Tat's East Coast Delicatessen in Seattle

Probably the easiest way to locate New York food in your area is to find restaurants who use New York vernacular that is descriptive of New York in the title. For example you might find a restaurant called New York Pizza or Gotham Subs. You know what I am talking about. I am sure just like me you have veered off a highway going ninety miles an hour just because you saw a sign for some sort of New York food. And that my friends is what led me straight to Tat's East Coast Delicatessen.

Now lets focus for a second on the particular vernacular used in this case ... "East Coast". Now anybody who is from New York knows that "East Coast" in general is used to describe a place that is like New York, perhaps close to New York and whose foods are similar, but yet is not New York. These "East Coast" places like Philadelphia and Boston have some great food of their own and they have some foods that are about as close to New York style as you can get but when push comes to shove they are really just distant cousins or faraway suburb of New York. And so it goes without saying the "East Coast" title always raises a slight red flag.

So now that I offended a good deal of people (like any good New Yorker should) lets get back to the task at hand. Tat's Deli is owned an operated by two gentleman who grew up in Philadelphia and New Jersey (i.e "East Coast") who missed their hometown foods. So they decided to open up a restaurant that would serve their favorite foods in Seattle.

The word Delicatessen is a little misleading in that Tat's is really more of sub shop. Somewhere between a local pizza place serving Chicken Parmesan subs and an Italian or Kosher Deli offering sandwiches with various cold cuts. Their real claim to fame are their cheese steaks. Now I love a great cheese steak but cheese steaks are a Philadelphia thing so I will leave the cheese steak review for the guy who writes the phillyfoodanywhere blog!

I was here to try the classic New York favorite a chicken Parmesan sandwich. I have quite a few things to say about this sandwich so lets take the bullet list approach

What I loved:

• When I asked if the chicken was breaded the person taking my order gave me the "are you crazy" look and said "of course".
• When I asked if there was going to be lettuce, tomatoes, mayo or any other non-authentic ingredient on my sandwich he gave me the "are you crazy" look and said "of course NOT".
• The bread was excellent and when I got my sandwich the bread was toasted but still chewy just the way it is supposed to be.

What was ok or not so good:

• I found the sauce to be somewhat flavorless.
• The chicken was fairly soggy (I will add that to this day I have no idea how somebody makes one of these sandwiched and keeps the chicken cutlets crispy ... but some are able to).
• The chicken looked and tasted like some of those frozen breaded chicken cutlets.

So to sum it up I think this Chicken Parmesan sandwich was a solid B+. The essence of the sandwich was there but I think they could execute a little better on some of the fundamental components of the sandwich. All that said I would say for sure this is the best Chicken Parmesan sandwich I have found to date in the Seattle area so I encourage you to give it a try.

As for the rest of the menu, there looks like there are some interesting and tasty meals to be had . Like I said earlier this isn't a true delicatessen in the sense that you can go have any sandwich you desire created but they do have a bunch of great sounding sandwiches on the menu. options that I hope to try one day include Tat's Italian, Hot Pastrami, and the Reuben. I will let you know when I have given them a try. In the mean time you can find more information about Tat's East Coast Delicatessen below.

Tat's East Coat Delicatessen Menu

Blazing Bagels - New York Bagels in Redmond

So you find yourself in the Seattle area and you are wondering where on earth you are going to find a New York Bagel. Well I have the place for you, Blazing Bagels in Redmond, Washington!

Blazing Bagels epitomizes the type of New York food establishment I love to find in other towns around the country. To start with their bagels are actually quite good. In addition depending on where you live you have to really want a good bagel to find this place. It is located in a small industrial strip mall buried behind a shopping mall. It is in such an obscure location that the owner was actually sued by the city of Redmond because he had a sandwich board advertising the shop a few blocks a way on a main road which the city found displeasing( The owner eventually won that lawsuit. You can read more here.)!

So what about the bagels? Well they are delicious and there are plenty of flavors. Of course like any west coast establishment they take the bagel flavors a little too far for my taste (Who wants a Jalapeno Bagel!!!!!), but as long as they cover the basics I am ok! The bagels are soft and chewy inside with a nice crust on the outside. Very close to how you would find them in New York. In addition to the bagels they also sell some other baked goods that are hard to find outside of New York including Bialys and Challah bread.

As I stated above Blazing Bagels is really off the beaten track. Located in a industrial strip mall it is basically a large bakery with a small counter as a store front. In fact you can see all the bagel making equipment in the back. It reminds me very much of a local bakery in New York where I grew up which is essentially a large industrial bakery that happens to let ordinary customers come in and purchase small orders of bread (Rockland Bakery).

