Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Delis
246
L.A.'s Deli Wars
Left Coast Lox
Los Angeles, California
matzoh-ball soup has a surprising number
of fans as well. With its tufted leather ban-
quettes and brass chandeliers, Langer's
exudes a sort of Rat Pack cool; the only
catch is that it closes at 4pm in the after-
noon and all day Sunday.
Canter's and Langer's win, hands-down,
in terms of colorful deli ambience, but if
it's just an excellent overstuffed sandwich
you're after, or perhaps a bagel and lox,
you can get those at any one of a score of
newer contenders:
Art's Deli
in Studio
City (12224 Ventura Blvd.;
&
818/762-
1221;
www.artsdeli.com), opened in 1957;
Brent's
out in Northridge (19565 North
Parthenia St.;
&
818/886-5679
), opened
in 1967; or
Izzy's
in Santa Monica (1433
Wilshire Blvd.;
&
310/394-1131;
www.
izzysdeli.com), opened in 1973. These are
all large, friendly coffee-shop-style restau-
rants offering giant portions and encyclo-
pedic menus; you'll find a few Jewish
specialties tucked in among the burgers
and steaks (Art's has the most).
Now here's a bit of culture shock—the
vintage New York deli
Barney Greengrass
(see above) has opened its first branch
ever on the fifth floor of the Barneys New
York department store in Beverly Hills
(9570 Wilshire Blvd.;
&
310/777-5877
),
serving the same smoked sturgeon and
silky Nova Scotia salmon as the original,
minus the grimy retro decor. A Barney
inside a Barneys? Bizarre.
The transplanted New York Jews who
founded the movie industry in Los Angeles
may have been the first patrons of L.A.'s
classic delis. But by now those places are
such institutions, even native Angelinos
are hooked on the pastrami, the seeded
rye breads, the whitefish salads, and
gefilte fish.
The great original is
Canter's Deli
(419
N. Fairfax Ave.;
&
323/651-2030;
www.
cantersdeli.com), a business that started
in 1924 in Jersey City and moved to the
West Coast in 1931. (The only thing older in
this Miracle Mile neighborhood seems to
be the saber-toothed fossils at the nearby
La Brea Tar Pits.) The current location,
opened in 1953, has weathered neon signs
outside and a great Googie-style interior.
Open 24 hours a day, it attracts a lot of
hipster nighthawks (it helps that the
attached Kibitz Room hosts live music acts
every night). Canter's bakery section is
famous, offering superb breads, including
an iconic seeded rye, and Eastern Euro-
pean-style pastries. One look at the list of
appetizers for dinner—kasha varnishkas,
chopped liver, gelfilte fish, pickled her-
ring—tells you that Canter's has stuck to its
roots all those years.
L.A. deli lovers are willing to drive quite
a distance to get to their favorites—which
is why
Langer's
(704 S. Alvarado St.;
&
213/
483-8050;
www.langersdeli.com) contin-
ues to thrive in its original location across
from the MacArthur Park neighborhood,
even though the neighborhood is now
heavily Latino. Founded in 1947 by the late
Al Langer, it's now run by his son Norm,
who's enough of an L.A. icon that he has
appeared on the TV satire
Curb Your
Enthusiasm
. Nora Ephron calls Langer's
number-one specialty, its peppery, smoky
pastrami sandwiches, “a work of art”; their
(
Los Angeles International.
L
$$$
Peninsula Beverly Hills,
9882
S. Santa Monica Blvd. (
&
800/462-7899
or
310/551-2888; www.peninsula.com). $
Best Western Marina Pacific Hotel,
1697 Pacific Ave., Venice (
&
800/786-7789
or 310/452-1111; www.mphotel.com).
