburg." Sy Ginsburg was featured in the Sax's book, Save the Deli, and supplies much of the greater Midwest with their corned meats. While I was talking with him a customer came in and bought a 5 pound cut of corned beef. Greg gave him some extra corning spices for the meat, which I thought was a nice touch. I left Robert's Corned meat armed with knowledge about the places I already loved - a truly great experience. Now let's get down to eating some pastrami!

The first place I visited was Lefty O' Doul's, which is right down the street from Union Square on Geary Street. The place opened in 1958 and features large wood paneling with pictures of old baseball starts lining the wall. None of them more featured than Joe DiMaggio himself.

Why the Yankee Clipper in San Francisco? Why not Willie Mays or Barroid Bonds? Not alot of people know that Joe D was actually born in Martinez, CA and went to high school in San Francisco. The first professional team he played for was a Pacific Coast League team named the San Francisco Seals, before he was eventually sold to Yankees for a handsome sum of 25,000$. You may have wondered why you've seen his picture around town or why the Giant's mascot is a seal - now you know!

When you walk in you grab a tray and order to the man at the counter who promptly takes out the pastrami and hand slices your pastrami. Lefty O' Doul's uses the Robert's Brand brisket cut pastrami, which has slightly less fat, but is still very flavorful. I got it on rye bread and enjoyed their pastrami with some mustard in the quiet dining room.

The pastrami came with lettuce and tomatoes on the side which i didn't really use. I just put some mustard on it and I was in heaven. As I was kinda spacing out towards the end of my meal I looked straight ahead and there she was - Marilyn Monroe - lit up with bright lights behind a pink curtain in the Seven Year Itch pose that infamously sent Joe DiMaggio into a jealous rage. The parody of the whole situation is something that is so San Francisco - which is somehow Dirty Harry and Jerry Garcia all at the same time.

For my next adventure I go across the Bay to Berkeley to visit one of my old favorites - Brennan's. Brennan's recently opened a new building just adjacent to their old location which stood for about 49 years as they recently celebrated their 50th anniversary in their new building. The new building has bigger televisions, better seats, and is right by next to the train tracks so you can see Amtrak trains passing by on their way to Sacramento. The old building had a certain charm and charisma of an old Irish pub that will never be matched by the new establishment which is brighter and more comfortable overall. I understand the move, but it doesn't mean I can't miss the old building.

The Old Brennan's

The New Brennan's

They're still the same trays!

My buddy Peter and I walked up to the meat cutter - he ordered first getting corned beef with cabbage with gravy all over it. I got a pastrami on rye with some mash potatoes. The meat man proceeded to hand cut our Robert's brand corned beef and Robert's lighter navel cut of pastrami.

The corned beef was juicy and succulent - it was a good night for the corned beef. The pastrami and Brennan's is my favorite of all the Irish spots I go to and this night was no change - top notch! It did cost a bit more money than the Lefty O'Doul's, but it was worth it!

The last place I visited for the Irish part of the blog was Tommy's Joynt at Geary and Van Ness. Tommy's Joynt has been around since 1947 and the first owner was Irish and went by the last name of Harris, but Greg at Robert's corned meat told me the owners are now Jewish. I'm not sure I consider Tommy's Joynt fully Irish - it's more a San Francisco Hofbrau with items on the menu such as grilled chuck steak sandwich, braised lamb shanks, and turkey sloppy joe's. However it was the day of the St. Patrick's day parade and most people were here decked out in green, ready for their famously good corned beef and cabbage.

World Famous Corned Beef

Founder of Tommy's Joynt

I went with three friends and everyone else got corned beef, except for me. I got the pastrami on rye again which was alot like the Lefty O'doul's brisket pastrami, very good for 5.50$ a sandwich. Peter came again and got the cheesecake, which I had a bit of - it was superb.

Pastrami and Coleslaw

Corned Beef on Sourdough - Cheesecake Upper Right

The sandwiches came with an au jus dip, if you wanted to make your pastrami and French dip it would be very easy to order on a french roll and use the au jus at your discretion. At the table there were two house mustard - a mild and a hot. The hot one clears your nasal passages - just a warning!

