We’ve got the rye bread and the pickles — and soon we’ll have the hot pastrami to go with it.
Bay Ridge is known for its pizzerias, bars and halal meat markets, but the one thing it doesn’t have is an old fashioned New York-style sit-down delicatessen – something a crew of local lunch-meat-mad restaurateurs are about to change.
Sure, the neighborhood has plenty of deli counters in grocery stores – and you may even find a few places with the word “deli” in them – but there’s nothing in line with the famed Katz or Carnegie delis of Manhattan, explained Ted Mann, co-owner of the new Gold Coast Delicatessen, which is expected to open on 86th Street and Third Avenue in June.
“We’re going to focus on all the classic foods of a New York delicatessen,” explained Mann, who said that the Gold Coast Delicatessen is replacing the shuttered Chianti’s restaurant. “But it’s going to be in a more comfortable setting than a diner.”
The Gold Coast Delicatessen was given its name from a description a New Yorker gave Shore Road as he built a summer home there in the 1800s, but the menu will celebrate another period altogether: they’ll be knishes, hot dogs, corned beef sandwiches and, of course, the classic hot pastrami on rye.
The décor will follow suit. The 70-seat restaurant – and its full bar – will be awash with vintage furniture and fixtures. There will also be an indoor porch, whatever that means.
Mann, along with co-owners Michael Esposito and Gerard Picciarelli, currently own 10 eateries in Brooklyn. They decided to open a deli after they came to the conclusion that Bay Ridge doesn’t need another Italian restaurant.
“We know the neighborhood really well,” said Mann. “We think this is exactly what Bay Ridge is missing.”
Gold Coast Delicatessen [8530 Third Ave. on the corner of Third Avenue]. Opening in June.
