#cel-ray

Ed Wynn has a glass of Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray with lunch

Since moving back from China, we’ve created a list of “NYC Classics We’ve Never Eaten At” the last time we lived here. At the top of that list was Sarge’s Deli... 

The way we saw it, there were two reasons we never visited Sarge’s before: we always lived on the West Side and Sarge’s is far East, and when we wanted pastrami we always went to Katz’s. But as we now live smack in the middle of Manhattan, Sarge’s is much more accessible. Plus, we figure if we're willing to take a bullet train from Tokyo to Fukuoka for grilled chicken skin, we can cab it a few miles across the Big Apple. :)

I actually went with a friend whose family has been eating here for decades and he recommended we start with the stuffed derma...

“The best in NYC since my grandmother passed.”, he told me.

I’d actually never had derma before and Dan explained it’s like sausage, a casing stuffed with grain and/or bread, sometimes using chicken fat, and topped with a brown sauce. I really enjoyed it! Quite filling.

For the sandwich selection, I went with my usual, pastrami on rye with provolone and sliced onion. Excellent! And Massive!!

Dan went with his usual, tongue on rye with mustard...

I can never pass up latke when I see them, and there were pretty damn good...

With a classic Cel-Rey to wash it all down...

I must say, was impressed. Loved the food, loved the old school vibe. Katz’s is still tops in my book, but as Sarge’s is much closer to us now, I can see them becoming my go-to deli in the months to come!

SARGE’S DELI

548 3rd Ave.

NY, NY 10016

212-679-0442

...The success of Cel-Ray, which has a pungent, aromatic celery taste, would have been less surprising back then, as savory drinks made of ingredients such as beets were common and popular in Europe. Celery was also a food fad du jour in the 19th and early 20th century. Victorian England was especially cuckoo for celery—people used celery as a star ingredient, and upper-class homes prominently displayed celery in special vases. People believed celery was a miracle that could cure insomnia, malaria, and headaches; industrious folks developed celery-flavored gums and tonics...