Abe Lebewohl's 2nd Ave. Deli
156 2nd Ave between 9th & 10th Streets. East Village
Abe Lebewohl may not have invented deli, but as far as this reviewer is concerned, he did for deli what my bubbe did for brisket. Once. A long time ago. If Abie were still with us, I would probably kiss the man for opening his kosher palace and challenge him to a kreplach toss. Winner gets a kugel. Back to bubbe. Its safe to say that one of the hard and fast rules of being jewish is that nobody cooks better than your mom, except for your grandmother, and so on. Second Avenue's brisket beats grandma's by about seventeen kreplengths, a delightfully fatty, juicy, transcendent cut of meat done with well-seasoned authority. Try it on rye, with a schmear of beet-tinged horseradish, and you'll know why I'm retarded over the place. The corned beef excels as well, again, perfectly fatty, and perfectly situated between a couple of slices of rye. Don't be treyf and ask for a rueben though; the deli is strictly kosher, which means no cheese on your meat, although sauerkraut can be provided, for something halfway to gut destruction. The accompaniments? Well, the pale, golden matzo ball soup is the third best I've ever eaten, following my own at second, and my mom's at the very top of the heap, so the law holds fast on this one. Latkes are delicously greasy bricks (you really can't lighten up the latke) gratis cole slaw or health salad remain true to classic deli form, and sour and half-sour pickles made on premise deliver a satisfyingly crisp sidebar. Unless you eat all of them before your soup or sandwich comes. I have an apalling love of the pickle tray. Really. Except for those horrible little tomato things. Does anyone eat those? And dessert? I defy you to save room!
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walter jacobs thinks:
my first visit to the 2nd avenue deli was a a while ago, in the 70's i think. my wife and i went to a new york mets game, and the deli had a deal whereby, if the mets won by a shutout or a no hitter, i can't remember which, the deli would give you a free salami. the mets did win and we went down and collected our two salamis, one for each ticket stub. we also stayed for dinner and had the best meal ever. i told a friend about the incident and he says i am full of baloney. do you have any historical data to prove i am correct?
January 12, 2006 8:47 PM
Gary Barnartt thinks:
Check out "The 2nd ave Deli Cookbook". In it, you'll find the whole story of the salami giveaway. BTW - it was in the '80's, and the book includes a picture of Frank Viola (in his Mets uniform) holding a salami!
January 14, 2006 6:19 AM