"I'll Have What She's Having" Jewish Deli Exhibition Opens Friday on Central Park West

If you're a lover of Jewish delicatessen, you'll love the new exhibition opening this week at the New York Historical Society Museum on Central Park West, just a three minute walk from the American Museum of Natural History. The exhibition opens on Friday, November 11, and runs through April 2, 2023.

Organized by the Skirball Cultural Center, “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli examines how Jewish immigrants, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe, imported and adapted traditions to create a uniquely American restaurant and reveals how Jewish delicatessens became a cornerstone of American food culture.

The exhibition explores the food of immigration, the heyday of the deli in the interwar period, delis and Broadway, stories of Holocaust survivors and war refugees who worked in delis, the shifting and shrinking landscapes of delis across the country, and delis in popular culture. On display are neon signs, menus, advertisements, deli workers’ uniforms, and video documentaries.

The exhibition was featured last week on CBS TV along with a tour of Zabar's, the iconic Manhattan deli, appetizing store, and bakery that was founded more than 80 years ago -- a family business that is still going strong.

Here's a video of the CBS program. Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Chinese People Try Jewish Food for the First Time

Jewish YouTube blogger Xiaoma brought a group of his Chinese friends to NYC’s famous 2nd Avenue Deli to try authentic, traditional Eastern European Ashkenazic Jewish Food for the first time!

They ordered all the classics, including gefilte fish, chopped liver, pickles (full-sour and half-sour), sauerkraut, cholent, matzoh ball soup, blintzes, knishes, potato kugel, and of course pastrami sandwiches. Some of the items they loved, others…not so much!!!

Xiaoma is an American who's fascinated with international foods and cultures. Until the age of 18 he grew up speaking exclusively English, and then he got the chance to learn Mandarin and live in Beijing for a year where he fell in love with Chinese food, language, and culture. 

Enjoy this Chinese journey to the land of the Jewish deli.

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.