Katz’s, New York’s famous delicatessen on the Lower East Side celebrated the 125th anniversary of its opening with a pastrami eating contest this past Sunday. What better way to highlight one of New York’s favorite food attractions for both locals and tourists.
The founders of Katz’s probably never envisioned that it would become a favorite New York establishment, so much so that there are now lines around the corner on Ludlow Street just to get in and “smell” the action. Katz’s was opened in 1888 by the Iceland brothers on Ludlow Street. The name was changed to Katz’s when Willy Katz bought in to the establishment and the named changes to Iceland and Katz. The present name Katz’s came about in 1917 with a further change in ownership and has remained the same ever since.
Throughout its history, Katz’s has always been known for its pastrami that is consistently highly rated by its pastrami fanatics and food critics alike. It was also known for it’s slogan originated during World War II, “Send a Salami to Your Boy in the Army”. Even today, salamis have been sent to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s also known as the sight of the famous “orgasm” scene from the movie “When Harry Met Sally” filmed there in 1989.
Katz’s remains one of the now few remaining vestiges of the old Jewish Lower East Side. What better reason then to celebrate this venerated citadel of pastrami, corned beef, hot dogs and other deli treats than to have a contest for how much pastrami a person can eat in 10 MINUTES. No doubt this contest got its idea from the famous Nathan’s Coney Island Hot Dog Eating contest but hey, this is pastrami and Katz’s we are talking about.
The contest itself was held one block over on Orchard Street, once the scene of pushcarts and stores run by immigrants selling shoes, clothing, fabric and other knick knacks. Now the pushcarts and most of the original stores have been replaced by boutiques and restaurants/bars for the new hipster crowd. No matter, Katz’s still rules the neighborhood. For the contest, a big stage was built with two tables for the contestants. They were lined with mustard and ketchup dispensers along with plates of recently carved pastrami sandwiches ready to be quickly consumed. Many of the contestants were “the heavyweights” of food eating contests (hey, one guy was over 360 pounds!).
They were from New York and all over the country. They lined up in front of the table and the master of ceremonies, wearing a summer jacket and boater hat, gave the go signal for the contestants to start eating the pastrami sandwiches (no taking off the bread allowed). There was great tension in the air and yells of support from the contestant’s supporters. In the end, the winner was Joey Chestnut, a veteran of food eating contests (he was the winner of this year’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest), who ate 25 sandwiches in the 10 minutes allotted and won a cash prize of $3750. And as they say, a good time was had by all.
Katz’s is just one of the unique places that make New York what it is and what better way to explore them than through Ben and Marty’s Bagel Tours of New York, a New York walking tour that offers Lower East Side food or “nosh” tours and other neighborhoods as well such as SOHO, the High Line, Grand Central Tours and others.
Our next blog will be about a new and serious challenge to the primacy of the bagel. Its called the Simit and it’s coming to New York. Look for Ben Bagel’s blog next week to find out about this coming war of the bagels.
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