After our visit to the new High Line park last week, we ended the day perfectly; got back in the car and went from the Lower West Side of Manhattan to the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

This was the area where many immigrants (Jews, Irish, Italians) began their life in America.

They found themselves living in cramped railroad-flat tenements with little air or light, but lots of street life. They shopped form pushcarts below, children played in the streets. When they had the money they moved “uptown” or left Manhattan for The Bronx or Brooklyn.

[photos can be viewed better by enlarging–just click/
©the author, all rights reserved]

Katz’s Delicatessen remains in the neighborhood. Watch this endearing video about Katz’s here if it doesn’t come up on the previous link. You’ll learn some history and some Yiddish. ESS

Your food maven will continue…A Russian-Jewish immigrant family founded Katz’s in 1888 and the rest is history. This mecca for Jews has become a favorite for every group in New York City, and we have them all. Nothing more enjoyable than watching every imaginable ethnic group.“Send a salami to your boy in the army.” According to The Big Apple website, the phrase that was credited to Katz’s was actually a quote from Louie the waiter during World War 2.

The walls are, well, wall-to-wall with the faces of celebrities. You might remember this: (from Barry Popik whose Big Apple website holds a wealth of information) Katz’s Deli, 205 East Houston Street. Meg Ryan. Billy Crystal. When Harry Met Sally… (1989), directed by Rob Reiner, with a screenplay by Nora Ephron. Harry and Sally are seated. Sally fakes an orgasm, right in the restaurant! And another patron overhears and says– “I’ll have what she’s having!”

The tongue sandwich is for my friend Seth.

Poetry for Wednesday

Pastrami on Rye with Mustard
By Michael Domino

Seat yourself, tables against the wall . . . you’ll get a waiter.
All others, you are the waiter.
Follow the worn trail on the tile floor.
It will lead you to the pastrami on rye.
Don’t bother; he knows.
He can see it on your face, what you came here for: pastrami on rye.
Okay, say it if you want, but he knows; he is already slicing.
This pastrami melds with the rye and the mustard, no teeth required.
Katz’s Deli, 205 East Houston Street; interior decorators need not apply.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If it is broke, still don’t fix it.
Who needs a sign when there are paper plates and marker pens available?
And eat your pastrami on rye in good company.
Muhammad Ali , Henny Youngman, Jerry Lewis, Mayor Koch, Dolly Parton, Tony Soprano, and Bill Clinton are watchin’ ya chew.
They’re keepin’ ya company.
A revolving Lower East Side door of humanity, all eating hot pastrami.
I hear Spanish, I see Jewish, I nod to the fashion models, I wonder about the street guy and the punks and the clean and the dirty.
The newest and the latest is crowding in on Katz’s.
To be New York, don’t try to be New York.
Take a plate, get on line, sit down, don’t worry, the pastrami is hot, the roof don’t leak, the chair won’t break.
Relax, eat, sit, sip, read, look . . . feel.
Pastrami . . . on rye, with mustard.

We’ll have what she’s having =====

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jun 23, ’09 Got the post up on IE!!

reply instrumentalpavilion wrote on Jun 23, ’09 Love this joint….thanks. That sandwich makes me want to go there right now! : )

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jun 23, ’09, edited on Jun 23, ’09 I’ll have what she’s having, and uh…the poem is great, too, LOL!

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jun 23, ’09 lauritasita said Great ! do you want me to delete mine then ? um people are going to get so confused, whatever you think I have to run!! Change the sign in please

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jun 23, ’09 sanssouciblogs said Change the sign in please I did.

reply sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Jun 23, ’09 What a fun read this is…and I made the mistake of visiting before dinner……I want what she is having as well! Fabulous visuals Darlin!

reply hadeev wrote on Jun 23, ’09 I’ve been to Katz’s a few times, but only for hot dogs. I may find my way over there this weekend while I’m in NYC. I have my favorite spots for corned beef or pastrami sandwiches. My belly is stuffed, but those photos are making my mouth water. Where’s the coleslaw?

reply hadeev wrote on Jun 23, ’09 Last month, I took some friends who were visiting from Tacoma, Washington to Junior’s in Brooklyn. We loved the pickled beets and coleslaw. I had some kind of an open-faced beef brisket sandwich on hash brown patties with applesauce. I passed on the sour cream. The sandwich was pretty good.

reply caffeinatedjo wrote on Jun 23, ’09 I am hungry now lol. I loved that scene in “When Harry Met Sally”; it was soooo funny. That was Billy Crystal’s mom who said, “I’ll have what she’s having!” by the way. No to celery pop. Yes to the poem!

reply tulipsinspring wrote on Jun 23, ’09 I love, love, love your NYC posts. You give such a feel for the city. I’m vegetarian and I STILL want to try that meat! Wonderful and glad Multiply stopped giving your grief!

reply skyerider wrote on Jun 23, ’09 I enjoyed this!

reply starfishred wrote on Jun 23, ’09 WONDERFUL sue and am glad you were finally able to post -it is a wonderful oiece of work-

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jun 24, ’09 Please pass the mustard !

reply fluffyj wrote on Jun 24, ’09 Love your words and the history lesson on a classic place in New York. That is probably the only scene I remember from the movie; haven’t stopped laughing about it yet. -janeen

reply bostonsdandd wrote on Jun 25, ’09 LOL I LOVE this piece! I’m starving now though :oP.

reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 25, ’09 LOl……………its like actually being there…………..not that i’ve ever been to a place just like that………but now i know what itwould feel like if I did.

reply gapeach7355 wrote on Jun 28, ’09 Adding KATZ to the “must do” list for the NY trip!!! (You should be a foodie’s guide in NY…)

reply psychesrealm wrote on Jul 1, ’09 Ill have TWO of whats SHES having….Pastrami will neva be the same to me again!!…..LOL

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jul 1, ’09 See my blog on the High Line and stop at the Chelsea Market–they do the food network there. It’s nearby! There a thousands of places to eat in each borough! Impossible to make a decision.