Katz'sAutobiography of a Delicatessen

A New York City institution since 1888, Katz’s Deli on the corner of Ludlow and East Houston streets is the oldest and most beloved delicatessen in America. Famous for its mouth-watering pastrami and mouth-puckering pickles-as well as its traditional Friday evening hot dogs-Katz’s has been serving Jewish comfort food to literally generations of hungry customers, from locals dropping in for their “usual” and tourists from around the world, to a veritable who’s-who of celebrities and politicians, their visits immortalized in hundreds of photographs along the walls.

The 384 pages of this elegant and hefty tome contain hundreds of striking photographs by Baldomero Fernandez: the people on both sides of the counter; the storied cutting stations; the distinctive signage; the remarkably small kitchen; and more. Part-owner Jake Dell reveals the deli’s rich and compelling 125-year history, as well as the characteristics of the traditional Jewish foods that are at the core of Katz’s culinary offerings-the difference between pastrami and corned beef, the deli’s pickling process, and more-while Travel Channel star Adam Richman provides a very personal and evocative foreword.

No need to be a New Yorker. This book will prove equally irresistible to the regulars (whose grandfather took them at age 5 for their first taste of Katz’s pastrami), and to the uninitiated who have yet to walk on the famous sawdust-covered terrazzo floor, ticket in hand.