When I decided to do corned beef and pastrami, I set some ground rules for myself. First and foremost, I couldn’t get one without the other. Well, rules are meant to be broken. Especially when they’re broken with such unique style and deliciousness as at Mile End.
If you read any New York publications or food blogs, you’ve probably heard of Mile End. In which case you can skip the next two paragraphs (although you’ll miss my Field of Dreams reference). If you’re still with me, let me be the first to tell you about Mile End. This little shop in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn is the first spot in New York to serve Montreal smoked meat. It’s very similar to what we know as pastrami, but the meat is dry cured (as opposed to pickled in a liquid brine), the spices are a bit more intense and every brisket is kept in a steamer for as long as possible (to continue breaking down the meat) and sliced by hand. Anybody who lives in Montreal or visited their culinary scene knows of this speciality (along with Montreal bagels and poutine). So it’s sort of amazing that it’s only now making its premiere in the city that never sleeps.
Noah Bernamoff is a Montreal transplant who came to New York to study law, but realized he missed his home cuisine. He put his nice Jewish lawyer aspirations on hold and, along with his wife Rachel, he opened Mile End in a family friendly neighborhood. And so, how has it worked out? Well, you know the saying, “If you smoke it, they will come,”?
Mile End only serves until about 4pm, but usually runs out of meat earlier in the day. We tried to go a few weekends ago. I even called ahead of time to make sure they had a strong brisket supply, but by the time we got all the way out to Brooklyn, a sign revealed our disappointment as they were out of meat by 2pm. I was very frustrated and felt defeated. I even left a little admonishing note on twitter to which the owners replied. They make a good point that they’re a new operation and are filled to capacity most days. Still didn’t change my disappointment.
I am pleased to announce that on the Sunday that I schlepped out to Mile End once again, they kept their meat supply alive until almost 4pm (you can keep up with their daily inventory on twitter). Maybe they’re now getting their act together. After about a 30 minute wait, we were seated at the bar, in the best seats in the house – right in front of Noah. Watching him slice the meat with precision, I got the sense that he was new to this and a bit overwhelmed by all the popularity. But he must have been doing something right because the smell of the spices and his knife skills made my mouth water.
In addition to the smoked meat sandwich, we ordered the poutine (french fries topped with gravy and cheese curds) which was a delicious gutbomb and the smoked salmon platter on a Montreal bagel (you know, because it was Sunday brunch). The salmon is made from wild king salmon and is also house smoked. The famous Montreal bagels are smaller and sweeter than their NY counterparts (and covered with sesame seeds).
But on to the real star of the show: the smoked meat. You have the option to get it as a sandwich or as a platter. The sandwich definitely equalled less meat, but this is my sandwich journey so I needed two slices of rye bread. And although Noah smeared only a spoonful of mustard on each sandwich (as is the Montreal tradition), I needed a bit more. Or so I thought.
Turns out this meat is so good that it doesn’t need anything to help it along (except maybe more meat). I can’t begin to express to you the tastes, feelings, and joys that I encountered while eating this sandwich. It was amazing. It has so much flavor and literally falls apart in your mouth. The delicateness of the meat is something that most of the pastrami I’ve encountered in this city lacks. The small layer of fat was soft and not greasy or overwhelming at all. And the smoke and spices really light up your taste buds. It reminded me of both Jewish pastrami and Southern smoked brisket. Two of my favorite things in the world.
The smoked meat was reminiscent of Katz’s in that its thick and tender and perfectly spiced. However, Mile End is changing the face of Jewish delis in New York and giving our old standby pastrami a modern and refreshing face lift. I just hope Noah never decides to return to law school. His departure from Hoyt Street might incite riots. In which case we’d need both a lawyer and a meat smoker.
Is Mile End the best corned beef/pastrami in NY? Although they don’t really offer either, Mile End’s “smoked meat” blows most of the old Jewish delis out of the water with their intensely flavored and textured meat. Whatever you want to call it, it gets a 10 out of 10.
