Becca wrote:
> Janet Wilder wrote:
>> Were in Katz's Deli a few days before 9/11 ( *the* 9/11) Their rye
>> bread was horrid. It was like a beige Wonderbread. I asked the waiter
>> why the bread was not the traditional chewy, crusty rye and he said
>> that they use too much bread to be able to get it from a commercial
>> bakery.
>>
>> I can get decent corned beef and pastrami in a lot of major cities,
>> but the bread is never right. It's supposed to be right in New York
>> City, but Katz's had it all wrong. I'll not go back there again.
>
> My husband's family has been going to Katz's since before he was born,
> so we always go to Katz's. We have not noticed a problem with the rye
> bread while we were there, I hope the problem was temporary. We might
> be visiting the city in August.
> Becca

Don't know, Becca. There was some discussion recently on Travelzine
about the poor quality of the rye bread so I am assuming that it still
exists. From what I understand Pechter's bakery, who made the rye for
most of the delis in the NYC Metro is still in business. My late father
was the kosher supervisor at the bakery in Harrison, NJ, but he retired
in the mid 1990's and passed away in 2000, but I believe the bakery
still provides bread to supermarkets and delis in the metro area. I
could not understand why Katz's didn't get their bread from Pechter's.

Pechter's had the sour dough that "made" the bread. Good "Jewish" rye is
a sour dough rye. Whatever Katz's was serving was not. It was soft and
mushy. A good quality sour dough rye is needed to withstand the cole
slaw and Russian dressing that come with my idea of a corned beef
sandwich. Such a sandwich is my "soul food."

If I were going to Katz's Deli today, I'd pick up a rye bread at either
Shop Rite of Waldbaums (are they still in business???) and transfer my
meat to the good bread.