Liebman’s Delicatessen

Due to its location in the Bronx hamlet of Riverdale, Liebman’s doesn’t get the tourist mobs of Katz’s. Which isn’t to say it doesn’t have its regulars, like the dapper dude who stopped in for a quick lunch one frigid afternoon. His order was delivered virtually as soon as he slid into his vinyl booth: a glass of kosher Merlot and an enormous bowl of matzo-ball soup, with a by-request bottle of Sriracha on the side. While we’ve yet to try that particular pairing, we can recommend the slightly chewy but flavorful Romanian skirt steak and the excellent stuffed cabbage, served in a sweet-and-sour gravy dotted with yellow raisins. The house combo (Liebman’s Favorite) is an enlightening Deli 101 for the aspiring fresser, an open-faced sandwich of hot pastrami and corned beef with well-done deli fries (the snubbed shape is specific to the genre, as is the greasy quasi-crispness) and a wedge of stuffed derma, which is to Jews as haggis is to Scots and scrapple is to the Pennsylvania Dutch. In other words, just eat, don’t ask questions.