Pastrami becoming a Vegas staple

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2000 | 7:23 a.m.

According to food writer Michael Stern, "being able to get a good pastrami sandwich is the only good reason to live close to New York City."

You can get a decent pastrami sandwich in Vegas, too, but it isn't much like the hand sliced, six inch sandwich you still get in legendary New York establishments such as Katz's, or Second Avenue Deli. Here, as in most places even in New York nowadays, pastrami is cut on an electric slicing machine, and usually weighed before serving.

Why does hand slicing make a difference? Mouthfeel, for one thing, the sheer pleasure of biting into a really hefty chunk of meat for another, and the likelihood of getting a bigger sandwich if the counterman -- an endangered species if there ever was one -- likes you.

Pastrami, it should be mentioned, is like corned beef, made from either brisket or flanken. Unlike corned beef, though, pastrami is smoked, and usually the meat is crusted with black peppercorns and sometimes even with spices such as coriander.

Barry Orenstein, manager of the Stage Deli in New York deli, says that there is both kosher and nonkosher pastrami. The kosher pastrami is from a part of the brisket called the deckel (the fattest part). Non-kosher pastrami is from the round.

With apologies to New York City, some of us would say that it is Langer's in Los Angeles that makes the best pastrami sandwich in the United States. Jack Langer makes a peppery, smoky pastrami that falls apart when it is prodded with a fork. He serves it on his own double baked, steamed deli rye, and the sandwich is truly miraculous.

Here are four places in this town that serve a pastrami sandwich, each one very different.

Max C's 1006 E. Charleston Blvd. hot pastrami, $5

Maxie Corsun is a curmudgeonly fellow up there in years, and he doesn't give a hoot what you think of him. Standing his ground behind a glass deli case, in smudged glasses, a blue woolen vest and a white chef's apron, he is the closest thing this city has to an authentic East coast deli counterman.

This is the new Max C's, recently opened in a strip mall after more than 30 years downtown. The wall next to the counter is painted with the names of Max's Famous Knish Biters, but he isn't getting his knishes in until the end of this week, or perhaps next week.

Anyway, it is a pastrami we have come for, and it is a pastrami that we shall have. Corsun might just be the fastest slicer in the West, and he gives his customers around a five ounce sandwich. The meat is from a Los Angeles company called Yenem's, and don't expect Pastrami 101. This is fatty, salty pastrami that spills out the sides of your poppy seeded Kaiser roll. It is also the best tasting pastrami sandwich in the city.

Accompanying it, there will be a paper condiment cup sized portion of red bell pepper flecked potato salad, and a couple of small half sour pickles. You can smear the roll with a little of Max's spicy brown mustard, but this meat is good enough to stand on its own.

Become a regular, and Corsun might even put your name on the wall.

The Deli at Binion's Horseshoe 128 Fremont St. hot pastrami, $6

You won't get as flavorful a sandwich here as the one you get at Max C's, but this is a good sandwich, in a distinctly Las Vegas milieu. The Deli isn't really a restaurant. It's a sandwich stand with stools, stuck in between the Poker Room-where the majority of the players are regulars-and the casino's large Sports Book. The meat served here is Boar's Head from New York, lean, extra thin meat that doesn't have too much soul. It does have a nice spring, and a robustly peppery crust. The bread is a rather workmanlike deli rye. But the pickle, a huge wedge cleft from a half sour dill pickle, is about perfect. One attraction here is J.B., a personable counterman. He has been here more than nine years. J.B cuts a five ounce portion from the slicing machine, and he has made so many sandwiches through the years that he does it almost perfectly without bothering to use his scale. Besides, like all professional counterman, he's not above slicing off a little extra for his best customers.

Stage Deli MGM Grand Casino; Forum Shops at Caesars hot pastrami, $8.65

Yes, this is a pricier sandwich, but you get a proportionate amount of meat, around 9 ounces. (At the Stage Deli in Manhattan, a $10.95 hot pastrami sandwich gives you an 11- or 12-ounce portion.)

This meat is from the New York Meat Company, the same supplier that the original Stage Deli uses. But somehow, the meat is different, not as tender. One can only guess that the steaming process differs between here and New York.

Stage Deli's double baked rye bread is good, however, and on the table, there are terrific sour pickles and pickled green tomatoes. This is a big time sandwich. Most people only eat around half.

Celebrity Deli 4055 S. Maryland Pkwy. Hot pastrami $7.45

The best thing about the pastrami sandwich at Celebrity Deli isn't even in the sandwich. This non-distinctive looking deli, located on the busy corner of Maryland and Flamingo, has great pickles, fat gherkins that come with all the deli sandwiches.

Celebrity Deli doesn't give you more meat than Max C's, and certainly less meat than the Deli at Binion's. Nonetheless, it has the temerity to charge you a big city price for a handful of medium thick slices of the same Boar's Head pastrami that Binion's uses, between two pieces of cottony, rather tasteless rye bread.

The deli has won numerous awards for best local deli. One wonders if the people who designated this deli for these awards ever tasted one of the deli's pastrami sandwiches.