As I mentioned in my prior post, Ben's Best is closing at the end of the month. Much sadness. We felt we had to have one last dinner out there. And we wanted to have it sooner rather than later, on the theory that they'd start running out of stuff.*
The big decision for me was to try the Big Ben's challenge. Like other restaurant challenges, it's an exercise in gluttony. With BB's challenge, it's a sandwich with a pound of deli meat, french fries, cole slaw, pickles, matzoh ball soup and a soda. For years they've had the challenge available. I've thought about taking it up, but I'm generally not into restaurant challenges. I like to eat food because it's food I want to eat, rather than just eating it to prove that I can.
But this would probably be my last chance, so what the hell.
It was actually easier to eat the entire meal than I expected, and I was able to add a slice of seven layer cake for dessert.
UNlike other restaurant challenges, this one isn't free for those who complete it. But I do have my souvenir soup mug, and my name is up on their wall of fame. Also, at the end of the month I'll be enterred in a drawing for a $100 gift certificate...which I believe will be worthless after the month ends. So, it was really about the pride.
It's possible that I'll be back at BB. But in some ways it seems poetic to go out winnin
g their challenge. *When I spoke to Jay Parker later, he told me that he is not going to limp out. They'll keep getting stuff and have the full menu until the end.
I just learned that Ben's Best, the Jewish deli in Rego Park, is closing for good at the end of the month.
BB has, for many years, been my absolute favorite pastramiteria, and this marks the end of an era. A 73-year era, counting from when the place opened.
I first became aware of BB when I was trying to call Ben's (in Bayside), which is one in a chain of deli-themed diners.
"Hello. Ben's Best"
"Uh, is this Ben's in the Bay Terrace Shopping Center?"
(sigh) "No, we're not affiliated with them. We're on Queens Boulevard in Rego Park."
Apparently that was a conversation that they had many many times. That evening I went to Bay Terrace, but at some point I found my way to Rego Park, and was immediately hooked.
I would hear people swear by Katz's (whose pastrami I don't like), or Carnegie (which had good pastrami but has also closed). But I would always argue that BB was the best the city had to offer. And it was a must for out of town guests -- whether we brought them to the restaurant or placed an order for pickup. And I would proudly declare that they were getting the best pastrami in New York.
It's not as if New York is left without any good pastrami. There's still Sarge's on Third Avenue. Liebman's in Riverdale. And the pastrami at the aforementioned Ben's chain is good too.There are others, but I'm not going to try to name them all. The fact is that good pastrami -- good Jewish deli in general -- is getting harder and harder to find. Demographics change. That's life. But it's not just a demographic shift. Under Mayor DeBlasio (and Mayor Bloomberg before him) there has been a push for more and more bicycle lanes. One of the prices of those bike lanes is reduced parking. Queens Boulevard in Rego Park has long had a shortage of street parking, and the added bike lanes have exacerbated the problem. I would be surprised if BB is the only business closing.
Blair the kids and I will go back this month for one final meal there. Probably with our neighbors.
A few random thoughts about Ben's Best:
Whenever I would place an order for pickup, I would leave a tip. For some reason, they always called it a "subway." I never found out why.
I would occasionally chat with Jay Parker, the owner. If I'm not mistaken, it was his father who founded the business. Jay has some connections to politics. I believe he is friendly with former governor George Pataki. I'm pretty sure that Jay was, at one time or another, called on to provide the deli meat to satisfy a governor's (or mayor's?) bet regarding a sports championship.
There was a stretch of time when I was going for acupuncture in Forest Hills. On occasions when I took the subway, I would have to walk to the subway afterwards. Some of those times I would make my way to the local station by Ben's Best so I could grab a quick sandwich. Don't tell Blair.
I remember seeing the episode of DD&D featuring Ben's Best. I watched it with father-in-law, proudly telling him that that's my favorite patramiteria. I don't remember much about the episode, but Jay showed off his recipes for meatballs (it included white vinegar) and kreplach.
One of my favorite pictures of Ethan is of him as a toddler, wrestling a piece of corned beef into his mouth. That's it at the top of this post.
Today was the 30th anniversary of my grandfather's death.
Grandpa Herb died a little bit shy of my 23rd birthday. I was in Ann Arbor at the time, having just finished my first year of graduate school at the University of Michigan. I got the call on Sunday morning, and was in New York that afternoon. I spent a week in New York while my mother sat shiva.
When I got back to Ann Arbor and went through my mail, I found the birthday card Herb had sent me the evening before he died. I still have that card.
Reading about Roseanne Barr's offensive tweets and the ensuing hoo-hah reminded me of some of the discussions we've had in my cinema history class.
Joe, from the class, is a big collector of DVDs and CDs. He loves video entertainment, and wants to watch what he wants to watch when he wants to watch it. By comparison, I don't have a large collection of videos on physical media. With the wide range of material available on the various streaming services, I'm more or less willing to settle with watching what I can. I want to see some old episodes of Big Bang Theory, but can't find it on Amazon Prime or Netflix? Whatever...I'll watch something else instead.
Joe's big thing, of course, is that if you own a copy of a particular movie or TV show then you're at the mercy of the streaming services; they can decide at any time that they won't be showing something anymore. Or that they'll only show a modified version.* I get the point. And the truth is we don't really argue about it. We're both aware that video entertainment is more important to Joe than it is to me, and that difference drives the differences in our behavior.
So, after Barr made the headlines, and it came out that her TV show had been removed from the rerun lineups and from all streaming services, I thought of Joe's perspective and wondered if that was a show he liked. Further, I wondered if, assuming it was a show he liked, he had it on disc.
A few hours later I got an email from him, addressing that very issue. As if he had read my mind, he put the show's removal in the context of our conversations. He noted that he had seen a few episodes of the old show and liked it. In fact, he had recently bought a DVD set of the series' entire run (it was on sale at Wal-Mart and he couldn't resist).
As I mentioned in my prior post, Ben's Best is closing at the end of the month. Much sadness. We felt we had to have one last dinner out there. And we wanted to have it sooner rather than later, on the theory that they'd start running out of stuff.*
