deli dreams

For how much we both love trying new food - A and I do not tend to be people who make it out to a new restaurant during its opening weeks. We tend to let it languish on our list for some months while we talk persistently about how we should be going. This is probably the same part of us that misses so many movies in the theaters, only seeing them months after our friends have watched the sequel. So, keeping this in mind, it was pretty unusual how proactive we were in visiting Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen on their third official day.

Blame it on Montreal. Schwartz's ruined us for other delis and left us with a pastrami-shaped hole in our hearts (stomachs?). When we had heard that two Portland chefs were resurrecting their famed pastrami sandwiches as part of a full-fledged cafe - we knew where we would be for lunch. As did the rest of Portland. The scene that Friday was what hype looks like. Who would have guessed that the butcher paper signs ("Mmmmm...pastrami.") hung in the windows during construction would be enough to get locals pouring out onto the sidewalks for 35 minute waits for to-go sandwiches? We quickly gave up hopes of a table and staked out a place in line to order take-out.

Though we took our lunches back to our jobs - the atmosphere inside the deli was great. Huge windows with hand-painted and foiled lettering wrap the corner of the bottom floor of the Ace hotel. The walls are a bright yellow and the tables are those classic diner types rimmed with chrome. On the take-out side, there are baskets of bagels hanging on the wall, floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with mustards and soda pops and a large cold case holding house-cured fish, homemade coleslaws and schmears, and a big jar of half-sours.

A ordered the gravlax on a poppy seed bagel. It was perfectly soft and had just the right amount of fishiness behind its briney-cured flavor. There were some sweet-pickled red onions and a healthy scoop of capers to sharpen the whole thing. I already knew that I wanted the pastrami and when I saw the menu, it was immediately clear which sandwich I'd be getting. Enter the Ken's Special. This place has gone above and beyond the call of duty (and probably good sense), adding chopped liver, coleslaw and Russian dressing to their stacked pastrami sandwich. The liver really is a masterful move - adding a rich, minerally sweetness to the dry saltiness of the meat and the tang of the dressing. At the risk of offending my East coast relatives, I'm going to say that the pastrami itself was pretty amazing.

Now, full disclosure, I have never understood the bitter feuds between sibling food cultures. I understand on an abstract level the pride in place and style, but vehemently defaming another city's pizza? That I do not understand. I am sure that at this moment, there is a New Yorker who is posting an irate comment about K & Z's meat on some NYC online deli chat group about how it isn't authentic. Why does it have to be from NY to be delicious? I mean, can't we have our own Portland-style pastrami? Don't we deserve it? These guys take it seriously enough for it to count - they cook it five days, smoke it for 10 hours and steam it for three. That is delicious. What I am saying is probably heretical, but then again, I fully admit that I would eat any style of Southern BBQ and be quite pleased with it. Dry-rubbed, basted, sauced, injected, pork, brisket, mutton. I know their differences, but you can't deny that all of them are good.

With that said, K & Z's pastrami is amazingly good, even though it isn't like a NY deli. It was sweet and the edges had almost caramelized, making the meat taste like a candied jerky. It wasn't too fatty, but that also means it didn't have that melt-in-your-mouth quality of Schwartz's. Along with the crisp acidic bite of the coleslaw and the half-sour, it was a pretty satisfying sandwich experience. For how lovingly they craft their pastrami, it really is just the tip of iceberg. Their menu is filled with smoked fish, kugels, bialys, stuffed cabbage, and chopped liver - high-grade deli comfort. They're only in their 4th week of service and we are already planning on going back and trying to get a table.