Katz's Delicatessen

The Katz's Delicatessen (2016).
(The one-story buildings to the right have since been demolished.)

Katz's Delicatessen is a US-based delicatessen , which at 205 East Houston Street in the Lower East Side in Manhattan in New York City primarily Jewish food offering. The company, founded in 1888, is said to be the oldest still existing deli in New York.

One of the most famous scenes in film history was shot here in the late 1980s for the film Harry and Sally .

history

In 1888 the predecessor of what is now Katz's was opened by the Iceland brothers on nearby Ludlow Street. In 1903 the brothers were supported by Willy Katz, an emigrated Jew from Belarus , and subsequently renamed their company Iceland & Katz . Another seven years later, Willy Katz's cousin Benny joined them and bought the shares of the Iceland brothers, so that the company was now wholly owned by the Katz family. At that time, Jewish immigration in New York City was at a new high. Seven years later, Harry Tarowsky, a Jew, bought into the company in April 1917. Due to the expansion of the New York City subway network , the deli later had to move one block further to Houston Street , where it still stands today. The storefront, which still exists today, was built between 1946 and 1949.

When newly immigrated families arrived in the Lower East Side at the beginning of the 20th century, the then still considerable lack of public and private means of transport created a solid community of its own, which was largely self-sufficient. Katz's was seen early on as a central meeting point and venue for gatherings of the predominantly Jewish population. On Fridays the neighborhood used to come together to eat Frank 'n Beans , which is still one of Katz's traditional dishes to this day. In the heyday of Yiddish theater , many actors, singers and comedians also came here. The Second Avenue with its multitude mainly Yiddish theater sites was not far away and the National Theater was on the street just about 300 meters further away. During World War II , the owners 'two sons, Lenny Katz and Izzy Tarowsky, served in the United States' armed forces . The family tradition of providing food to their sons became the Katz's company slogan, which is still popular today, and which advertised Send A Salami To Your Boy In The Army . The idea for this slogan came from Izzy Tarowsky's mother Rose, whose son served as a bomber pilot in the South Pacific . According to the New York Historical Society , however, Louis G. Schwartz, an employee at Sixth Avenue Delicatessen , is the originator of this slogan. Schwartz also advertised war bonds among the customers of the delicatessen and was considered a real poet .

After Willy Katz's death, his son Lenny took over his father's shares and continued the company together with his then business partners Benny Katz and Harry Tarowsky. When Benny Katz and Harry Tarowsky died in the late 1970s (according to other sources 1980), they bequeathed their shares in Katz's to Benny Katz's son-in-law Artie Makstein and Harry Tarowsky's son Izzy. At Katz's, which has always been considered a family business, Harry Tarowsky's brother David worked at the bar well into old age. In 1988, for the 100th anniversary of Delicatessen, the three sold Katz's because they had no offspring themselves who could have taken over the company. The new owners were long-time and experienced restaurant owner Martin Dell, his son Alan, who was the chef and manager of another delis in the neighborhood, and Martin Dell's son-in-law Fred Austin. After graduating in 2009, Alan Dell's son Jake joined the company and is now also involved in running Katz's.

In 2013, Katz's Delicatessen celebrated its 125th anniversary and on this occasion opened an art gallery in the neighboring building that shows pictures with food motifs. A story of the company, written by Jake Dell, entitled Katz's: Autobiography of a Delicatessen , was also published. In the spring of 2016, the one-story buildings on Orchard Street in the same block were demolished to make way for a multi-story residential building with luxury apartments. Katz's remained the only one-story building on this side of the block. In the ten years before that, the immediate surroundings of the Delicatessen had largely changed due to new buildings, including a few high-rise buildings. In 2017, a second location for Katz's Delicatessen was opened in the DeKalb Market Hall of the mixed-use City Point building complex in downtown Brooklyn . At the same time, concepts for a possible expansion of the company in the next few years were presented. Jake Dell relies on regionality and is primarily promoting openings in Brooklyn .

When the company, which at that time had around 200 employees, was temporarily banned from opening due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States , Managing Director Jake Dell tried to keep all of his employees in the company and primarily relied on the delivery service offered by his company .

dishes

A so-called Reuben on rye , a grilled Reuben sandwich consisting of corned beef, cheese and Russian dressing between two slices of rye bread .

Traditional Jewish dishes have always been offered at Katz's, but are no longer kosher today . These include pastrami , corned beef , brisket or Reuben sandwiches with pickles and cream soda (Dr. Brown's) . There is also a breakfast menu with various omelets as well as various salads and soups, such as the matzo dumpling soup or the yellow pea soup . In addition to its sandwiches, Katz's is also known for its sausages and hot dogs and for the salamis that hang in the shop windows and on the back wall of the counter and have been presented this way for decades. There are also other traditional Jewish dishes such as Knisch , Kischke , Minced Liver , Latkes or Blinys .

