There was a time when I used to visit New York at least once a year, sometimes twice. I went there to see Broadway shows but also to visit friends who are now no longer alive and publishers who are now no longer in that city. And I would usually have at least one meal at the Carnegie Deli on Seventh Avenue or the Stage Deli, also on Seventh, just down the street from the Carnegie. If both delis had long lines outside waiting to get in, I would sometimes go to a deli called the Ben Ash across the street from the Carnegie. When I had lunch with Joe Simon, we'd dine at the Ben Ash, which he preferred.
Me, I found the three delis pretty much interchangeable, at least insofar as the menu items I was likely to order was concerned. The main difference was that when you dined at the Carnegie, you ran the risk of being seated next to Jackie Mason. He seemed to always there and always spewing political garbage.
All three of those delis closed some time ago but now it's been announced that the Carnegie is coming back — in the space formerly occupied by the Stage. Reportedly, a sign has already gone up on the place. Next time I'm back there, I'll try to dine there since there's little chance of Jackie Mason coming back.
It feels like there's been a trend against delicatessens in recent times. In Los Angeles, several that I once frequented have gone away — Junior's, Label's Table, Greenblatt's and the several outlets of Jerry's. All gone and I think I know one reason: It was impossible in most of them on both coasts to get a deli sandwich you could consume in one sitting. By "deli," I mean the featured meats — pastrami, corned beef, brisket, etc. The sandwiches were all huge, just loaded with beef and priced accordingly.
When I went to those places in New York, I could barely finish half a sandwich and that gave me the dilemma of what to do with the other half. I'd paid for it so I didn't want to throw it away…but I also wasn't going from there back to my hotel room. And even if I did and my room had a refrigerator, the sandwich was never too wonderful after a few hours in the fridge. So I'd wind up having it wrapped and I'd carry it around awkwardly the rest of the day until I decided I had to throw it out.
A good lunch should not become a problem. I really think that's a big reason a lot of delicatessens have closed. They began making bigger and more expensive sandwiches you could only eat part of. Katz's — now the busiest deli in Manhattan — can get away with it because it's become such a touristy thing to do. But I'll bet a lot of those monstrous pastrami sandwiches wind up only partially eaten. If the new Carnegie is putting three-quarters of a pound of meat in a sandwich and charging $32.00 for it, I don't think they'll be back for long.