Geoff at The Refuge

Before I got to my Irish pastrami spots, I took my friend Geoff down to the Refuge in San Carlos. He wanted to try really good pastrami for the first time and I told him I would take him to the best. When he bit down in the perfectly sliced, perfectly smoke pastrami from the Refuge slathered in Russian dressing with a bit of Gulden's mustard he knew what it was all about. "It's so much better than the packaged stuff." Of course it is, the time and care Matt Levine takes into his pastrami is artfully mastered in his chique gastropub in the Peninsula. It's like going to a microbrewery - only for pastrami. Oh did I mention microbrewery - the guy has like 25 Belgian beers on the menu! I chatted with Matt a little bit about my NYC trip and he told me Carnegie under cooks their pastrami a slight bit because they sell so much of it - I couldn't really tell I liked it alot. He was surprised I said my Kat'z sandwich was a bit small, but after reading into it a bit more then next time I'm going to counter service and I'm tipping the guy cutting my meat like 5$ for a big one - and don't forget the pickle!

Toasted #19 - The Refuge

While writing this blog and self proclaiming myself SF Pastrami King, I've come to respect so of the true players in the pastrami game right here in the Bay Area. Jim and Greg Dixon of Robert's Corned Meats, Matt Levine of the Refuge , Robby Morgenstein of Miller's East Coast Deli, and Joe Sattler of Moishe's Pippic are truly deli men of the best kind - I thank you especially for making my pastrami just the way I like it!

Langer's on the Go, Miller's French Dip

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:06:00 +0000

I just came back from Southern California - man is the weather great out there. While I was in Chicago I saw a baseball field covered with ice, lifeless. February in Los Angeles, the sun was shining, the BBQ pits were filled with charcoal, and the baseball field was packed with softball players enjoying the rays....what a different world. The East Coast simply hates to hear about it - yes we're relaxing by the pool while you're shoveling snow. Keep on rooting for the Arizona Bay - if you're an LA hater. True LA locals and those that have been introduced to LA in a proper manner know the City of Angels to be a genuine thriving metropolis, with unending recreational possibilities. Some of my favorites things about LA include the beaches, the Lakers, and Langer's.

Pack of Pastrami

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get any pastrami in on my vacation there. Saturday was the LA food festival, where many food trucks were parked in a row in a small lot in Downtown LA for foodies to enjoy, including Fresser's - a pastrami wielding food truck. My dad and I showed up to the event only to find a huge line - 2 hours just to get in the place...on top of that you only got small samples of the food from each truck - not full portions...boo. We left and tried to head to Langer's, which was also packed. It was the first nice weekend in a long time and people were out - the long wait at Langer's didn't seem appealing. I told my dad "Father's Office would be great too." which is a place that serves gourmet burgers along the lines of a Paragon/Zuni burger in SF. They had no wait and we enjoyed our burgers outside in the sunshine. When I woke up the next morning, I found out my dad had been busy while I was sleeping and picked up a Langer's to go pack! I was familiar with this pack, not because I've seen it, but because I read about it an article by the website Serious Eats - NY.

Heating Instructions

I was happy to find out my dad had procured a whole loaf of Langer's double baked rye bread - it's killer bread. "You know how they give them to you?" my dad asked me. "They put loaves that are almost the size of 2 loaves of bread on a large rack, this is actually about half of a loaf." The bag looked pretty full to me. The Serious Eats article declared "that the source of Langer's superiority (over Katz's) was its double-baked rye". I was surprised by the lack of quality of the bread at some of the NYC Delis I visited. Langer's, Canters, Brent's, Nate n' Al's, all the LA heavy hitters, have heavenly rye bread. My friend Peter said to me "You know what you are almost more than a pastrami expert - you're a bread snob." He's probably right - I loathe the bread at Saul's in Berkeley and I love it at Miller's East Deli. It's a very simple matter of taste, with a crispy crust, this article sums it up pretty well and Save the Deli supports my claim saying "most of the rye bread at delicatessens around America is not worth the effort it takes to chew. Of all the ryes I tasted in my global research into Jewish delicatessens, none were more disappointing than the supposedly legendary New York rye." Many people tell me "Oh I don't like rye bread - it's bland and I don't like the seeds" and so on and so forth. The level of difference between a proper double baked rye and a regular rye is like comparing pastrami to spam. There is a BIG difference. I took the Langer's bread we had left over in the plane back with me and enjoyed it for several days..I think there might be one piece left in the fridge - but it's not what it once was.

