Ruth Reichl’s Ultimate New York City Snack Crawl
"Pastrami Sandwich "We are so lucky to have this resource. This is another place I've been going my whole life. When we lived on Rivington Street, New York in 1970 was really rough. The city was bankrupt. We were dirt poor, and we would go to Katz's and we couldn't afford the pastrami. It was just too expensive for us. But we would get a knobbelwurst for 50 cents and just sort of be in there, surrounded by the aroma of the 100-and-some years of pickles and garlic and pepper. Now it's such a thrill for me, I can afford to have a pastrami sandwich. I can ask them to make sure that it's fat, not lean, because there is no point in going and getting a pastrami sandwich if you're not gonna get the fat. I mean, that's what it's all about. I like the whole ritual of: you give the guy who's carving it a couple of dollars, and you say, 'Make sure you give me some fat.' It's classic." - brennan carley
