It's official. The late, lamented Second Avenue Deli will re-open shortly after Yom Kippur at its new location on East 33rd Street between Third and Lexington.

Pastrami on rye, anyone?

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7130e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

About 2 1/2 blocks from Mendy's (kosher), and about 5 blocks from Sarge's (not kosher).

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry7130e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

About 2 1/2 blocks from Mendy's (kosher), and about 5 blocks from Sarge's (not kosher).
...and 10 blocks from my apartment. :) :) :)

Thanks for the good news!

Will they be calling it "Second Avenue Deli" then?

Will they be calling it "Second Avenue Deli" then?

As far as I know, yes.

About 12 blocks from me, and between where I work and where we park the car.

How cool is that?

to offer up for sale on eBay the pint of 2nd Ave Deli chicken soup sitting in my freezer ;)

bk3day...

You still could offer the soup... promo it as the ORIGINAL soup from the ORIGINAL 2nd Avenue Deli. It's ebay... people will buy almost anything including William Shatler's toupee... YUK!

Will be interesting if the quality of the food and service matches the original place.

Yeah!!! I hope it restores the excellent food from the original. The original was my favorite deli.

Yeah!!! I hope it restores the excellent food from the original. The original was my favorite deli.

My understanding is that the food will be identical.

About 12 blocks from me, and between where I work and where we park the car.

How cool is that?

About 8 blocks from my office! ^

Second Avenue Deli will re-open shortly after Yom Kippur

All this deli talk has been making me hungry. So, who's going to organize a grand re-opening lunch? :D
Maybe we can even go to break the fast.

bk3day...

Will be interesting if the quality of the food and service matches the original place.

well...i could bring the soup (still in it's original 2nd Ave logoed packaging) to the proposed FT Deli DO and ask them to heat it up so we could have a taste test :D

When I get the definite word on the opening date, would folks here like me to post it?

When I get the definite word on the opening date, would folks here like me to post it?

Ya

When I get the definite word on the opening date, would folks here like me to post it?

Yes please!

So, LandingGear, what's your source? I haven't seen this in the news. Can we assume you were somehow involved in thet lease negotiations?

About 2 1/2 blocks from Mendy's (kosher), and about 5 blocks from Sarge's (not kosher).

I love Sarge's! :)

So, LandingGear, what's your source? I haven't seen this in the news. Can we assume you were somehow involved in thet lease negotiations?

Not me, but I know someone who was. Once deals are made, lots of people talk.

You might be interested in reading the article and other material accompanying this previously published statement:

"Jack Lebewohl, whose family owned the Second Avenue Deli for decades, said his son Jeremy would reopen the deli in Murray Hill — on East 33rd Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues — “sometime in the fall.” The audience erupted into applause."

From: "Something to Nosh On: Here’s the Skinny on Jewish Delis" By Sewell Chan, http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/something-to-nosh-on-heres-the-skinny-on-jewish-delis/

I heard it is the best deli in the city, but is it kosher ?

I heard it is the best deli in the city, but is it kosher ?

My understanding was that the meat was kosher (not glatt) and the restaurant didn't serve dairy, but they were open on Shabbat and therefore didn't have a hechsher. So it depends on your definition of kosher, but most strictly orthodox folks wouldn't eat there.

My understanding was that the meat was kosher (not glatt) and the restaurant didn't serve dairy, but they were open on Shabbat and therefore didn't have a hechsher. So it depends on your definition of kosher, but most strictly orthodox folks wouldn't eat there.

No - they had Rabbinic supervision (a "hechsher"), from an Orthodox Rabbi - but not one of the recognized companies that provide supervision as a business. (Most Orthodox Rabbis & supervision companies will not certify as kosher a restaurant that is open on Shabbat, because they don't want to be seen as endorsing it when you cook food and do business on Shabbat (both of which are prohibited).