Russian Dressing and Tomatoes - Langer's #29

Pastrami Service

#29 W/o Bread

My President's Day Sandwich

We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed our pastrami while humming birds buzzed above our heads. Poor Sue is allergic to gluten and had the pastrami without bread, poor Sue! They tasted pretty darn close to the real Langer's sit down - which is as always excellent, if not the best.

Jessica and I Love Our Cel-ray Sodas

I took some friends to Miller's in SF today for their very first pastrami experience. When I walked in I watched the meat cutter doing his work. He grabbed a big piece of pastrami - like a 5 pound cut - and took a knife to the center of it hand slicing the middle, yellow, fatty part of the pastrami that would ruin the sandwich if put in the slicer. He then put the pastrami into the slicer and made a nice sized pile of pastrami to go on the next sandwich. My friends Jessica and Rose were very excited when they saw the menu. "Do we have to order pastrami?" They asked me. I said the same thing Grandpa Ralph said to me when I was a young guy squirming in the booth at Langer's - "You'd be a fool not to get the pastrami."

Grilled NY Special - The Best Pastrami Sandwich in SF City Limits

Cheese Blintzes and Potato Pancakes

The Elusive Pastrami Dip - IN SF!

Philly Cheesesteak

I started by ordering everyone cel-ray sodas. They came in bottles, which is only in California for some strange reason, everyone else has cans. They actually had been miscapped with caps that read "ginger ale"...how odd. Everyone liked the cel-ray soda from the start this time around! For appetizers we tried the Cheese blintzes and the Potato Pancakes. The pancakes were out of this world good with sour cream and apple sauce on the side. They were very crispy and had the feel of a human formed pancake. I liked the cheese blintzes, but my guests thought they were a bit too sweet. Perhaps I should have fooled them into eating the derma or kishke without telling them what it is - next guest that comes with me and lets me order for them is in trouble. When my friend Jessica looked at the monstrous menu she noticed they had pastrami French dips. I was looking for this type of sandwich in SF and it was right under my nose - I was always looking away from the French Dip section because it's not really my thing - especially at Miller's. Her pastrami dip was pretty good! When I tried it she reminded me "You have to dip it!" handing the au jus over emphatically. My sandwich was superb as always. The Grilled NY special at Miller's is a true work of art, but I try not to get it for takeout because it tends to fall apart in transit. If you're going to order take out from there - order a regular pastrami sandwich or the Chief (half pastrami, half corned beef) - the bread sticks together better when it hasn't been slathered with coleslaw after being toasted. Jessica ordered her pastrami dip 2 reasons - she loves French dips and she hates rye bread (or at least that's what she said before we sat down). She took the last quarter part of my grilled NY special, the part the had the crispy, grilled Miller's rye bread crust. She was flabbergasted when she tried it "I should have followed your lead." she said after trying the last little corner my sandwich. "So how was that rye bread?" I asked her. She just made a face and said "Well, that was an especially good rye." Robby Morgenstein has told me that he gets his bread from somewhere in New Jersey, so I know there is good rye somewhere on the East Coast. I'll have to ask them specifically where they get their rye bread from next time. I've also read that Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, Michigan has legendary Jewish rye bread that you can order online. If you can't make it to LA, you can still get Langer's rye and pastrami overnight. So, if you dislike rye bread, I really urge you to try some of the best before you decide completely against it! I've tried pastrami many ways now, and the best way to have it is with good company, on rye bread, with a Dr. Browns soda of your choice.

