Saturday, December 19, 2009

Deli Stories

Last night our guests, inspired by latkes, were telling deli stories.

Peter once was in a play with the actor Sam Jaffe. When Jaffe heard that Peter was from Philadelphia, he asked about a particular deli there that had great latkes. Peter had been to that deli, but never tried the latkes. Jaffe told him to sit in a particular booth, and try the latkes, which Peter did. The latkes were delicious. Beside the booth was an autographed photo of the actor, inscribed "I'd walk to Philly in my gatkes just to eat some of these latkes." (Gatkes, I just learned, means long underwear in Yiddish.) The deli is no longer in business, says Peter. Wonder what happened to the photo.

Elaine and Bob were with friends at the Carnegie Deli in New York recently. The waiter brought a mile-high corned beef sandwich to the next table. Their friend remarked "It's ok, I'm a cardiologist."

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