Joanne Kaufman
WSJ, Dec. 7, 2022
““I’ll Have What She’s Having” bears no resemblance whatsoever to the over-stuffed sandwiches that are the deli’s stock in trade. The exhibit is lean and compact, free of kitsch and light on schmaltzy nostalgia.”
“Tell me what you eat,” the 18th-century French lawyer and gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin famously said, “and I will tell you who you are.” “‘I’ll Have What She’s Having’: The Jewish Deli,” the terrific exhibit that opened last month at the New-York Historical Society, makes a credible case for an alternative view: “Tell me who you are, and I will tell you what you eat.”
“I’ll Have What She’s Having,” which was organized by the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and will be on view at the Historical Society through April 2, charts the rise and evolution of the delicatessen in the U.S. Fittingly enough, babka and rugelach from Katz’s Deli were served at the press preview. Those hoping for corned beef on rye with a cheesecake chaser were on their own. Pro tip: The Pastrami Queen deli is a mere half-mile walk away; meanwhile visitors to the Historical Society can create their own (virtual) sandwich courtesy of a touch screen and an avatar of sorts: Max the deli man.
Between the last two decades of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century, some three million Jews from eastern and central Europe came to the U.S. bringing with them their customs and their palates. “I’ll Have What She’s Having” is, perforce, a story of immigration and adaptation—about the shift from selling pickles out of barrels and herring off of pushcarts on New York’s Lower East Side to dishing them up behind a counter, about the shift in menu offerings from a classic Reuben (then) to braised brisket and grilled chicken Za’atar (now). … source