Steve Safern knew for 20 years that he had a restaurant to open.  When he finally teamed up with college roommate and long-time restaurant man Andy Walsh to open Hershel’s East Side Deli four years ago, the story of the restaurant was actually more than 64 years in the making.  Hershel’s serves a full Kosher-style menu and makes almost all of its products from scratch, procuring locally delicious breads and pickles. We were overwhelmed by the thick-cut fresh pastrami sandwich, Corned Beef Special and Reuben.  Like the fresh-made meats they are famous for, their shop is brined in the tradition of the Jewish people.

Hershel’s stays true to a standard of hearty freshness and quality set by a dying breed of old-American delis. Delis that, like the world famous Katz’ Deli in New York, cure their own Kosher-style meats.  Steve’s uncle Hershel, the shop’s namesake, worked over 40 years at Katz’, eventually becoming a partial owner before retiring in 1989.  Before his uncle passed away, Steve promised him he was going to open a restaurant to honor the legacy of their family’s meat, “doing it right, from scratch”.

Before Steve’s uncle and father came to America, his family made and sold deli meat at their general merchandise store in Poland.   His uncle Hershel, who Steve rightly credits for his own life, rescued his father from the Nazis when they swept through and burned their crowded synagogue to the ground one Sabbath morning, leaving them the only two Jewish survivors of their town of Dynow.  To honor him, Steve and Andy have taken generations-old family recipes and refined them until they created a product that rivals, and many argue tops, the famous Katz’ Deli.  Andy is personally involved throughout the 10-day process “to ensure perfect quality,” he said, ”after all, I didn’t get into this business just to make my living”.

The pastrami sandwich is the crown jewel, a massive pile of dripping fresh hand cut, 10-day cured, slow-baked, 10 spice rubbed “Kosher navel”: the same traditional, high fat, high flavor meat that less than a half-dozen delis still use.  The peppery, garlicky, coriander rub adds a kick and coating to the succulent meat.  The sandwich comes on local Kaplan’s New Model Bakery rye “the best rye you can buy anywhere, no comparison”, says Andy.

The thick-stacked Corned Beef Special, their most popular sandwich, is made with slaw, made fresh daily, and a tangy thousand island dressing.  The rye bread soaked up the thick dressing and juice from the coleslaw, but remained perfectly spongy and snappy.  The thick-cut corned beef allows you to taste the sour and garlicky flavor, while preserving the subtle value of the textural differences between the crisp outer crust and the tender meat.

The Reuben was everything you expect a Reuben to be, if you expect your Reuben to absolutely blow you away. A stockpile of their thick, house-cured and slow-cooked corned beef, sauerkraut that Andy buys “from the Northeast Philly Pickleman” and a sharp Swiss cheese are served on grilled rye.

We highly recommend you stop by Reading Terminal Market and go to Hershel’s.  Treat yourselves to a sandwich, soup and Dr. Brown’s soda as you consume your share of the 4,000 pounds of meaty hospitality dished up per week by Andy and Steve. If religious tradition has you soon giving up bread for Passover, and you are swinging by today to get your last leavened-fix, we recommend the pastrami. If you’re feeling generous, we’d love seconds.

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Hershel’s East Side Deli
1 North 12th Street – Philadelphia, PA 19107 (Google Map)
(215) 922-6220

One of Philadelphia’s best value-priced sandwiches is disappearing at the end of the month.  The Kibitz Room’s October special $4.95 hot corned beef sandwich has warmed our hearts and stomachs these past weeks, and the clock is ticking before it vanishes.  A half-pound of Kibitz’ steamed corned beef and a pickle for just five bucks is a bargain for the consumer, and we just hope there’s another killer deal next month.

The Kibitz Room
1521 Locust St, Philadelphia PA 19102 (Google Map)

We’re giving away a copy of David Sax’s book Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen. Read the post to learn how to win!

