Bagels are spread with a cream cheese frosting and topped with paper thin slices of lox. Or two slices of hearty rye bread spread with just a touch of mustard, with fat marbled pastrami piled high between them. If these are not examples of a Platonic ideal of a sandwich, what is?
Legend has it that sandwiches were invented in 1762 by John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich. While the legitimacy of Britain’s claim to fame is debatable, it’s pretty safe to say that when it comes to the art of sandwich making, New York’s Jews have perfected it.
The New York Times’ latest interactive food feature, “57 Sandwiches That Define New York City,” features no less than 11 Jewish sandwiches, from the aforementioned bagels and lox, to an entire section devoted to pastrami, in a sandwich rich shawarma created by an Israeli-born chef and his French business partner.
Notably, another recent high-profile food list, April’s “100 Best Restaurants in New York City,” featured only three Jewish spots: Falafel Tanami, S&P Lunch and Barney Greengrass. By contrast, in the sandwich roundup—perhaps taking a page from our sage Hillel the Elder, inventor of the Passover dessert known as the Hillel sandwich—Jewish bites make up about 19% of the list.
“You can tell a lot about a city by the sandwiches it carries,” writes Nikita Richardson in the introduction to the Times article. “Not just his tastes or vices—cured meats—but also his fascination with countless cultures, his appreciation for stellar ingredients, and his desire for delicious comfort.”
Keep scrolling to see the 11 Jewish sandwiches on the list.
1. A new take on lox
The first Jewish sandwich on the Times list is smoked salmon sandwich from Greenpoint’s Radio Furain which the sliced fish is served “with a sponge of whipped cheese, seasoned with pickled red onion and dill, all nestled between airy, crispy and delicious focaccia”.
2. Egg sandwich with an Ashkenazi twist
Edith Heller’s Edith’s sandwich counter in Williamsburg celebrates Jewish food from across the diaspora. As we’ve previously reported, their most popular bagel sandwich is the BEC&L (which is bacon, egg, cheese, and latke), with good reason: Every aspect of the sandwich, from the omelet cooked in an individual-sized tamagoyaki pan to THE innovative rectangular fried latkemade to order.
3. Spectacular smoked fish
Poor, poor bialis and sablefish, which “are so often overshadowed by their mighty cousins, bagels and lox,” according to the Times. At Shelsky’s in Brooklyn, however, The Newhouse is a delicious, if-I-know-it combination of toasted bialys, wild smoked Alaskan sable, cream cheese with scallions and tomatoes. cut into slices.
4. I will have what she has
No New York City sandwich review is complete without Katz’s classic pastrami on rye. “A little of what is called ‘business’ in the theater is more than half the fun: the tickets, the rolls, the wait at the counter, the pepper-crusted preview offered for your approval, the money tips you slip into a plastic cup. soaking tub,” writes Pete Wells. “The pastrami ordered and eaten at Katz’s is a meal and a ceremony, one that can turn tourists into New Yorkers and New Yorkers into tourists.”
5. Salty switch
When Frankel’s Delicatessen & Appetizing first opened in 2016, our colleagues at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency called the Greenpoint spot “the coolest restaurant in New York.” It’s not just about the vibes—Frankel’s is also very tasty, and their pastrami, egg, and cheese sandwich earned a spot on the Times list, where “every bite delivers just the right combination of silky eggs; smoky, mildly spiced; and melted chunks of American cheese.”
6. Fun fusion
Williamsburg’s Jewish-Japanese spot Shalom, Japan may be famous for its matzah ball ramen, but those in the know know that the restaurant’s melt-in-the-mouth Wagyu sando pastrami is the professional move here. The Times calls this sandwich more than the sum of its parts—house-cured pastrami and piled between slices of shokupan pillows, Japanese milk bread, lightly dressed with Gulden’s mustard—while at New York Jewish Week. 25 Jewish Dishes to Eat in NYC Right NowThe Nosher’s Isabella Armus said it was “the softest thing I’ve ever eaten”.
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7. Northern exposure
Liebman’s Delicatessen is famous the ultimate Jewish food in the Bronx and, as such, his sandwich no. 7 — thinly sliced layers of pastrami and beef, topped with coleslaw and Russian dressing — earned a spot on the Times list. “In some cases, being the last one standing doesn’t mean you were the best,” Israeli-born owner Yuval Dekel told our colleagues at The Nosher. “But I think we deserve it.”
8. A bagel & lox classic
“There may be better purveyors of bagels, cream cheese, and smoked salmon in New York,” writes Julia Moskin, “but there’s nowhere better to sit down and eat them than Russ & Daughters Café.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, even though we’re partial to the cafe Schmaltz & a Shot, with extra fatty herring, raw onions and boiled potatoes, served with a glass of vodka.
9. Tuna Tuna
Chef Jeremy Salamon opened his Hungarian Jewish restaurant Agi’s Counter in late 2021, and it quickly became an essential dining destination in Brooklyn. Last year the restaurant won a Michelin “Bib Gourmand” award, as well as a place for it Bon Appetit’s 2022 Best Restaurants List, where, they said, you’ll “feel like you’re being looked after by your very culinary-talented grandmother.” We’ve previously enjoyed Agi’s Counter’s schmaltz fries, but the Times pays attention to the appropriate tuna melt, which features “Slow Cooked Oily Tuna, Alpine Cheddar, Pickled Peppers, Celery, Dill and Kewpie Mayonnaise” on “Pillow” Pullman Bread.
10. The base is the best
S&P Lunch billed itself as one “a new place for a very old lunch counter,” when the team behind Court Street Grocers opened their “Jewish lunch” across from the Flatiron Building in the former home of Eisenberg’s sandwich shop in 2022. Owners Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross serve old-school lunch standards, including their very own sandwich known by tone which Pete Wells describes as a “The bland, bland, bland, comforting, ungenerous kind of tuna salad.”
11. Street meat meets fine dining
In their East Village ode to Middle Eastern street food, Spice Brothers co-owners Lior Lev Sercarz, who is Israeli, and David Malbequi, who is French, use rich ingredients. (meat from Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, fluffy pita from Angel Bakery in New Jersey) and draw on their backgrounds working in Michelin-starred restaurants. The result is an elevated take on late-night classics like shawarma; Shawarma East of the St. Marks Place is a beef and lamb shawarma topped with amba (a Baghdad pickled mango condiment popular in Israel), tahini and an herb labneh (yogurt cheese) sauce.
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