Kornblatt's
Delicatessen and Bagel Bakery
628
NW 23rd Ave.,
242-0055.
Open daily.
Kornblatt's offers
a vegetarian Reuben.
Free pickles
on the tables!
GENTLE READERS:
As Miss Dish sits here typing, she must fight the effects
of too much too much. Just this afternoon, Miss Dish and
her escort, Doctor Pundit, took in a sunny afternoon at
the sidewalk trough outside Kornblatt's Deli at 628 NW 23rd
Ave. It was here that they caught the sickness; it is now
that they both feel the results of gluttonitis.
Lunch started innocently enough. Christine Rosenkrantz,
who along with her husband bought Kornblatt's Deli from
Josh Kornblatt this past February, led Lady Dish and the
good doctor to their seats in the bright sunshine.
I led with the hardball: "Christine? What kind of name
is that for a nice Jewish girl?"
"I wasn't born Jewish, but I am now," she said. She passes
well: "It took many years and lots of work." The Rosenkrantzes
moved to Portland from New York after many years in the
deli business and went to work immediately to tinker. Portland,
not known for its way with a rye and corned beef, isn't
that demanding, but there are those in the know who know
what they like. And what people want from a Jewish deli
is HUGE sandwiches and OVERWHELMING desserts. How do you
spell relief? B-L-O-A-T-E-D.
Miss Dish must admit, her wranglings with Kornblatt's in
the past haven't all been kosher. She thought the place
was overpriced and not completely on target. But the Rosenkrantzes
(Joe used to work for the renowned Stage Door Deli) have
turned things around. The sandwiches, such as the Reuben
($7.95), are still on the spendy side, but now they pack
a half-pound of meat on them bones. Needless to say, Dish
and Pundit took halfsies home.
Everything at Kornblatt's now takes on this eerie quality
of food you know and love, now exaggerated as if floating
above the crowd in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The
matzoh balls, done perfectly and made with seltzer like
your bubby tells you to do it, are the size of the Jolly
Green Giant's gonads. And the big talk around here is that
the deli has just signed up with Beaverton Bakery to provide
desserts. This is glorious news for fans of the recently
departed Rose's--that deli had its puffed-up pastries, too.
Once again you can climb aboard one of these monstrous,
oozing éclairs (Miss Dish's pick to star in this
place's first food-porn film project).
Kornblatt's plays with the idea of East Coast nostalgia,
in a way similar to Escape from New York Pizza next door
and new kid New York Richie's down the street. It's nice
to have one area where you can go for your imported food
fix. And it's just as well that these bastions of fat don't
actually serve in neighborhoods where most of us hang our
hats. The dreaded deli belly is more than most can handle.
Pundit just passed me a note in chocolate on the napkin
he'd been wearing as a bib. It reads: "Stop me before I
nosh again."
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