As announced on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, around 6,800 kg of pastrami, around 3,600 kg of corned beef and around 900 kg of salami as well as around 4,000 hot dogs are sold in Katz's every week. The restaurant has around a thousand to two thousand customers every day.

Tickets and prices

A classic corned beef - Sandwich with a consumption ticket

From the foundation until the late 1980s and early 1990s, the prices at Katz's were considered moderate. Only with the increasing appreciation of the district affected by urban decay and the influx of new residents from the middle and upper classes were prices increased. While a sandwich cost an average of five to seven US dollars in the mid-1990s, today (as of 2018) you pay around 20 to 25 US dollars for it. In the early days, guests here received a “meal that sat them down” for just a quarter of a dollar .

When entering the shop you can decide whether you want to sit down at one of the tables or order directly at the counter. At the entrance you will receive a numbered printed ticket from an employee on which the total consumption in the restaurant is noted. In Katz's there are several stations where you can get food and drinks; the employees at the respective stations calculate the current pre-tax bill . The ticket also serves as a bill that you pay at the exit. If consumption is set on one ticket for several guests, the unused empty tickets must be returned at the exit. Katz's has been charging a fee of US $ 50 for lost tickets since the late 1990s and early 2000s. According to the management, this is intended to encourage customers to pay attention to their ticket and prevent dishonest finders from beating the bill by leaving the restaurant with a found ticket that is empty or shows a lower amount than the actual consumption.

Delivery service

For some time now, Katz's Delicatessen has also been offering a nationwide delivery service where you can order various dishes online in addition to various merchandising items and gift cards . In May 2017, the company announced that it would offer a worldwide delivery service from 2018. At this point, the company was already doing 10,000 to 12,000 national shipments a year. A 30,000 square foot shipping center is to be opened in Hackensack , New Jersey , for worldwide shipping in 2018 . At the end of 2017, the plan was to supply at least the neighboring states of Canada and Mexico and, from the following year, other states.

The cat's in pop culture

Where Harry met Sally… Hope you have what she had! Enjoy!

In the course of its long history, Katz's has been the location of numerous film and television productions. In addition to television series and movies, various documentaries were shot here. One of the most famous scenes in film history was shot here in the late 1980s for the film Harry and Sally ( English When Harry Met Sally ... ). In the scene, the two protagonists Sally Albright (played by Meg Ryan ) and Harry Burns ( Billy Crystal ) sit across from each other at a table in Katz's. After Harry declared that no woman could play him an orgasm without him noticing, Sally claims the opposite and loudly plays an orgasm in front of the eyes and ears of everyone present. Then an elderly lady at the next table (played by Estelle Reiner , the mother of director Rob Reiner ) orders “exactly what she had” from the waiter. This sentence - in the English original "I'll have what she's having" - was voted 33rd of the 100 best US film quotes of all time by the American Film Institute . The scene with the pretended orgasm contributed significantly to the popularity of Katz's Delicatessen; Even today there are signs with quotes from the 1989 film hanging over the two tables at which Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal and Estelle Reiner sat across from her.

Katz's Delicatessen also served as a backdrop in some other productions. The character of Donnie Brasco played by Johnny Depp in the film of the same name (1997) met an FBI contact here. The bar was also featured in scenes from Tell me what you want (1980), Off Beat - Let the cops dance (1986), Affair in New York (2001), Looking for Kitty (2004), Across the Universe (2007), Cursed (2007), Heroes of the Night - We Own the Night (2007), Nick and Nora - Soundtrack of a Night (2008), The Day on which the Earth Stood Still (2008), Mary & Max - or: Shrinking sheep, if it's raining? (2009) and Nous York (2012). A scene from Contract on Cherry Street , in which the murder of the main character played by Frank Sinatra , Detective Inspector Frank Hovannes , is planned, was filmed in a cold room at Katz's. TV series that featured the Delicatessen are Law & Order , Impractical Jokers: Die Lachflasher , Damn delicious! Lookup for Adam Richman or The Jim Gaffigan Show (2015). Anthony Bourdain , a longtime guest of Katz's, also filmed an episode of his 2009 television program Anthony Bourdain - A Matter of Taste . In 2014 it was also the setting in the documentary Deli Man by director Erik Greenberg Anjou . Katz's is also mentioned in the book Evil, Inc. from the Hardy Boys crime novel series , published in April 1987 . Furthermore, the Katz's in two short sequences of the music video for the single Leaving New York by the US rock band REM to see from the year of 2004.

photos

The signs on the Ludlow Street side of the building ...
... is from the time of Harry Tarowsky, who also commissioned this.
The often large crowds in the 300-seat guest room.
On the walls there are photos and letters from celebrities, as well as neon signs , ...
... which are also placed on the front of the building and the shop windows.
The famous pastrami sandwich from Katz's ...
... and the no less famous Matzo Ball Soup .