New York - Veni, Vite, Vici.

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:39:00 +0000

Nick and Pastrami King at Katz's Deli

New York - I came, I saw, I conquered. Within a small window of time, I managed to visit Carnegie Deli, Katz's Deli, Mile End, and a RUB (Real Urban BBQ). Other highlights of my trip included the Empire State building, the Natural History Museum, and the Guggenheim - all very cool things I recommend doing in NYC. It was a crazy whirlwind trip - I didn't have one boring moment while I was in the city that never sleeps. Surprisingly, the first and last parts of this blog post being in America's second city - Chicago.

Manny's Midway

Manny's Midway extension - the shining beacon of Concourse A in Midway airport. The first time I saw it was about 2 years ago with my friend Peter on the way to a wedding in Florida. I knew nothing of Manny's before seeing it, but somehow the sign - the whole feel of the place - made me feel like it was the right choice for our lunch. It was a memorable corned beef sandwich and potato pancake - so much so that I insisted that we get it on our way back to the West Coast. I was excited to have a layover at Midway, how many people say that?!? This time I thought I wouldn't have enough time to visit this satellite extension of a Chicago classic - but wouldn't you know it? My flight was delayed an hour and a half - straight Midway style!

Corned Beef on Rye

Potato Pancake

While I was sitting in the dining room, I struck up a nice conversation with a man named Edward enjoying his pastrami sandwich. I went with the corned beef this time, which was excellent, because I know Manny's is famous for their corned beef, but I was looking at Edward's pastrami sandwich excited to try their pastrami the next time around. Edward was originally from New York and told me he liked Katz's over everything and he enjoyed pastrami as often as he could. Turns out he works in LA nowadays and knows the sandwich scene pretty well. "Oh yeah Langer's I been there. Yeah, man I just love places like Manny's and Langer's" Edward confessed to me. I know the feeling.

The plane ride from Midway to LaGuardia seemed longer than the first leg of the journey - I was giddy to get to New York City. For the first night, I had planned to meet up with my buddies Nick and Chris, then we were going to the world famous Carnegie Deli. My friend, Peter, has called the Carnegie the "epitome of all that is deli" and from what I'd seen on the food channel, I knew I was in for a special pastrami sandwich.

Carnegie - Mid-Manhattan January 2010

Nick and I met up with our other friend Chris and my new friend Janinne. Nick was just as excited about the pastrami as I was. "I went here a couple weeks ago for the first time - THE BOMB!" he told me at the same time he proclaimed he didn't even need to look at the menu. Nick, Chris, and I ordered pastrami sandwiches, while Janinne got a monstrous BLT (foolish not to get the pastrami...). When it came time to choose a drink to go with our sandwiches I had everyone surprised/intrigued. "I'll have a cel-ray soda." I said. My buddy Chris asked "What's a cel-ray?" I told him about the celery flavored Dr. Brown's soda and told the waiter that we were all getting cel-rays, four of them please.

As our food was coming out I was busy talking to our neighbors about what part of the beef pastrami is. They were from Russia and when they asked why I knew so much I told them I was the Pastrami King. His response "I bow to you king" Thanks man, who knows I might have a reader or two in Moscow! Our sandwiches came after a short wait, but the soda was the first thing my friends wanted to try. "It tastes like celery" my friend Chris said making a disgusted face "I hate it."

Carnegie Pickles

Carnegie Slaw

They stack BLTs like Pastrami

Carnegie Pastrami Sandwich - The King of New York

That pastrami sandwich above is just as tasty as it is large. The Carnegie pastrami is fatty, spicy and smoky - all the flavors that make pastrami the most sensual of all meats. The bread is a bit lackluster - which I found to be a recurring theme in NYC. Truth be told, I didn't have a decent piece of rye bread the entire time I was in New York. As I was eating my sandwich, pastrami falling out the sides, Chris was reevaluating the cel-ray. "You know with the pastrami....I just don't know...it's kinda refreshing. I think I love it." Haha! He went from hating it to loving it, but I have to agree with him - I don't drink cel-ray all the time, but with pastrami or hot dogs they're complimentary in a strange celery seed extract way. The pastrami was beyond excellent. I have to rate it up there with Langer's and the Refuge for the greatest pastrami in the USA. I left into the Manhattan night a fully satisfied man, although I did think to myself "Langer's has better bread."

