Jonathan Gold: Langer’s Corned Beef
Pulitzer Prize-winning food journalist Jonathan Gold of the Los Angeles Times visits a new specialty deli in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles called Storefront Deli, and draws an interesting comparison between the two approaches to corned beef:
For its final trick, described as a mere corned beef sandwich on the blackboard menu, Storefront attempts the most difficult feat in the Los Angeles deli lexicon: the fabled and fearsome Langer’s No 1, the pastrami/coleslaw combo often considered the single best delicatessen sandwich in the United States. And it is a formidable effort: Storefront uses corned beef instead of pastrami — they don’t do the smoky thing — but theirs is a strong cure. Storefront’s beef is as juicy as Texas barbecued brisket and cut thickly; the unseeded rye molds to the meat more readily but is nearly as crunchy at the edges as Langer’s rye; the coleslaw is crisp, cold and tart. Does the Langer’s sandwich still come out on top? It does. The smoke and the synergy of the No. 1 continues to defeat all comers. But Storefront makes one hell of a corned beef.
Thank you, Jonathan, for all your support of Langer’s Deli throughout the years. – The Langer Family
