National Network for Equitable Library Service

Bill Brownstein tells the colourful story of Schwartzs Hebrew Delicatessen and the origins of its unique smoked meat. In a style reminiscent of Damon Runyons descriptions of New Yorks flamboyant street characters in the 1920s and 1930s, Brownstein vividly portrays the succession of Schwartzs eccentric owners (starting with Reuben Schwartz in 1928), its staff (we meet broilerman The Shadow, the father of steak spice), the larger-than-life characters of the Main who called Schwartzs home, and some of the tourists, actors, comedians, journalists, politicians, filmmakers, students, and many other customers who pass through its doors. With humour and the eye of a social historian, Brownstein documents and grapples with such issues as the smoked meat and pastrami debate, the food police, the perils of expansion, and language laws.