Tommy LaSorda knows what's up - Carnegie Deli!

The very next night I reunited with Chris and Nick and joined another friend to the oldest deli in the United States. From my research, the first pastrami on rye was served in NYC sometime around 1885 and Katz's opened in 1888. Throughout the years Katz's has instilled itself not only as a New York institution, but also as a National Monument. From their efforts in WWII (Send a salami to your boy in the army), to the movie When Harry met Sally (I'll have what she's having), and recent Food channel specials (Man Vs Food), just about everyone has heard of Katz's deli.

Katz's Deli on a frigid January Night

1888 - Old School

Where the pastrami lives...

They still send salami to the troops at war today

I walked in and some guy handed us each a weird orange ticket, as I was approaching the bus boy whistled out part of the theme from the Good the Bad and the Ugly. A tumble weed ran through the place....high noon... I'm coming from out west - I'm talking a big game and I have the wood carving from the Mr. Pickle in SF backing me up...but this is the original - a milestone in pastrami blog history. The showdown at Houston and 2nd.

I dare to finish

Matzo ball soup

Split pea soup

Katz's Pastami sandwich

Katz's Mustard is excellent!
Lean and mean pastrami

My pastrami sandwich at Katz's was great, but not the best I've ever had. The pastrami from Katz's comes from empire national and I did a small taste test at Saul's in the East bay for the Save the Deli book signing. I thought the same of it when I tried it there - it's a flavorful cured meat but pretty lean for pastrami, I could see it being very palatable by deli non-regulars. The brine was right on and the mustard was sharp and spicy as well, I just preferred the larger, fattier Carnegie sandwich. We got waiter service, but the next time I think I want to go to the cutter themselves and ask for it juicy like Lucy and tip him well so I get a big fat Katz's pastrami sandwich. The best thing I had there was the pickle, by far the best pickle I ever had was at Katz's deli!

Showdown complete

Stay Puft Marshmallow man

The next excursion was to the Boreum hill neighborhood, Brooklyn, to try the Mile end deli. The Mile End has been hyped up for the simple fact they are the first deli to serve Canadian smoked meat in the United States. Smoked meat isn't pastrami, it isn't corned beef, it's something different that I've never tried so the excitement was high. I tried calling them around noon on Saturday and the phone just rang to voice mail. I was weary because of what happened in Seattle, but I went on their twitter page and saw the post "Meat will be ready in 10 minutes" at about 11:50 AM. Nick and I jumped on the subway, as we were going there in became increasingly clear that it's impossible to go North/South direction in Brooklyn on the subway - at least it's tough. It took us about 45 minutes to get there and when we showed up the place was packed, it was obvious why they didn't answer the phone - they were swamped!

The Mile End

Packed to the Glass!

Busy Owner

It was about 45 minutes wait for a table so I ordered 3 smoked meat sandwiches and an order of poutine to go.

Smoked Meat Sandwich

Avec poutine

My thoughts on the smoked meat - it was very spicy, almost too spicy - not for the faint of heart. I'm a much bigger pastrami fan as this was a far more spiced and smoked flavor. If you like brisket and corned beef more than pastrami than this one is probably not for you. If you like a deep hearty spicy flavor (almost jerky spicy) then it would be a good one to try out. The poutine was superb, I think I should have ordered two orders of the poutine - so don't skip out. We got our sandwiches around 1:30 and when we checked their status at 3 PM it read "sold out of meat today", so the best way to figure out if they're serving sandwiches is to check their twitter. Considering there was only a three hour window on the Saturday I was there, this is one hot ticket - much hotter than Nets tickets for sure!

