As I reported yesterday, I took my five perfect nieces to New York to teach them a thing or two about ethnic food. After touring the Tenement Museum in LoHo (the new SoHo), Mia, my 8-year old niece pictured to the right, was curious about, in her words, “Jewish food.” So we rounded the corner and hit Katz’s Delicatessen where our very patient waiter, who introduced himself as Richard The Lionhearted, lectured my eager little shiksas. “Girls, you’re not here to eat grilled cheese sandwiches, OK,” he said. “I’m going to tell you what you are going to eat.” Needless to say, ten eyes rolled toward me. In the end, they all tried potato knishes, real deli pickles, matzo ball soup, and pastrami sandwiches but the lesson fell apart once one of them figured out that a “frankfurter” was “Jewish” for a hot dog. Hmm. Need to workshop this lesson locally. Gilbert’s is long gone and Dallas is short on real delis. Help me here.
