New York Magazine

Skip to content, or skip to search.

Skip to content, or skip to search.

Best of New York 2009 • Eating

Best Pastrami

  • Char No. 4

    196 Smith St., nr. Baltic St., Carroll Gardens; 718-643-2106

    Katz’s, clearly, this is not. But while that deli mecca continues to fight the good overstuffed-sandwich fight, we see no reason not to reward progress elsewhere in the cured-meat community—even, heretically, in a Brooklyn whiskey bar renowned for its house-smoked bacon and deep-fried pork nuggets. Chef Matt Greco is a barbecue-loving Texan whose food reflects his heritage as well as time spent in the kitchens of Café Gray and Café Boulud. His idea of pastrami (and ours, of late) is a Colorado lamb shoulder, brined and smoked in house, the succulent meat impossibly tender, pink-tinged, boldly seasoned, and sliced into gossamer ribbons. Greco paints a plate with coriander aïoli, arranges the warmed meat on top, and garnishes it with house-pickled onions, sprigs of cilantro, and grilled rye bread. It’s the most delicate pastrami we’ve ever tasted, which is meant entirely as a compliment, oxymoron or not.

    See Also
    More of the New Brooklyn Cuisine From Adam Platt's Where to Eat 2009

Next: Bakery

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine

Advertising
Order the Issue Today

Cover of New York Magazine's Best of New York issue

Order This Issue

Other Best Of Guides

Where can you find the city’s top dog groomer? Last-minute tailor? Beef tongue? We eat, drink, dance, shop, shvitz, and trampoline our way around the city, not to mention poll scores of in-the-know colleagues, hard-partying friends, opinionated family members, and, this year, a team of guest expert bloggers to bring you answers to all of the above questions, and hundreds more, in the form of our annual “Best of New York” issue.

Read More...