David Sax is our kind of guy. The Canadian born Jewish freelance writer spent the past year or so traveling the globe to nosh at over 140 delicatessens. Raised on traditional foods like matzah ball soup, blintzes, corned beef, and tongue, Sax knows when he’s found the perfect bite. Through the years though, he has experienced a horrible revelation: the Jewish delicatessen as we know it is soon to become extinct.

Thus David Sax set out on his aforementioned journey, keeping a journal along the way, which developed into a book, Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen. From a stint slicing pastrami behind the corner at Katz’s in New York’s Lower East Side to a tour of a plant that pumps out thousands of corned beefs a day in the Midwest, the author takes us through the clogged arteries of Jewish food lore. Both a history lesson and a drool worthy recount of all the food he encounters along the way, Save the Deli is a fun and informative read, a state of the union of sorts for corned beef and pastrami.

David Sax will appear tonight in New York at Ben’s Kosher Deli at 7:30pm and on November 3rd at the Philadelphia Free Library. You can also read more at the Save the Deli blog.

To win a free copy of Save the Deli, answer in the comments: corned beef, or pastrami? We’ll close submissions on Wednesday October 21, at midnight EST and pick a winner at random.

As the name suggests, The Kibitz Room has an informal atmosphere where the deli men crack jokes about as fast as they slice the meat.  And this traditional Jewish deli has a few rules: corned beef, pastrami and brisket are only served hot; there is absolutely no white bread; no French’s yellow mustard; and no corned beef or pastrami will be served on whole wheat.  But if you ask owner Neil Parish, a Baltimore native who’s been slicing corned beef since he’s 14, the best sandwiches are served on rye with nothing more than their signature mustard.

The Kibitz Room is the sister restaurant of Parish’s New York style deli of the same name in Cherry Hill, no relation to Kibitz in the City on East Chestnut Street.  The 70-seat restaurant offers Jewish soul food via dine in, take out, delivery, catering, deli trays and meat by the pound.  About 95% of people order a sandwich.  The best sellers are corned beef, pastrami, turkey, roast beef, tuna, turkey pastrami and nova on a bagel.

Parish’s extensive taste testing led Kibitz to import brined, uncooked corned beef from United Meat & Deli in Detroit, which is boiled and steamed on the premises.  They also serve Naval cut Vienna Pastrami, which Parish calls “the best there is.”  They get bread from a variety of sources: seeded or plain rye bread from Collegeville Bakery, bagels from New Jersey, but the kaiser rolls, challah rolls and onion rolls are baked fresh at Kibitz.  The restaurant’s pickle bar (sourced from a local Philadelphia vendor) offers New York sour pickles, half sours, spicy pickles, pickled tomatoes, pickle chips, hot cherry peppers, a sweet pickle mix, sauerkraut and health salad.

Meat is piled high on bread, but the sandwiches are still manageable to eat – they compress just enough to bite so you don’t have to deconstruct the sandwich before you begin.  The pastrami has a peppery, spicy crust with a bold, smoky and salty flavor.  The meat is trimmed to offer enough fat to keep it moist and juicy but not thick ribbons of fat that overshadow the meat.  The corned beef is exceptional: warm, moist and full of rich flavor that significantly outshines most competitors’ corned beef.  (Extra lean corned beef is available but Parish doesn’t recommend it.)  The speckled deli mustard is a unique recipe made exclusively for Kibitz from a company in New York.  Not too vinegary, not too hot, it offers just enough twang to electrify the meat.

So where does the deli man go to get a sandwich?  Straight to Shank’s & Evelyn’s (soon to be a Center City neighbor of Kibitz) where Parish enjoys just about everything on the menu but called out the meatball, chicken cutlet with broccoli rabe (no cheese), roast beef and Italian by name.

Kibitz stays open until 9PM during the week, 11PM on Saturday and 8PM on Sunday because according to Parish, “Sandwiches are as good for dinner as they are for lunch.” (Editor’s note: Agreed.)