It became one of those tests of "modern" Orthodox - would you eat at 2nd Avenue on Thursday...;)

No - they had Rabbinic supervision (a "hechsher"), from an Orthodox Rabbi - but not one of the recognized companies that provide supervision as a business. (Most Orthodox Rabbis & supervision companies will not certify as kosher a restaurant that is open on Shabbat, because they don't want to be seen as endorsing it when you cook food and do business on Shabbat (both of which are prohibited).

It became one of those tests of "modern" Orthodox - would you eat at 2nd Avenue on Thursday...;)

Who knew there would be times when being raised as a Catholic would make ones life easier! ;)

I loved 2nd Avenue Deli and didnt have to worry about the details. In seriousness, there are clearly quality issues that make me view Kosher, or for that matter Halal, food as being superior to food that isnt. The added restrictions on quality of ingredients and food handling are good things. So knowing that the food is handled that way is important while the other issues arent personally a concern to me.

No - they had Rabbinic supervision (a "hechsher"), from an Orthodox Rabbi - but not one of the recognized companies that provide supervision as a business. (Most Orthodox Rabbis & supervision companies will not certify as kosher a restaurant that is open on Shabbat, because they don't want to be seen as endorsing it when you cook food and do business on Shabbat (both of which are prohibited).

It became one of those tests of "modern" Orthodox - would you eat at 2nd Avenue on Thursday...;)

Thanks for the clarification. Do you know which rabbi it was?

No - they had Rabbinic supervision (a "hechsher"), from an Orthodox Rabbi - but not one of the recognized companies that provide supervision as a business. (Most Orthodox Rabbis & supervision companies will not certify as kosher a restaurant that is open on Shabbat, because they don't want to be seen as endorsing it when you cook food and do business on Shabbat (both of which are prohibited).

It became one of those tests of "modern" Orthodox - would you eat at 2nd Avenue on Thursday...;)

Yes, but as we all know, there is a certain amount of BS involved therein. Prime Grill will be open on Rosh Hashanah. I suppose they require payment in advance, but nonetheless. . .

Thanks for the clarification. Do you know which rabbi it was?

I don't know the name of the rabbi. I guess whoever the rabbi at the new location is will be known at the end of September.

This is another of those questions where some people find "wiggle room." I am given to understand (this could be incorrect) that the deli products at the old location were Abeles and Heymann (No. 1 in the Times hot dog taste test) which have the OU endorsement.

I suppose the question would be, as a previous poster sort of put it, "would you eat the OU-certified hot dog grilled on a Sunday?"

From today's New York Post:


WELCOME TO...NEW DELI

NEW JEWISH CUISINE IS NOT YOUR MOMMY’S PASTRAMI

By KIRI TANNENBAUM
. . .

When the 2nd Avenue reopens it will still be kosher, serving old favorites like cholent, pastrami and corned beef, matzo ball soup. But you can’t go home again - there will be changes.

“I’ve never seen a restaurant that has the same menu two years in a row,” explains former owner Jack Lebewohl. “So it will be the same and there will be changes.”

The first one’s a doozy - his son Jeremy, now at the helm, is adding a full bar menu hoping to attract a broader clientele.


. . .

I'll have Champagne with my pastrami. :)

Entire article at: http://www.nypost.com/seven/09192007/entertainment/food/welcome_to___new_deli.htm?page=0

have people seen anything going on at the location?
should open soon, right?

have people seen anything going on at the location?
should open soon, right?

I was promised an e-mail.

When I know, I will post it on this thread. Right after the Mylanta. :)

I grew up on their food, too bad about Abe the owner. Will they have the waiters with the attitudes? I live in the OC now, not many choices here and nothing like 2nd Ave or Katz's.