RUB BBQ - Chelsea District

My last stop in the Empire State was a small BBQ joint that made their own pastrami. This place was picked out by a big pastrami blog fan - Ellen. We were set to "meat" up there Sunday afternoon around 1 PM to put the pastrami to the test.

Pastrami King meets Pastrami Queen

Ellen is from the Atlantic City area and writes her own reviews for roadfood.com and Chowhound. Many people know her as the pastrami queen. It was truly a pleasure to have lunch with another true pastrami aficionado!

I have to disagree - Pastrami is the true king - Brisket is the baron.

For lunch we ordered two reuben crushers, 1 order of coleslaw, 1 order of burnt ends, and some drinks (Ellen got home made lemonade). I had been trying to adhere to the Jewish style delis rule in New York, avoiding Russian dressing on my pastrami - opting for mustard instead. This time Ellen requested extra Russian dressing on the side and I was happy she did, as this is the true way I like my pastrami!

Coleslaw

Small side of Burnt Ends - 4$, great deal!

Reuben Crusher

Small brine, but tasty smoky flavor

The reuben crusher was actually my 2nd favorite sandwich I had in NYC this trip. The flavor of the pastrami was a bit different, but was distinctly different from the BBQ burnt ends which had a traditional BBQ flavor. The Russian dressing and the toasted bread were both very good - I liked the rye bread OK, but nothing was like the double baked rye bread I get in LA. This is a great place for lunch, sorta reminded me of Memphis Minnie's in the Haight of SF, but I liked the reuben at RUB better and they have pastrami everyday, not just Wednesdays (it's OK, Memphis, I still love your BBQ brisket). After the lunch Ellen and I saw the Guggenheim, which I highly recommend, it's short and pleasant (unlike the Met, which is fortress size). Once again thanks for "meating" up with me and keep on commenting on the blog, Ellen!

I left New York on Monday, the 1st of February, after a fun night out till about 3 in the morning. I had a great time while I was in NYC and I would like to return, when it's warmer, so I can check out Central Park. It was just too cold to walk around there this time around! Of course, there is still 2nd Ave Deli, Sarge's Deli, David's brisket house, Ben's Best and a whole bunch of place to try in NYC with legit, quality pastrami. I could only get to a handful this time and I think I did a pretty good job on the East Coast, I wasn't finished yet either. I had a 3 and a half layover in Chicago and I figured to try to swing by the original Manny's by taking the Orange Line from Midway.

Sears Tower from Roosevelt Street bridge

Roosevelt & Michigan

The 2nd coolest thing about midway airport (1st being the Manny's extension) is the train comes straight to the airport. You don't have to take a shuttle bus, like AirBART, you just walk straight to the platform and get on. The Roosevelt stop is about 7 or 8 stops in and it took me just about 30 minutes to get there from Midway, very easy on the public transportation.

Manny's Deli - Chicago

Like I said, it didn't take me very long to get there. From the Roosevelt station I took a bus straight to Jefferson Ave - just down the block from the 1942 Chicago Deli. When I walked in I greeted the old man with the 2 pronged fork who was standing in the register. "Yeah I've seen you in a video before, I write a blog in California. I'm just happy to be here" I told him. He said yeah as he piled on my pastrami on rye bread extra high coupled with their famous potato pancake.

Pile of Pastrami - Manny's

I sat down in the empty, large dining area. There was only one other table full, 2 couples with piled high corned beef sandwiches. I looked at the clock, there was still plenty of time to enjoy my visit to Manny's.

Thinner pastrami, large fatty brine.

Manny's pastrami on rye - Chicago

Finished

I liked the pastrami at Manny's a whole lot - more thank I liked the lean Katz's pastrami. You can see from the picture it was thinner, but the edges were laced with a fatty brine. The Chicago classic Manny's up there with all the heavy hitters, even President Barack Obama has visited the corned beef palace just off Roosevelt! As I walked off into the chilly Chicago day I waved at the man behind the counter at Manny's, he was a true deli man.

Barack eats corned beef

I got back to Midway with plenty of time to spare. My flight was delayed 45 minutes - Midway style - but I was happy to read and watch my Ipod movies after the last great lunch of my vacation.

