Summary: David Sax at Ben’s Best Pastrami, chopped liver, tongue—these are staples of the traditional Jewish delicatessen, an institution beloved by journalist David Sax. David writes Save the Deli, a blog which chronicles the life and death of delis around the world. He is also writing a book of the same name which will be published later this year by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Nextbook asked David to lunch at Ben’s Best, a deli in Rego Park, Queens, where we talked about his favorite dishes, the history of the Jewish delicatessen, and why so many latkes miss the mark.
