Here’s an interesting mini-photo essay on a visit to Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant by a fan from Germany named Reen. As you can see, the lure of pastrami knows no geographical boundaries:
Just by looking again at these pics, and seeing the amazing texture of the pastrami makes me want another one! … Hmm, maybe I should go again next week…
Everyone at Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant would like to thank all the members of the LA Classic Eats group from Metblogs who visited us last Saturday, 1/23/10. Norm Langer had a great time visiting with everyone and we hope to see you back soon!
The group had a great follow-up to their “Downtown Deli Smackdown” visits to Langer’s and Cole’s on the blog – Click here to check it out and see all the photos from both locations.
Today on the Langer’s High Noon Showdown on 710 ESPN Radio (click here to listen live), a caller informed hosts Andrew Siciliano and Mychal Thompson that he had just eaten at Langer’s and….well, give it a listen.
The Los Angeles Weekly’s Food Blog recently covered Food & Wine’s Top 10 Life-Changing Restaurants (we didn’t make that list) – but we were graciously included in the LAW’s LA-centric Top 10 Life-Changing Restaurant list before throwing it open to the floor (or in other words, the comments section).
F&W’s Top 10? ElBulli, The Fat Duck, Pierre Gagnaire, The French Laundry, Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo, Dan Barber’s Blue Hill, Mugaritz in Spain’s Basque country, Noma in Copenhagen, Italy’s Combal.Zero, and Tokyo’s Aronia de Takazawa. Lovely. So as many of us will never see the inside of most if not all of those places, how about the Top 10 Life-Changing Restaurants here in L.A.? Jitlada, Pizzeria Mozza, Urasawa, Golden Deli, Providence, Langer’s… Of course “life-changing” is a relative term. My cassoulet, your Korean BBQ. What goes on your list?
Click here to read the complete post and participate in the comments
Famed food columnist and reviewer Ed Levine has published part 1 of his two-part “Great Pastrami Taste-Off” pitting Katz’s of New York and Langer’s of Los Angeles. Who will win this incredibly important showdown?! Read on for the introduction:
Ever since I wrote my pastrami story for the New York Times a few years ago, I’ve wanted to conduct a taste test between Katz’s Delicatessen in New York and Langer’s Delicatessen in Los Angeles. Why? Many reasons, actually. I never tasted them side by side for that story. Nora Ephron opined on the record in the New Yorker that Langer’s served the best pastrami sandwich in America. Jonathan Gold stated categorically that Los Angeles has a far superior deli culture to New York’s. David Sax said the same thing in his book, Save the Deli.
So aiming to settle this East Coast vs. West Coast rap-style pastrami controversy, we decided to conduct a definitive pastrami taste test. And we invited the Los Angeles apologist herself, Nora Ephron, to participate. She graciously accepted, in record time.
Who wins part one? Click here to read the article and find out!
Photo credit: Carey Jones / SeriousEats.com
Thursday, January 14, 2010, is National Pastrami Day, and we are celebrating here at Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant! Stop by for a delicious no. 19 (pastrami, cole slaw, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing on rye), or a no. 1 (just pastrami on rye) and help us celebrate the great American institution that IS pastrami!
On Wednesday, January 13, 2010, the Los Angeles Times published a page-one profile of two of Langer’s servers who also work part-time at Canter’s Delicatessen entitled “Double-dipping waiters sandwiched between two delis” by Robert Faturechi.
Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant enjoys an excellent relationship with The Los Angeles Times, having been profiled and chronicled in innumerable accounts over our nearly 63-year history.
While we were generally pleased with the presentation of our hard-working, valued servers, the article described our location as being “surrounded by drug dealers and vendors selling fake IDs,” which not only misrepresents the MacArthur Park neighborhood but denigrates our many neighbors who work to bring a new vibrance to the area.
Worst of all were unfortunate misquotations of Norm Langer which suggest he harbors negative thoughts about Canter’s Delicatessen and the Canter family.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Everyone at Langer’s has nothing but respect for Canter’s – along with all the Jewish delicatessens here in the Southland. As David Sax noted in his recent book “Save the Deli,” Los Angeles is unique for our cohesive family of delis, which he calls the best in the world. Our collective reputation is high because of the great efforts made by every Los Angeles delicatessen to serve the best food, with the best service possible, for every single customer. And in our book, Canter’s is a leading and unique member of the Los Angeles Jewish deli family, period.
We are disappointed that this otherwise interesting article contained such misquotations, including the particularly egregious “they [the Canter family] don’t talk to me…most of them don’t like me. I’m the guy getting all the publicity.”
Everyone at Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant, from the owners to the managers and the employees, works hard to build and maintain the respect of our customers and the community. We are saddened that such a misquotation would be published and disparage our positive relationship with Canter’s Delicatessen and the Canter family.
We hope this sets the record straight.
– Norm Langer, owner, Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant
The Los Angeles Times has published an interesting story about Langer’s servers who also work at Canter’s on Fairfax. The story features two of our servers, Sal and Eva, and includes a mini-photo essay on Sal at work:
Salvador Lopez, a waiter at Langer’s, has the routine down pat. After a hectic lunch shift serving sandwiches on rye at the pastrami mecca next to MacArthur Park, he negotiates a series of surface streets — up Normandie, across Beverly — to make his way into the Fairfax district.
He beelines into the locker room of another renowned Jewish deli, shedding the signature Langer’s bow tie for a tight-fitting black T-shirt that reads: I ♥ Canter’s.
Lopez is not a delicatessen double agent, funneling trade secrets on Russian dressing and blintzes. The 29-year-old is one of several waiters who openly works at two of the delis that compete for the title of Los Angeles’ best.
Click here to read the complete story
Carina Ost of UncouthGourmands.com recently visited Langer’s Deli and had a great experience – but we’ll just let her describe it – it’s a great write-up:
The number 19 has thick pieces of pastrami, swiss cheese, coleslaw, and russian dressing. In the words of Joe Jackson, “Nineteen Forever!” It was so OMG! Anyone that knows me knows that I am a huge bread snob and this rye was fresh and perfect.
If you live in LA and have not been, this is a place that is not to be missed.
Food blog Funny Yummiez posted a review of their recent visit to Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant and it’s a good one:
I love pastrami. Not the pre-packaged super deli-sliced thin type but the real juicy business. And Langer’s is some of the best pastrami that I’ve ever had. Like my friend said, “The meat melts like butter”. I never even eat coleslaw but in the #19 sandwich, I devour it all. The #19 comes with the best Russian dressing that I’ve ever tasted, delicious Swiss Cheese, crunchy yummy coleslaw, and the most wonderful Pastrami that has ever touched my lips. And the bread! Oh my! It’s the best rye bread and its so soft and fluffy but the crust is crunchy and perfect!