Pastrami: Sometimes it's the Perfect Dessert

Sunday, June 19th, 2011: ~8:30pm

This weekend Sumie, Mimi, and I played host to a Mr. John Hein: friend of Steve's since elementary school, professional tennis educator, pinball aficionado, and all-around great guy.  It was to be a quick trip out, only for the weekend, so John's flight out from Washington state was due to arrive in Newark at 1:00am Friday night.

As it turned out, though, someone at United Airlines decided that managing one of the world's largest travel conglomerates is far too easy with modern computers, and thus initiated a nation-wide shutdown that lasted over 5 hours.  Chicago, United's Hub, was apparently the place not to be Friday night.  Luckily John was coming in from a connection in Denver and his flight was pushed back to a very respectable 3:15am.

Habitually, and to my wife frustratingly, I am anal about getting to the airport well ahead of time.  I walked into the terminal at 3:00am only to find that the arrival had been pushed back to 3:45.  I was tired and rather annoyed with United at this point.  We had missed out on an evening out.  A brief evening, assuredly, but still important when one only had about 48 hours total.  What or who could salvage the evening?  As I watched groggy travelers exit security, I caught a familiar refrain coming over the airport sound system.  It was the theme from Shaft.  John came out just as the song was finishing, which was a perfect way to start the visit and well worth the delay (at least in my misguided mind.).

We both slept in on Saturday morning (thank you, Mimi, for not waking before 8:00am!) and then planned our excursion for the day.  It was a chance for John to experience non-tourist NYC and for me to cross off a few items on my "leaving NYC bucket list."  We had brunch with Mimi and Sumie at "The Barking Dog," a little cafe near our apartment, then headed out.

First on our list was to get a little pinball in.  Strangely, this is a rather difficult proposition in Manhattan.  The space the machines take up and the cost of their upkeep means that there are very few bars that set aside room for a pinball machine these days.  Additionally, NYC has never really been a pinball town given that pinball was actually outlawed in the city until 1976 (The year of my birth.  A coincidence?).  When outlawed in the early 1940s, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia said that the machines robbed the "pockets of schoolchildren in the form of nickels and dimes given them as lunch money."  To be fair, I can't really argue with that reasoning other than to say I think it's a fair trade.  


Despite the limited resources and the game's checkered past, we set out and found an excellent billiards room on 11th and 3rd that had three vintage machines in immaculate condition.  We got change for a 5 dollar bill and hit the tables for an hour or so.  

I'm rather embarrassed to say that I am woefully out of practice, and John had his way with me on two of the three tables.  Will this be argument enough for Sumie to allow me to have a pinball in San Francisco?  Somehow I doubt it.  


Pinball played, we headed for lunch.  This meant Zum Schneiders, a famous NYC beer hall with great food and even better beer.  (www.zumschneider.com)  We found an umbrella'd table on the sidewalk and stayed for close to three hours soaking in the city, the passersby, the boiled wurst, and, most of all, the Aventinus, a strong, dark beer that tastes best when served by the liter.  

Zum Schneider's set the stage for an evening, and night, of light drinking and heavy eating.  From Zum Schneider's we checked out a street fair and then walked over to Kenka, a Japanese izakaya (pub) famous for its cheap beer, novel-length menu, and 1960s pseudo dive bar decor (By the way, "Kenka" means "Fight" in Japanese (http://savory-bites.com/2010/06/kenkas/).  Rather fitting for the establishment.).  Another two hours passed, with okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake), butakimuchi (pork and kimchi), and tatsuta age (Japanese fried chicken), carrying us through the evening.  We emerged from the basement of Kenka and headed for a couple comic shops.  

But the evening was far from over.  As we sought out Toy Tokyo we came across the usually ridiculously crowded Belgian Fries place.  Sumie and I had passed by this little restaurant, which serves only fries and special sauces for them, for years but had never worked up the courage and patience to brave the line that invariably snaked out the door.  Saturday night, however, John and I were able to walk right in and order the crispy potato goodness.  "Best fries ever," said John.  I agreed.  

Now this should have been enough food for anyone.  But it simply wasn't for us.  Not that night.  I asked John if he liked pastrami.  He said yes.  So we went to Katz's.  (http://katzsdelicatessen.com/)

Famous for its insanely delicious deli, as well as that famous scene from "When Harry met Sally," I've been taking friends to Katz's for years.  It's not because I'm a nice person.  It's because I'll use any excuse I can find to get at that pastrami.  And this pastrami is so good it really was dessert for us that night.  Not sweet, but the perfect end to a rather gluttonous day.   

The next morning, John and I both agreed that we didn't need to eat.  We'd had enough for the day, if not the following week.  This feeling didn't last that long, however.  By about 10:00am, we both broke down and ate half a breakfast sandwich.  Amazingly, we felt much better after eating.  It was a bit of gastronomic "hair of the dog," an edible eye-opener, and it oddly did the trick.  I didn't know food worked that way.  

My father's day was quiet, with John, Sumie, Mimi and I visiting Sumie's parents in Scarsdale.  Mimi was a darling, making my 2nd official, but first "real," Father's day with her a special one.  Below one can see that she's already getting interested in music and, perhaps more importantly, audio equipment!

 The afternoon closed back in Manhattan with some quiet time on the balcony.  Mimi prefers to spend this time upside down these days.  Can't say why, but it does induce quite a bit of giggling in Mimi.  Me, it just makes me queasy.  

 A very happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, both present and past.  I'm very thankful for the ones in my life now and the one I had (miss you, Dad!)
-Steve