Miles logged: 1,445
New York City, a resort destination for the senses.
Getting off the Long Island Rail Road at Penn Station evokes a reluctant smile. The energetic environment is the opposite of my home but I really like this town. I have a feel for the city. Doing as the New Yorkers makes me feel good, even a little jealous. The food, riding the subway and walking a myriad of city blocks, I dig it all. Clichés of a major metropolitan area come true in a place like New York. Hell, this is where they came from. Yes, it’s loud, it’s dirty and the people are not always friendly but more than sixteen million of them call this place home. Obviously there is something to like here.
I’ve seen the sights and walked a mile or five like a New Yorker. This trip is about delving deeper. I have always believed that an authentic experience involves eating what the locals eat. If a destination’s people are the windows into its soul, their taste buds are the front door step. The latest edition of our New York City agenda included two legendary eats, Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island and Katz’s Deli in Manhattan. Both of these iconic restaurants are rooted deep in New York history. Each restaurant has been in its original location serving New York staples for over 90 years.
I know where the Coney comes from
Take the D train to the end of the line at the corner of Surf & Stillwell in Brooklyn. Follow your nose to Mecca for a hotdog lover. Beginning as a simple hotdog cart on this corner, Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker used is wife’s recipe to sell an all beef, five cent hotdog. The rest, as they say, is history. Today Nathan’s can be enjoyed in all 50 states and is sold at over 20,000 foodservice and retail outlets. But for the true experience, come to Brooklyn. One a summer day, lines form around the block as hungry Coney Island goers wait to taste history. Each summer, competitive eaters dare to fill their stomachs with as much history as possible in ten minutes as the corner of Surf & Stillwell hosts Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hotdog Eating Competition. The current record is held by American Joey Chestnut inhaling 68 hotdogs and buns. I came to eat my fill but not that many.
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This is Brooklyn right hee-uh (here),” says the gentleman wearing a retro Brooklyn Dodgers baseball cap and t-shirt as he eats another French fry. Just then, I knew I had arrived. As Rebecca and I sat at our table, I put aside the crummy weather and lived in the moment. Finally, I was there. We had ordered too much food out of excitement. I was going to need more napkins. Taking a bite the first chili dog brought an instant smile. The snap of the all-natural casing and blend of spices were phenomenal. Never before had I tasted a more flavorful hotdog. Nathan’s chili and cheese sauce can only make something this good, even better. Accompanying our dogs were the delicious crinkle cut fries and washed down with Nathan’s home-made lemonade. There isn’t much to be said about a hotdog but when a great one is eaten; you know it. Indeed, proclaiming fry eater, this is Brooklyn right hee-uh.
This is where Harry met Sally
Two simple words: pastrami sandwich. Nobody does it better than the institution of Katz’s Deli at the corner of Houston and Ludlow in the Lower East side of Manhattan. Since 1888, Katz’s has been serving delicatessen favorites. Over 120 years later Katz’s has achieved legend status. Katz’s is New York City. Your first visit to Katz’s and you will definitely want what “she’s having”.
Standing outside of Katz’s requires a gaze and a deep breath. I stood in the cold rain to soak in the moment. We entered the door at the corner of the building, proceeding into the large dining room. Conversing diners gathered in small groups at tables situated long rows towards the back of the restaurant. Along the right-hand side of the large room, paper hat-donning artisans exhibited their craft. This is where the magic happens, for lack of a better phrase. I approached the counter. Katz’s is famous for their pastrami but why? Their process of selecting only the best quality beef, preparing the pastrami to the Katz’s standard and serving their meats the only way they know how; hand-slicing every sandwich. That’s right. Thousands of the New York’s best pastrami sandwiches are sliced by hand every day. I gave my ticket to the carver and he placed a sample on the counter as he prepared our order. After my initial taste I felt almost privileged be able to eat an entire sandwich.
We found a table and sat down. I hurried to take a picture of the pile of sandwich and take a bite before it ran away. After that first bite, nothing else will ever compare. An intense flavor filled my mouth. Rich spice blends slow-cooked into the beef come through with a rich marbling flavor. The meat falls apart as you press the tongue to the roof of your mouth. If not for the bread, you hardly need teeth to eat the sandwich. You will need a set of chomppers for one of Katz’s famous pickles. Yes, there pickles are famous too. The “not-so-pickled” pickle, as I referred to it, is actually a barrel pickle. After a few more large bites of my half of the sandwich, I got to finish Rebecca’s half and the rest of our fries. I hit the wall. No more food. Stuffed with hotdogs and pastrami, I placed my hands behind my head and leaned back in my chair with content asking “Does it get much better than this?”
