True to form, pastrami became a thing in Buenos Aires from one day to the next. No aviso previo, not a single heads up, just a hey guys, I’m here. Even a paro naciónal gives a brother some warning. Suddenly the deli meat associated mostly with east coast Jewish delis was popping up everywhere in BA – on lunch menus and high end deli counters, with an entire week appropriately named Hot Pastrami Week even taking over some of the city’s trendiest kitchens.
Pastrami is one of those foods that sits on a pedestal right alongside sushi, burgers and burritos in my nostalgic food competition. I have done my due diligence with trying all the pastrami. For science, you know. And to be totally sincere, very few places merit a return visit. Two to be exact. And when a pastrami sandwich is good, it’s dangerous. I had to change my Friday delivery route because of La Crespo’s sandwich of gluttonous proportions, and Le Blé, after having heeded the screaming in my head that happened each time my plate arrived has upped their portions and made itself a dangerously close lunch addition to my neighborhood.