Portland's very own Kenny & Zukes Deli has hit the big time with The New York Times article Can the Jewish Deli Be Reformed? about great new Jewish delis across the United States.
“I have a dream of a multiplicity of pastramis,” said Ken Gordon, a co-owner of Kenny & Zuke’s, one of a handful of delis in the country “I have a dream of a multiplicity of pastramis,” said Ken Gordon, a co-owner of Kenny & Zuke’s, one of a handful of delis in the country where the pastrami is smoked over hardwood. It opened in 2007, an outgrowth of the “barbecue nights” that Mr. Gordon used to hold at his French bistro. (He closed it to devote himself full time to bialys and corned beef.) “A hundred delis, with a hundred different recipes,” he said. “That’s how it is for pizza — why not pastrami?” These new deli owners are bringing a high set of culinary standards to once-plebeian food. They are mashing local potatoes to make peppery hand-wrapped knishes; holding tastings to determine the most savory fat for chopped liver (Mr. Gordon says that butter, the nonkosher choice, tastes best); and even brewing zippy homemade celery tonic — to reduce the carbon footprint, to save on the shipping from Brooklyn and because it simply tastes more like tradition. the pastrami is smoked over hardwood. It opened in 2007, an outgrowth of the “barbecue nights” that Mr. Gordon used to hold at his French bistro. (He closed it to devote himself full time to bialys and corned beef.)
The love affair that The New York Times has for Portland, Oregon continues...
Comments