How much heat did I, a native New Yorker and food critic for the hometown Daily News, take for insisting that the pastrami at the LA delicatessen Langer’s was superior to anything in New York? Â My sanity, as much as my judgment, was called into question when LA Times critic S. Irene Virbila nominated Langer’s for a 2001 James Beard Award and I, then the New York rep of the Restaurant Awards Committee, championed the motion. The late R.W. Apple, Jr thought one of two things needed to happen, fast: either I needed to get professional help or he needed to get to Langer’s. My redemption arrived in the 19 August 2002 edition of the New Yorker, with Nora Ephron writing that Langer’s served “the best hot pastrami sandwich in the world.”
I was back at Langer’s two weeks ago and its hot pastrami is still far and away the best, though maybe not for all the reasons Ephron cited. Hand-slicing may be a big part of Langer’s lore, as seen in the paintings of the late Al Langer on the back wall, but I no longer see it as a secret to its sandwich’s greatness. Mine was assembled with the machine-cut slices you see above and it was outstanding. There were no meat crumbs or scraps to be seen – only thick, moist, extra fatty, deep-pink slices of perfect pastrami steamed to the point of near collapse. The rye bread is no longer from the fabled Fred’s (now it is from Bea’s Bakery), yet it too is as good as ever. The interior is wonderfully chewy and its crust is actually a crust: You don’t tug on it with your teeth, as you must with most other ryes. You crush it with your teeth. The Langer’s pastrami is in fact a double-crusted sandwich with a wonderful play of contrasting textures. Beneath the noisy rye, the impossibly tender meat is itself encrusted in its cracked pepper and spice rub.
So apart from the great rye bread and the superbly fatty cut of brisket (probably the point cut or “deckel”) I can’t explain what makes Langer’s the best. I can’t even defend my insistence on applying mustard. If pastrami has a more complex set of flavors than nearly any other food and Langer’s has better flavors than every other pastrami, why camouflage it with a condiment?
Thanks, I didn’t know that Langer’s no longer used Fred’s. Native Angeleno here, and I know it takes some guts for a New Yorker to admit that LA has the best pastrami sandwich.
Thanks, Evan, I try not to be too chauvinistic. The rye bread does make a big difference – perhaps even a decisive one – when comparing Langer’s pastrami to Katz’s. Please ask Langer’s about their leaving Fred’s for Bea’s the next time you’re in for a sandwich.