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

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

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

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.

New York - Veni, Vite, Vici.

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