Well, dear readers, I come to once again sing the praises of Langer’s Deli, truly and always, for me, the finest deli ever. Yesterday, I had a lunch meeting with our very own Mr. Barry Pearl and that’s where we went, as we often do. I hadn’t been there in way too long and it’s always like coming home, deli-wise. I had my usual number one – extra lean pastrami, cole slaw, and Russian dressing on rye. Not one of those overdone things you see in so many delis – no, this is a reasonably sized sandwich that doesn’t make you feel like you’re going to explode. With it, we had potato pancakes and there is not a potato pancake anywhere, even at other great delis, which can even approach the Langer’s potato pancakes. They are amongst the most yummilicious foods I’ve ever eaten. Top it all off with an ice-cold Diet Coke and it’s more than a little bit of heaven. The pastrami there is indescribably amazing – the most flavorful, melt-in-your-mouth pastrami ever. We had a very nice meeting, I offered some advice on something Barry is involved in, and upon leaving, I purchased a wonderful book called America’s Great Delis – of course Langer’s is featured. And just for fun, I had the owner, Norm Langer, sign it for me.
I’ve been eating deli food or Jewish food since I was a wee bairn, or pisher, as my mother would have said. I can never remember a time when I wasn’t eating it. The holidays always produced the homemade chopped liver, creamed herring, and gefilte fish, and even occasionally borscht. I liked it all. Lox and bagels were always welcome and abundant, mostly on Sundays. When we’d go out to a deli, it was usually The Bagel, on Fairfax. That was never my favorite, and our occasional forays to Factor’s were better. But my mother usually brought the stuff home from Leo’s Delicatessen (featured prominently in all three Kritzer books). Funnily, I was a corned beef guy from the beginning and, in fact, didn’t have my first pastrami sandwich until about a decade ago. Isn’t that funny? However, once I had it (and I had it at Langer’s), there was no turning back and I’ve only had one corned beef sandwich since, and that was just a few weeks ago. In my formative years, we occasionally went to Canter’s, which was very hit and miss for me. I didn’t discover Langer’s until the late 1970s, but once I’d eaten there, I quickly became a regular. Sadly or not, Langer’s is located in a strange neighborhood – at 7th and Alvarado, a heavily urban nabe that isn’t what you’d call upscale. But it’s been there since June of 1947, my birth year. It used to be open from early morning till about nine, but some time ago they began closing at four in the afternoon, as people just didn’t want to walk in that neighborhood at night. Langer’s does have their own parking lot, but it’s a block away. But the food’s the thing and it just doesn’t get any better than Langer’s, although I’m told there are a handful of other delis that are as good – but I haven’t tried them.
I didn’t discover Nate ‘n’ Al until just a few years ago, but that deli is also fantastic – not quite up there with Langer’s in terms of pastrami or potato pancakes, but good enough. All other delis I’ve been to, whether here or in New York or wherever are all pretenders to the throne. I first ate at Art’s Deli in the early 1980s, after hearing how great it was. I never have found anything there to be great. Jerry’s was and is not a real deli – they have decent food but it’s just not what a deli is. In the 1970s there was a wonderful little deli near me in North Hollywood called Marv’s, but Marv sold it in the late 1970s and while it’s still there, it is truly horrible. I enjoy Brent’s Deli, but like Jerry’s, it just doesn’t seem like a real deli to me. During my June trip to New York, I am making it my business to try New York’s most legendary deli, Katz’s. I’m hoping we can do a little haineshisway.com journey. I’m told their pastrami is second to none, but I’ll be the judge of that. I have eaten at Junior’s in Brooklyn and I thought that was quite good. I never cared for the Stage Deli in mid-town or, for that matter, the Carnegie. The Junior’s in Westwood is not so good.
Before I go on with today’s regularly scheduled notes, did you know that the bagel was invented in Krakow in 1610 and that the new invention was given to women after childbirth? Did you know that in the 1880s, Anton Feuchwager invented the hot dog bun? Did you know that in 1890 the egg cream was invented by Louis Auster at Auster’s Candy Shop in New York? And they say this site is mere puffery.
Well, enough deli and on to the regularly scheduled notes. Prior to the lunch at Langer’s, the Handy Man reprogrammed the automatic sprinklers – apparently when we had one of our three power outages it completely screwed it all up and the sprinklers were going on whenever they damn well pleased and way too often for way too long. They’re now back to where they should be and now have a battery back up in case of power failure, so this won’t happen again. Then a local dealer picked up a few CDs. After lunch, I answered e-mails, had a few telephonic conversations, dealt with some really annoying details regarding us recording the STAGE benefit, mostly having to do with the company from whom we’re renting the recording equipment – that will all get sorted out today in a way that better please me, otherwise I’ll simply pull the plug and not record it. Then I picked up a couple of packages, listened to our new master in its entirety, and did some work on the computer. After all that, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched another hour of Camelot but I finally shut it off because frankly the transfer is like watching a sepia-toned silent film – in classic Warners style, it’s all brown and orange and yellow and just doesn’t look like it should. It makes me tremble to think of what Singin’ in the Rain will look like (the last DVD was way too brown and looked nothing like the dye transfer prints). There is clearly someone over there who thinks all films should be brown, like today’s films. They have plenty of dye transfer reference prints, but I’m told no one bothers to look at them. It’s a real shame, as this is probably it for these films for a long time to come. I then watched a Danish motion picture from Denmark entitled Aftermath. It’s an emotionally wrenching film about a couple dealing with the aftermath of the death of their twelve-year-old daughter in a car accident. We’re never shown the accident, never told how it happened, but little by little we come to at least have a few details. The acting in this film is superb. Its star, the divine Sophie Grabol is amazing, as always – she chooses one very destructive way of dealing with her pain. The actor who plays her husband is equally terrific and was her co-star in The Killing II – he chooses a totally different and equally destructive way of dealing with his pain. It’s a downbeat film, but of excellent quality and drama. The supporting cast is excellent, too, and features many faces recognizable from The Killing II and one of the co-stars is the lady who played Erika Berger in the original Swedish film of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Not a joyful watching experience but certainly a compelling one. Transfer was excellent on this region 2 DVD.
After that, we got some rain (it’s still raining as I type these here notes), and I answered more e-mails and did more work on the computer. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must be up early and need a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I shall be up early and I shall take the motor car to get serviced. It’s a short one, they told me, so I’ll just hang out till they’re done. Then I’ll come home, probably eat something, do some errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up some packages, and then we have a Melody rehearsal and then perhaps a small meal.
Tomorrow, I have a lot of little stuff to do, then my engineer and I will go down to the Saban Theatre on Wilshire to scope out the space, figure out where he’ll live for the recording, and chat with the sound guy. Saturday is another Melody rehearsal, then Melody and I go see the STAGE benefit. We’ll go down there about five, hang out with my engineer as he sets up (he’ll actually get there at two), and then we’ll see the show. Sunday is, of course, Melody’s sound check and show.
Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the Canadian cha-cha-cha, because today is the birthday of our very own Canadian dear reader, Jennifer. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our very own Canadian dear reader, Jennifer. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR VERY OWN CANADIAN DEAR READER, JENNIFER!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, get the motor car serviced, I must eat, I must do errands and whatnot, I must hopefully pick up some packages, I must rehearse, and perhaps eat again. Today’s topic of discussion: What is the first deli you remember going to? What did you eat? What is the first deli food you remember eating? And where is the finest deli you’ve ever eaten at? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, singing my favorite Jerry Herman song, Hello, Deli.