Back to the Bay Area

I came back to the Bay Area and I meant to try Handy's deli on Irving and 19th as I read somewhere on the internet they have a good pastrami sandwich. I walked in and saw Columbus meats in a vacuum pack and looked at the sandwich board - pastrami sandwich 3.99$. I just couldn't do it to myself after coming back from NYC. I walked downed to 9th street and had a burrito instead that day. The only pastrami I've had since then was just last night at the Chick n' coop and that was just to get power for writing the blog entry. The meat cutter at Chick n' Coop knows me pretty well now. He makes me a large pastrami sandwich every time I order it, great guy. Lots of people tell me "You're making me hungry." when I talk to them about pastrami. I do find it hard, nearly impossible to write about the subject matter on an empty stomach.

Quincy's - Market Street SF - Closed

I featured Quincy's market a couple of weeks back. The hole in the wall shop on Market Street that sold quality sandwiches with a surly attitude has Closed with a capital C. I honestly only had two sandwiches there because it was a further walk from Ted's Market from my work, so it kept me from revisiting the place. Apparently the rent went up in the area as I believe the fried chicken place next door closed as well. So the egotistical, blog writer question is do I leave Quincy's on my Yelp list of California pastrami sandwiches or do I remove it because it no longer serves pastrami. Comments please.

I'm visiting my dad in LA this weekend on the account of President's day. I'm not sure if I'll get to any delis while I'm down there. There are still many stones to uncover in the Southland, so I might squeeze one in, will keep you guys posted. As always thank you to everyone who read the blog and please leave comments or e-mail me at Pastramiking@gmail.com

The Wood Tavern & Manhattan Hub - Prelude to NYC

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:28:00 +0000

As I write to you now I'm also packing my bags for New York. There was big news in the deli world this past week - Mile End (http://www.mileendbrooklyn.com/) opened up just this past week in the Boreum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, which is the first deli in the US to sell Montreal smoked meat. I thought I was going to have to go to Canada to try this special savory fabled smoked meat, but it's just my luck that they opened the week before my trip to the East Coast! Of course I'm going to try some other places when I'm there - I'm supposed to go to Carnegie deli with my friends Nick and Chris the first night I arrive there - so I'll be eating pastrami like a king as Thursday night settles into the city sky.

Speaking of Thursday night - my good pastrami buddy David Sax is going to be in San Francisco at the Jewish Community Center on California near 15th Ave - the Richmond District. Please come out and support his cause to save the deli. I think it costs about 10$ but it said "Expect a delicious surprise." Who know whats that means, but expect something good! I feel sad I couldn't make this event - as I would like to have met some new Bay Area pastrami lovers as well as see David again - don't be sad for me though - like I said I'll be at Carnegie Deli!

The Wood Tavern

This week I have two Bay Area spots to feature - the first is The Wood Tavern on College Ave, North Oakland, but you could throw a rock at Berkeley. I went to this spot the Sunday the Saints were playing the Cardinals with three friends who were all trying not to look at the game, because we had it on pause back home - how impossible!

Whiskey Laced Chicken Liver on the Left (knife attacking!)

We started with the prosciutto and whiskey laced chicken liver, accompanied with a medium cheese. It also came with small mini toasts, a Dijon mustard, and a relish or sorts. It was great to combine the prosciutto, the mustard, some cheese, and a little relish - a definite crowd pleasing taste bud tantalizer. The whiskey laced chicken liver - OMG! That was the best chicken liver I've ever tasted - the only one that'd I've had that was similar to it was The Refuge in San Carlos, CA which was a similar kind of French/California cuisine. The small difference between the two is key in the demographics they attract - The Refuge offers Belgian beers, like Chimay and Duvel attracting a younger college crowd as well as families - The Wood Tavern has lots of wines and attracts a slightly older, artsy crowd from my observations.

