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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!