When filmmaker Liza Mosquito de Guia of Food Curated and I started talking about a Queens shoot several ideas were discussed, including Lao Bei Fang's hand-pulled noodles. Ultimately we settled on Ben's Best Kosher Deli, which is a mere five-minute stroll from World's Fare HQ in Rego Park. This temple of pastrami was not chosen for its proximity though. The reason for the choice was simple. What better subject for a web site called Food Curated than Ben's, which is literally a museum of the deli arts. Little about the way the pastrami and other specialties are made has changed in its 65 years of operation.
Watch third-generation deli man Jay Parker wax poetic about pastrami, comparing it to both cotton candy and Chopin. There are also glamor shots of me slurping up some much-needed Jewish penicillin. Be warned, watching this video will leave you hungering for pastrami and corned beef and kosher franks and stuffed cabbage and chopped liver as well as beef tongue and matzo ball soup, which for the record is my go-to order at Ben's.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
