What you missed in LA/ Chicago recap/ here we go Fla
Here I sit in Chicago, rainy as anything, but pleased to be here. Last night we had a great turnout at Manny’s, with the Raskin family on hand, and the Dworkins representing Kaufman’s. Then we had a nice nosh and drinks at 11 City Diner. God bless Chicago.
For those of you who missed the Langer’s event in LA, here’s a little taste, courtesy of Ed Fuentes at Blog Downtown.
Save the Deli from blogdowntown on Vimeo.
There’s also a great report from my good amiga Sara Wilson, at LA Magazine.
Meat and Greet
“The gangs are waiting for me back in New York!” joked David Sax, author of the new book Save the Deli, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) before a crowd of about 50 who’d gathered to fress and hear him speak at Langer’s Delicatessen yesterday afternoon in what has to be the most unorthodox Vroman’s Bookstore reading of all time. Sax was referring to the scornful reaction from New York’s deli-going denizens incited by perhaps the ballsiest assertion in his new book: that L.A. is the best deli town in the country. Sax, who is from Toronto (full disclosure: we’re old friends from that city; he now lives in Brooklyn), refuses to take sides. “I’m not even from New York! I’m a neutral third party, like all Canadians!” CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF SARA’S REPORT FROM BOTH THE NATE N’ AL EVENT IN LA AND LANGER’S
And check out another video from Teddy Seidman and the folks at the Wire…of the Jewish Federation of LA…bitches.
Today I do a bunch of Chicago press, including WBEZ, 720 with Milt Rosenberg, and some damn early morning TV tomorrow. Then I fly to sunny Miami. Sunday I’ll be speaking at 11am in DelRay beach at 3G’s, and then at the Coral Gables Books and Books at 6pm. See you there, tanned deli lovers.
Some advance press from the Florida media.
The Miami Herald says “Devotee chronicles death of delis”
“The pastrami was cut the wrong way and it was cold,” he said. “The matzo ball soup was flavorless.”
Soon, the deli would indeed be dead, shuttered by owners looking to put something else on their land. And with it, a once-thriving piece of South Florida culture would die, too.
The Sun Sentinel looks into “Meaty Matters”
David Sax was sure he’d find some of the best Jewish delis in the country when he came to South Florida to research his book.
“Unfortunately, what I found is there were a lot of places that were just good enough,” says the author of the just-released Save the Deli (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24). “Good enough if you want to have a taste of deli. But there was nothing I tasted that I’m holding up as an example of what Florida is doing.”
Doesn’t he realize those are fighting words in a region with the third-largest Jewish population in the country?
See you in the sunshine!
