Umamicatessen: A Tale of Two Sandwiches

Umamicatessen is the latest and largest property in Adam Fleischman's rapidly expanding restaurant empire. The DTLA spot is on Broadway just off of 9th Street and is several restaurants in one: the Umami Burger concept, The Cure, a Kosher-style Jewish deli offering which Mezze Chef Micah Wexler collaborated on the bagels, smoked fish and matzoh ball soup, Pigg, a love letter to all things pork done in collaboration with noted San Francisco nose-to-tail chef Chris Cosentino of Incanto, and donuts from & a [donut], along with a cocktail program designed by Aidrian Biggs of La Descarga and Pour Vous.

You can order from all the concepts wherever you sit in the restaurant.  On this visit I explored the Cure section of the menu.  The Matzoh Ball Soup ($7)  is rich, the broth is darker than typical and contains chicken cracklings, pieces of chicken as well as celery.  The matzoh ball itself was light and fluffy.  This may be the meatiest matzoh ball soup in town and is recommended for Passover and beyond.

The pastrami sandwich ($12) is referred to as Pastrami, Rye, Mustard on the menu and it is a simple sandwich that just contains those three ingredients.  The meat is thickly sliced and while not piled high Carnegie Deli style, is more than ample for a meal if you have some soup.  The thick slices of the meat, the spicy kick of the mustard overwhelm the thinly sliced rye bread.  Wexler and team have cured an excellent pastrami, and when Langer's isn't open (which is dinner any night, plus all day on Sunday) this may be the best spot in town to get a pastrami sandwich.

Alas the corned beef, listed on the menu as Corned Beef, Rye, Mustard ($12) was not nearly as good.  In fact it was not delicious at all: the corned beef was chewy and had an unpleasant texture.  It also lacked the flavor of a great corned beef sandwich from Langer's, Brent's or even Nate and Al's.  The pickle was nicely sharp though.  What may be the best deal on the menu is the pickle plate (unpictured), which though on the Umami Burger section of the menu dovetails nicely with the Cure section and at $5 is a generous portion.

After the highs and lows of the sandwiches, the & a [donut] menu beckoned.  The Tres Leches donut ($4) was irresistible, especially as Nguyen Tran of Starry Kitchen had recommended it.  The donuts are fried to order and the menu states that customers need to wait five minutes for the sauces to soak into the donut.  The Tres Leches, Cajeta, Ceylon Cinnamon (cake) was delicious and is sized for two people to share, although one hungry person could certainly inhale it, as I did.  It was unclear to me if the menu was stating that the diner needed to wait five minutes once the donut was presented at the table to eat it, but the waitress clarified that the sauce had soaked in for five minutes in the kitchen and that once it arrived at the table it was ready to eat.

A mild annoyance was that though I arrived during weekend brunch hours and the restaurant was mostly empty, the hostess was very reluctant to seat me at a table as I was alone.  She listed every possible counter seating locale but finally relented and seated me at a table as I had asked.  Not a fun way to begin any meal.

I will not be trying the Pigg menu but look forward to trying more of the other items, especially the Foie donuts and Adrian Bigg's cocktails, on future visits.  In short, get the matzoh ball soup, the pastrami sandwich and the tres leches donut, skip the corned beef.

Umamicatessen: 852 S. Broadway, DTLA. | 213.413.8626 | http://www.umami.com/umamicatessen/

Jewish Deli Night @ Mezze

Mezze, Micah Wexler's Mediterranean restaurant on La Cienega, recently launched a Sunday night only special menu of matzo ball soup and pastrami sandwich.  The regular menu is also available on Sunday evenings, but these two Jewish deli classics are hard to resist.  Fortunately for Dine LA fans, they are both on the Mezze Restaurant Week menu if you eat at Mezze on a Sunday.

The Matzo Ball soup ($10) was excellent.  The matzo ball was light and fluffy and the broth was intense and rich and sprinkled with chicken cracklings.  Large chunks of chicken meat, carrots, celery and onions all lurk beneath the surface of the broth.  This is not a dish you are going to want to share.