Wood Tavern Pastrami

The sandwich came out on a baguette roll with a sharp Dijon mustard - very nice presentation. The pastrami itself was a bit greasy - not the best pastrami - certainly not as good as my last pastrami sandwich I had at Moishe's pippic the day prior. I remembered my conversation with Matt Levin of The Refuge when he told me "You know the taste of pastrami when it hasn't been cooked long enough (properly) it smells a bit like hot dogs." This was what he was talking about, it honestly reminded me of the pastrami I had at Johnny's pastrami in LA except this was spruced up with a french baguette and sharp mustard. The coleslaw was more of a dill tasting slaw, not as sweet with much less mayonnaise - not really my thing but some people liked it. The pastrami I had was just OK but, I think there is alot of potential for this place for me to return. I'd really like to try their pan fried chicken or their duck confit! I think this would be a great place to take a date too, check it out for a more schnazzy option than the average deli.

Manhattan Hub - Reuben

The next place I went to was Manhattan Hub in the Financial District. It was recommended by one of our good pastrami blog readers - Sam. Thanks for the suggestion Sam! I went here on MLK day, they were open till 2 PM. I fumbled with the parking meter that ate my quarter and said out of order and started walking my destination, when I got to the address I was a bit confused. This place is in the back right corner of the building if you're facing the building facade head on - really on Sacramento street, not Sansome.

The Reuben was 7.50$, with that price considered, I was very impressed with the nice marble rye bread Reuben along with the generous portion of coleslaw with a large dill pickle on top. I thought the coleslaw was out of this world good! The pastrami wasn't that great, but not a fail. It had a brine, but a very small one that didn't have a nice thin layer of fat on it that I like seeing on pastrami.The marble rye and Russian dressing were also excellent - it just wasn't that hand sliced or steaming pastrami - it seemed like it was from a pack. Still in terms of the location it's killer - I would definitely eat here regularly for lunch if I worked in the FiDi.

That's all for now folks - I'll have a bunch of material from NYC and I still have plenty to get to in the Bay Area - so expect great things to come!

National Hot Pastrami Day, Mr. Pickles Sandwich Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Ted) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:24:00 +0000

This is an emergency posts of sorts - today is National Hot Pastrami Sandwich day. I was unaware until late last night Max's Deli in Birmingham, Alabama informed me over Facebook about the National holiday. From doing a little more research it looks like the day was conjured up by the deli franchise Togo's. "Our hope is to remind our guests about our fantastic pastrami and add a little spice to their lives on January 14."said Renae Scott, Togo's VP of Marketing. While I'm not a big Togo's fans, I can appreciate what they're trying to do and they are giving away free mini pastrami sandwiches to the first 100 people that show up between 3 and 5 PM today. Take advantage if you feel like it! I think you should celebrate the Holiday by going to your favorite deli and having a pastrami, making sure to thank your deli man for the hard work they put in, just so your lunch tastes good. I'm probably going to Ted's Market around lunchtime for my pastrami. If you go to a deli today or this following weekend to celebrate the holiday please leave comments on the blog letting readers know where you went!

Diyana Sandwich - Mr. Pickles Sandwich Shop

BAM, BAM! The pickle unleashes his mustard and mayo from his bandoleer holster! Mr. Pickles Sandwich Shop is located at South Van Ness and 20th Street in SF, you'll notice the large pickle wood carving resembling a pickle Pancho Villa on the outside.

Don't Mess with Mr. Pickle!

At Mr. Pickles they have specialty sandwiches called things like the SFSU gators, the Station 7, and the Illers. The pastrami sandwich is known as the Diyana. The pastrami is thick and tasty, but falls short of the holy trinity of M's in the city (Miller's, Moishe's, Max's). Afterwards I was upset I didn't get the chicken salad or the station 7 which comes with chicken, honey mustard, and some peppers. I highly recommend Mr. Pickles sandwich shop - but not for the pastrami. What can I say, you live and you learn.

It's about 30 minutes till I head out to Ted's and I've done this post very stealthy at work, just so I could try to post it to get everyone's attention to the National Holiday. January 14th will be on my calendar for years to come as the recognized National Hot Pastrami Day as I hope it will be for all who read this blog.

-Pastrami King