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The Kibitz Room
1521 Locust St, Philadelphia PA 19102 (Google Map)

Over at Coconut & Lime, recipe blogger extraordinaire Rachel Rappaport has great step by step directions for making Homemade Corned Beef. The instructions call for brining a beef brisket; a process which entails marinating the meat in sodium nitrite and spices for 12 days to make it melt in your mouth tender. Rachel does admit that at times she questioned her sanity but all in all the process was quite easy and produced delicious results.

Now with this easy and detailed recipe, we feel confident enough to start pumping out some homemade corned beef sandwiches from the Unbreaded test kitchen.

[Via: Coconut & Lime]

Unbreaded’s Ben Greenberg contributed to this review.

The shiny-new Ladder 15 has a warm, industrial feel and an imaginative menu that will surely transform this former working firehouse into a different kind of hot spot.  The 100-seat space is a combination of steel, brick, stone and rich mahogany, (and plasma behind the bar) complete with vaulted ceiling, fireplace, red walls and a striking custom chandelier.  Owner Max Tucker, who also owns Mad River restaurants, tapped friend Chef Mike Stollenwerk to design the menu.  Chef Stollenwerk, whose quaint Bella Vista Little Fish restaurant has received national acclaim, worked with Chef Ann Campbell (formerly at White Dog Café) to bring upscale pub fare to what Stollenwerk called “a sandwich obsessed city.”

What immediately caught our attention was their signature sandwich: corned beef on a Philly soft pretzel.  The lightly crisped pretzel braid was remarkably delicious and impossibly fresh (delivered from Philly Pretzel Factory next door) and did not overwhelm the sandwich.  The corned beef, made on site and served warm, was cut in paper-thin strips (though not especially lean), and paired with melted gruyere cheese.  A robust whole grain mustard added a sharp zing and in-your-face flavor.  One point of note, the sandwich meat was not the traditional red corned beef; it was brown and tasted more like a brisket than delicatessen-style corned beef.

The burger had a lot of good things going for it.  The prime sirloin was juicy and well-seasoned, with a rich and creamy smoked paprika mayonnaise, melted manchego cheese and a sweet red onion marmalade cooked in orange juice, balsamic vinegar and honey.  There was one element that they will still need to tweak: the bread. Served on thick-cut grilled sourdough, the bread was somewhat unwieldy and did not allow a comprehensive bite of the whole burger.  The kitchen is still getting its sea legs, so we hope they can work out that detail before the big crowds start to pour in.

The duck breast sandwich served up thinly sliced meat and melted brie on a large, hearty English muffin.  The meat was cooked to medium and very tender, not a dry hunk of breast as is often the case with duck entrees.  The execution and ample portion size far exceeds the price point on this sandwich.  The only opportunity to develop it further might be in the moustarda, which did not hold up to the brie.

The smoked mushroom VLT wins points for its dramatic presentation and for its fresh, vibrant taste.  Four pieces are stacked high and skewered, served on thick slices of Metropolitan Bakery multigrain bread.  The smoked portabello was moist and tender, yielding easily to the bite.  Juicy tomato, crisp lettuce and matchstick potato sticks rounded out the fillings, but the star of this show may very well be the mustard.  The spicy, vinegary twang really worked well with the hearty bread and fresh vegetables.

Overall, the sandwiches were well conceived and skillfully executed.  If they can maintain consistency with the details like keeping the meat moist and tender, and if they are able to solve their burger bread issue, Ladder 15 will definitely be a top sandwich bar.

Unbreaded’s Q&A With Mike Stollenwerk:

Unbreaded: Where did the pretzel sandwich come from?
Mike Stollenwerk:We wanted to create a signature Philadelphia sandwich that wasn’t a cheesesteak.  So a soft pretzel was the logical next step, and we get them fresh from our friends next door.

UB: Where do you like to go in Philadelphia to get sandwiches?
MS: John’s Roast Pork – the cheesesteak or the pork, they’re both the best.

UB: What kind of sandwich do you make for yourself at home?
MS: A nearly raw poached egg on toast with whatever kind of pork product I have on hand.