So if you are in Seattle area and you are looking for New York Bagels I recommend you check out Blazing Bagels. For more information check out the maps and links below.

Blazing Bagels

Salumi Cured Meats - New York Italian Deli in Seattle

The other day we were planning our daughter's second birthday. While trying to decide what food to serve it occurred to me that a really good six-foot sub (also known back east as a hero) from an Italian deli would work perfectly. After all this was often the catered food of choice for a small New York gathering.

The sad news is that my quest for a six foot sub was in vain since no place seems to make such a thing out west(ignoring the chains such as Subway which I won't touch with a ten foot pole). The good news is that in my search for deli's, Salumi popped up.

Salumi is an Italian deli where they cure their own Italian meats. I had heard wonderful things about this place but had never had the time to visit. Thanks to this blog and my daughters party I decided it was finally worth a visit.

As usual I made a mad dash for Salumi on my lunch break, driving as quickly as possible into downtown Seattle to try a Sandwich. Unfortunately for myself it turns out driving anywhere the day before Thanksgiving is not a quick endeavor. Also if you have ever read a review about Salumi the first thing each writer states is "expect to wait". With that said I should have anticipated a delay but I didn't. Despite the travel time and wait in the 40 degree weather outside to get a Sandwich, I was duly impressed when I finally got my turn in line.

First I will say that Salumi is not a 100% authentic New York Italian Deli. Mainly because they only serve their own cured meats and while those meats are excellent I prefer the tremendous choice I am accustomed to from back home. That said in every other way it meets my definition. Sandwiches are made to order and they will pretty much make any combination you wish. The meat is stocked high, the bread is scrumptious and they have condiments like roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella cheese.

The sandwich itself (pictured on the right) was superb. I had a Sopressata sandwich with fresh mozzarella. My only complaints are really that I couldn't add other meats like Smoked Turkey and the line to order was so long and things were so chaotic inside that I felt I Had to order really quickly and I didn't have time to really embrace the menu. While I respect the desire to stay small I sometimes wonder if they would be better off acknowledging their popularity and expanding.

Anyway I give Salumi a thumbs up. for more info check out the links and maps below

Salumi Cured Meats

Bambino's East Coast Pizzeria - Seattle

Just to set the record straight I will let you know that I live in suburbs of Seattle and although I do promise to live up to the title of the blog (i.e. Anywhere) my posts will obviously be somewhat lopsided towards Seattle!

Anyway my wife was sharing some of my knowledge of New York food with others and somebody suggested I try a place called "Bambino's East Coast Pizzeria". Never one to ignore a recommendation for good New York Pizza I took a "long" lunch break from work and headed into Seattle to try a slice.

Bambino's is a fairly nondescript pizza joint located near the Seattle Space Needle. They opted to use a somewhat vague description to describe the regional nature of this pizza. However the web site makes it very clear that this is intended to be a "New York" pizza place.

For those of you not from New York I will briefly mention that there are really two types of New York Pizza. There is the original New York Pizza which is usually cooked in a coal oven and often only sold by the pie (For those of you familiar with New York I am talking about Lombardi's, John's, Grimaldi's, Patsy's, Totonno's). Then there is the more familiar slice of New York pizza you can find on almost every street corner in New York. These pies are usually cooked in gas ovens, use shredded mozzarella cheese, and usually come by the slice.

The first thing you can tell when you walk into Bambino's, is that they are aiming to be the "Lombardi's" of Seattle. The key indicators are the wood burning brick oven and the inability to purchase a slice! They have a fairly large menu, but I went for my usual staple, a plain pie. I was out the door with my pie in hand in under 10 minutes! When I opened the box I have to admit I shed a tear because I had what looked like a New York style pizza. The crust was thin and crispy yet pliable and the cheese did not blanket the entire pizza. I could even smell the fresh tomatoes that were used. My first bite was a bit like being teleported back to New York! The taste was excellent and overall is was a very good rendition of a traditional New York pie.

I had a few issues with Bambino's. The crust was a little over done for my taste. In addition I found the pizza crust a touch to thin. Both of those criticisms are debatable since they depend on ones preference. Regarding the restaurant itself, it felt a bit empty and impersonal. Like someone wearing clothes to big, I almost felt as if the location was larger than the restaurant needed. I also wish they served pizza by the slice. Many a New York Pizza Snob would disagree on that last statement, but to me food is part taste and part experience and part of the New York food experience is ordering pizza by the slice.

Anyway to sum it up if you are looking for New York food in Seattle and specifically pizza I highly suggest you try Bambino's East Coat Pizzeria. Next time I visit I am eager to try the many Italian deli sandwiches (which are claimed to be New York Style) on the menu. For more information check out the maps and links below.

Bambino's East Coast Pizzeria