Actually Katz's is still the best deli in the world.
Where else can you get hand carved Pastrami these days? Give the counter guy a tip and he'll carve a sample the size of most deli's sandwich.
Man, can't wait till my next trip back to NYC I'm salivating.

have people seen anything going on at the location?
should open soon, right?

fyi, posted this week (10/3) on Chowhound:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/438133

"We just walked by this past weekend. They are making progress. They've installed a new facade. The windows are white-soaped from inside, but we managed to get a peek through a tiny clear space. They've built a small vestibule with a door on the right leading into the restaurant. The last time we passed by a few weeks ago, we were better able to see that they had done substantial work on the interior though there was still a lot to do. Depending on exactly how far along they are on the inside right now, they could be on target to open sometime this month."

and

"When I called their number last week, they said they hope to open late October, and are working on a new web site. Salivation is near!"

fyi, posted this week (10/3) on Chowhound:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/438133

"We just walked by this past weekend. They are making progress. They've installed a new facade. The windows are white-soaped from inside, but we managed to get a peek through a tiny clear space. They've built a small vestibule with a door on the right leading into the restaurant. The last time we passed by a few weeks ago, we were better able to see that they had done substantial work on the interior though there was still a lot to do. Depending on exactly how far along they are on the inside right now, they could be on target to open sometime this month."

and

"When I called their number last week, they said they hope to open late October, and are working on a new web site. Salivation is near!"

This is nothing new.

I just turned on New York 1 and learned that the Times has a piece on the Second Avenue Deli today.

Although I haven't read it all yet, I thought people here might be interested.

A Counter History
By ALEX WITCHEL
Published: October 21, 2007

It’s a classic Abe story — there are so many classic Abe stories — set at one of those panel discussions that crop up periodically about the death of delis, which seem to have been dying as long as the theater. Abe is Abe Lebewohl, who started the Second Avenue Deli on the Lower East Side in 1954 with 14 seats, bought out his partners and turned it into a beloved New York institution.

He was at that conference of food writers, in the mid-1990s, along with Mark Federman, the owner of Russ & Daughters, which is to “appetizing” what Second Avenue was to deli. Appetizing refers to smoked fish — lox, herring, whitefish — and even though it’s not corned beef or pastrami, it’s still Old World Jewish food loaded with salt, so he fit right in. Federman went first, speaking from copious notes, about how fish is good for you. When it was Lebewohl’s turn, he got up, noteless, and looked at the audience. “What am I gonna tell you?” he said. “My food will kill you.”

Entire article at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/magazine/21deli-t.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

Now that 2d Ave is back in business, I'd like to hear of any experiences at the new location. Please post if you get over there !

I passed by there last night at 6:00 and there were about 50 people waiting in the vestibule and on the sidewalk. The temperature was 31 degrees and the wind was gusting to 20 MPH.

I am just back from a late night meal at the Second Avenue Deli where I dined alone.

I ordered a pastrami sandwich, extra lean (so I could skip the Lipitor dressing). If ever there were a sandwich worth waiting two years for, this was it. As good as I remembered, if not better.

The service was, sadly, a bit confused, but this was only the second day of operation. I did see a couple of familiar faces in the front of the house but my waiter was new.

The menu has many more choices than before chiefly in what we New Yorkers call the "appetizing" category. Somehow, I suspect I will be able to resist the allure of the herring platter.

Since this is Flyertalk, note that there are two handicapped-accessible restrooms each one with a "Vacant" or "Occupied" indicator on the outside. Instead of paper towels they have one of those new Pratt and Whitney hand driers that could not only blow the leaves from your yard but also strip away the old paint from your fence.

Most of the place looks like the old restaurant with the familiar photographs (and perhaps some new ones) on the walls. I sat with my back to a picture of Rudy. Don't remember him from the old place.

Another addition is the bar. Do Scotch and pastrami go together?

....Another addition is the bar. Do Scotch and pastrami go together?

I don't know if they go together, but they would still be kosher together (unless it was a Scotch and milk)!!!

They have been getting quite a bit of free advertising since their re-opening from local news stations.

I'm a fan of Katz's and that's where I will get my fix of the best pastrami in the city if not the world. :p

They have been getting quite a bit of free advertising since their re-opening from local news stations.

Well, if it's free, it's editorial, not advertising. :) Well, whatever you prefer to call it, it's certainly newsworthy, imho.