The Pastrami Sandwich ($15) was also quite good, although the bread was too soft for my taste.  The pastrami meat was well seasoned but mild if eaten alone.  It is the house-made mustard that truly gives the sandwich a kick.  The combination of the sliced pastrami, the mustard and the bread does form a wonderful sandwich.  If they had bread from Langer's, it would be a true home run.  The meat is thickly sliced and the portion is filling without being huge.  Good stuff.  Perhaps Chef Wexler should consider opening up a deli as a spinoff and give Canter's a run for its money in the neighborhood.  With Langer's not open for business in the evening, the matzoh ball soup and sandwich is the best Jewish deli for miles around, if only for one night a week.

Mezze: 401 N. La Cienega Blvd, Mid City. | 310.657.4103 | mezzela.com

Junior's Deli, 50+ years of sandwiches

Juniors has been serving Jewish delicatessen food to the Westside from its Westwood Blvd location for over fifty years. Back when Juniors opened, the PicWood Bowl bowling alley stood where the Westside Pavillion is now, across Pico Blvd from Juniors. Unlike Langer's, whose neighborhood has become mostly Hispanic over the years, Junior's is still located in a heavily Jewish neighborhood and its customer base is mostly local.



On a recent visit, I got a deli platter with corned beef and pastrami and some rye bread cut in half. I made my own sandwiches. The corned beef was a little thicker and fattier than I was expecting, but was still good. The pastrami was nicely peppery.


The sandwiches were better than I had remembered. Juniors meals come with pickles in a bowl (free refills) as is standard at Jewish delis. The pickles were fine but nothing special and were all of the same variety.

During my recent lunchtime meal, the customers were older, 50 years and up.

Parking can be tough on Westwood Blvd as meters fill up, but Juniors has a parking lot. A pet peeve of mine is that the restaurant validation is only good for 30 minutes, which is really only enough time if you are picking up takeout. Not giving customers an hour is a chintzy touch.

A good option on the Westside, especially as it is open later, but not pilgrimage worthy like Langer's or Brent's.

Juniors: 2379 Westwood Blvd @ Pico Blvd. West LA. Phone: (310) 475-5771. Website: www.jrsdeli.com

Langer's Deli, still the LA deli champs

Langer's Deli was founded in 1947 at the corner of 7th and Alvarado, in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, across the street from MacArthur Park. It has been famous for decades for its pastrami sandwiches, especially the #19 with pastrami, swiss cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing, which is the most popular item on the menu.



Deli denizens are often partisans of either corned beef or pastami; I happen to be a corned beef guy, so while I had been to Langers several times before, it was always for the corned beef. On my most recent visit, I opted for the #54, the Pastrami & Corned Beef Combo, and then seperated the sandwich into a half a pastrami sandwich and half of a corned beef sandwich. ($16.25) (Pictured above, with the pastrami half on the left and the corned beef half on the right). The corned beef was juicy and flavorful and the pastrami was peppery and thickly cut. This is a great option for folks who when asked which they want, respond both.



Overall both sandwich halves were delicious. Langers may have the best of both pastrami and corned beef in Southern California. Their sandwiches are served on twice baked rye bread, which give it a nice crispy crust. I also got an order of french fries, which were presented attractively and more importantly were crispy and good. Langer's is only open for breakfast and lunch, from 8 am - 4 pm on Monday through Saturday. They have free validated parking around the corner from the restaurant, at 7th and Westlake.


Langer's also has curbside pickup, in which you can phone in your order, tell them what time you will be there and then they will bring your order to you while you wait in your car, right in front of the restaurant. I have successfully used this system in the past and it is easy and reliable.

Whether you are there for a pastrami or corned beef sandwich or both, you are in the right place for a delicious lunch. Very much worth the drive; although now with the Red Line only a block away, you could take the subway.

Langer's Deli: 704 S. Alvarado, @ 7th St. Los Angeles. Phone: (213) 483-8050. Website: www.langersdeli.com