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Ladder 15
1528 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 (Google Map)

Just off Exit 10 of the New Jersey Turnpike in Edison, NJ lies a sleeping giant called Harold’s New York Deli. The 300 seat restaurant is home to the world’s premiere corned beef and pastrami, served a mile high on bread so fresh it’s delivered four times a day. The “small” sandwiches weigh close to a pound and the larges are enough to feed an elephant.

Owner Harold Jaffe, having built and sold almost 40 restaurants throughout the Garden State, has learned a thing or two along the way (and made a tidy profit, to boot.) “More meat” is the name of the game, and Harold plays the game to win. He perfected his craft as General Manger of New York’s Carnegie Deli, where he learned the closely-guarded secrets of corned beef, pastrami and cheesecake.

Meats are brined, “pumped” (injected with additional brine to impart unparalleled moisture and flavor to the meat) and cured for 3 days before cooking. The meat is then boiled (corned beef) or smoked (pastrami) on site and steamed until serving. Customers can enjoy the never-ending pickle bar that offers half sour, sour, and kosher dill pickles, pickle chips, hot pickles, pickled tomatoes, pickled hot peppers, sauerkraut, and all the rye bread you need to turn a single sandwich into a meal for the family.

The corned beef is flaky and delicate, warm and melts in your mouth. Available in traditional cut or extra-lean. The pastrami is smoky, rich, fatty, peppery and robust. The roast beef is light and tender, moist ribbons of lean meat. The brisket pulls apart effortlessly, flaky and moist like the corned beef, but darker in color and flavor. The succulent, juicy, house roasted white meat turkey was some of the very best I’ve ever tasted.

Harold cannot say for sure, but he believes that Harold’s is the highest volume deli in the country, even surpassing the levels of famed New York establishments like Carnegie and the Stage Deli. An astounding 8 tons of corned beef and pastrami pass through the kitchen each week to the 14,000 hungry patrons who come from up and down the east coast.

Read our Q&A with Harold Jaffe:

Unbreaded: What are your personal favorite sandwiches?
Harold Jaffe: Pastrami and corned beef.

UB: What’s a hidden gem on the menu?
HJ: The potato knish. And the cheesecake is the best there is.

UB: What is the biggest day of the year for the restaurant?
HJ: St. Patrick’s Day, then Christmas, then Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. On St. Patrick’s Day, we serve 5000 lbs. of corned beef, 5000 lbs. of potatoes and 5000 lbs. of cabbage.

UB: What do you think are the most important qualities of a good sandwich?
HJ: The meat can’t be too hard or too soft, too fatty or too lean. Consistency is everything. People expect the same quality, same experience every time they come here and they’ll tell us if something isn’t quite right.

UB: What percentage of people order sandwiches here?
HJ: 95%.

UB: Who are some celebrities to whom you’ve served sandwiches?
HJ: Henny Youngman, Peter Faulk, June Carter, Mike Tyson, Mohammed Ali

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Harold’s New York Deli
3050 Woodbridge Avenue, Edison, NJ 08837 (Google Map)

Editor’s note: Rachel Lowen is a Chicago-based sandwich fanatic who is unbreading the Windy City.

It’s St. Patty’s week- yes week- here in Chicago and everyone’s Irish. Sandwich-wise, this means corned beef is king, and when word got out that a north side pub soaks theirs in Guinness post-carving, pre-sandwich, we figured it might be worth checking out.

Enter, Mystic Celt. While the “pub” got doused with a case of the yuppies, (count the flat screen TV’s), their signature corned beef sandwich is flavor-wise as authentic as they come. The thick-cut beef nestles nicely between melted Swiss on pub-style Irish brown bread, but there definitely could have been more of it- way more. True, for a USDA “standard serving” the meat was generously heaped, but for our token St. Patty’s Day corned beef sandwich rep, we were hoping to conquer a truly-obnoxious-can’t-fit-your-mouth-around-it stack.

We recommend an extra Guinness to compensate. Slainte!

Mystic Celt
3443 N. Southport Avenue Chicago, IL 60657 (Google Map)