I'm a fan of Katz's and that's where I will get my fix of the best pastrami in the city if not the world. :p

So, that's it? Case closed? You're not willing to give a new/old place a chance?

I'm jumping with joy that a beloved institution serving a cuisine that's sadly disappearing has re-opened. Personally, I'm going to do my part to support it, both by dining there and recommending it on boards.

Isn't this one of the things that make New York City great? Where else can we battle it out over the best pastrami sandwich among contenders which would be well sought-after anywhere else in the country?

All I want to know is will they deliver to 24th and Second?

All I want to know is will they deliver to 24th and Second?

I guess that depends on how many sandwiches you order.

Are you having all of us over? :)

Don't forget; "extra lean" for my pastrami.

All I want to know is will they deliver to 24th and Second?This is New York. For the right price you can get anything!

When Pastrami King was still open on Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens, Queens, I once called them from the American Airlines Admirals Club at JFK, where I was waiting for a delayed flight, and offered $20 to any employee who would deliver four pastrami sandwiches. They had no problem finding a volunteer.

This is New York. For the right price you can get anything!

When Pastrami King was still open on Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens, Queens, I once called them from the American Airlines Admirals Club at JFK, where I was waiting for a delayed flight, and offered $20 to any employee who would deliver four pastrami sandwiches. They had no problem finding a volunteer.

Would you let the blue gloves of the TSA touch your pastrami sandwich?

Never had 2nd Ave deli, but have had Katz', Carnegie, and Pastrami Queen. Pastrami Queen is right up there.

Would you let the blue gloves of the TSA touch your pastrami sandwich?As a NYC historian, you know that the Pastrami King pre-dated the creation of the TSA! And as you probably remember, the T9 Admirals Club was outside security, too.

As a NYC historian, you know that the Pastrami King pre-dated the creation of the TSA! And as you probably remember, the T9 Admirals Club was outside security, too.

Ah, you flatter me.

I should have been more precise and asked if today, in today's circumstances, would you be willing to order the sandwiches? Frankly, I'd be worried on how they would classify the mustard under the liquids ban. :D

Are you having all of us over? :)
If they'll deliver to my apartment, absolutely. I'll post a Deli DO thread on the commmunity forum once I determine their delivery parameters. ;) :)

If they'll deliver to my apartment, absolutely. I'll post a Deli DO thread on the commmunity forum once I determine their delivery parameters. ;) :)

Sweet!:D

If they'll deliver to my apartment, absolutely. I'll post a Deli DO thread on the commmunity forum once I determine their delivery parameters. ;) :)

That's very kind, but as you may know, some hot sandwiches do not travel very well and are thus better eaten in the restaurant.

That's very kind, but as you may know, some hot sandwiches do not travel very well and are thus better eaten in the restaurant.

Good point. I believe that formula to use is:

Sandwich height (in) x sandwich width (in) x sandwich depth (in) )/distance (miles) x temperature (degrees C).

The result of the calculation determines whether a nice warm sandwich will stay warm and yummy....

If they'll deliver to my apartment, absolutely. I'll post a Deli DO thread on the commmunity forum once I determine their delivery parameters. ;) :)

The last time someone said something like this, 80 people showed up at a DO in Chicago (way before your time). I might add that this was organized rather quickly. Are lawyers invited? :p

http://events.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/dining/reviews/13rest.html

http://events.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/dining/reviews/13rest.htmlJust to be clear, a one star Frank Bruni review is not necessarily a bad review. And if you read the article, you'll see that Frank and company actually liked it very much.

Just to be clear, a one star Frank Bruni review is not necessarily a bad review. And if you read the article, you'll see that Frank and company actually liked it very much.

And let me add, that I absolutely dont care what Frank Bruni says about anything ;)

Cant wait to get there to try it out.

If they'll deliver to my apartment, absolutely. I'll post a Deli DO thread on the commmunity forum once I determine their delivery parameters. ;) :)
Has this been figured out yet? They used to delivery pretty far with that van they have! Otherwise pick up and then jumping in a cab could be arranged!
Cheers!
Howie