(Photo: Danny Kim)

Pastrami ranks right up there with pizza, bagels, and hot dogs as an iconic New York foodstuff. But that hasn’t stopped three brave souls from messing with the holy trinity of meat, mustard, and rye bread, to unexpectedly delicious effect.

(From left)
Rye-and-pastrami croissant at Momofuku Milk Bar
From the fertile mind that hatched Crack Pie and Cereal Milk, Christina Tosi’s new haute pocket epitomizes the Momofuku high-low continuum: The dough is enriched with compound caraway-rye butter made from high-butterfat Plugrá; the pastrami and sauerkraut tucked inside are Boar’s Head ($6).
207 Second Ave., at 13th St.; momofuku.com/milkbar.

Pastrami egg roll at FoodParc’s RedFarm Stand
Dim sum specialist Joe Ng perfectly captures the culinary essence of secular New York Jewishness by encasing tender morsels of Katz’s pastrami, along with cabbage, asparagus, and red chile, inside the crispiest, crunchiest batter-dipped wrapper imaginable. Mustard sauce on the side ($4.50).
845 Sixth Ave., nr. 29th St.; 646-600-7140.

Smoked-meat sub at No. 7 Sub
There’s nothing revolutionary about a pastrami sandwich—only for this one, chef Tyler Kord outsources Mile End’s sublime smoked meat (the pastrami of Montreal), then adulterates it (or, to our mind, ingeniously elevates it) with Chinese mustard, Ruffles potato chips, and litchis seasoned with ginger and chile ($9).
1188 Broadway, nr. 28th St.; 212-532-1680.

Related:

• Archive: “Food Features”
• Articles by Robin Raisfeld | Rob Patronite
• Table of Contents: Oct 25, 2010 issue of New York | Subscribe!