Schmaltz lovers of Gotham, rejoice! “Tragedy” has been averted. The Carnegie Deli, nearly 80 years old, reopened yesterday after a nine-month shutdown for stealing gas — and years of hot air over owner Marian Harper Levine’s divorce battle with her cheating ex-husband and a labor suit that cost the joint $2.6 million in back wages.
Levine blamed the lengthy closure on complex city gas rules. Employees blamed the restaurant. But does anybody care except for tourists and nostalgia mongers who moan over the loss of every “institution”?
Sure, my hearty matzo ball soup on Day 1 of the new Carnegie era clobbered watery “Jewish penicillin” at Second Avenue Deli, a place so ersatz that it’s on First Avenue.
But whether a “Woody Allen” — pastrami and corned beef stacked 4 inches high between rye bread slices — is worth $29.99 is for the tour-bus folks from places like Louisville and Leipzig to decide.
For just $25 each, they could have two fine, filling courses plus a glass of vino for lunch at Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, the satellite of four-star Le Bernardin a few blocks away. But they don’t do free pickles, do they?
Even if you’re desperate for a “Fifty Ways to Love Your Liver” combo (don’t ask), I suggest you wait a few weeks. They were in “soft opening” mode yesterday, not yet fully staffed and unable to speedily deliver dishes to the cranky group next to me. (Managers apologized and brought them extras.)
Say this for the Carnegie’s return: It beats the fate of the Stage Deli, which folded four years ago to be replaced by a generic dive called Stagecoach Grill.
The Carnegie looks exactly the same as before. Wall photos depict celebs you’re too old or too young to recognize. Tightly spaced tables facilitate earnest questions from strangers — “Is this where Harry met Sally?” — just as you’re trying to get your mouth around “Tongues for the Memory,” an aptly named “Gargantuan Combo” which also involves corned beef and Swiss cheese.
I’m glad the Carnegie is back. We need every vestige of old New York we can keep. Every loss hurts.
But with Katz’s, Ben’s Kosher Deli, Sarge’s and a few more still kicking, traditional Jewish delis have held out better than now-extinct Jewish dairy restaurants, clam houses, and German joints that once lined East 86th Street.
One day, time will claim the Carnegie, too — just as it took down the Famous Oyster Bar nearby and as it will The Four Seasons this year. So get there now, before another disaster kills the kasha off for good.