Pastrami, Pickles, & Pink Sauce Please! Roxy Deli

Matt: Shortly after graduating high school, I made my second trip ever to The Big Apple to attend the 58th Annual Tony Awards, courtesy of a youth theater troupe in Charleston, SC, the year of Wicked, Avenue Q, and Hugh Jackman hosting.  Being true tourists, we decided to eat lunch one day at Roxy Delicatessen in Times Square.  I remember not being terribly hungry; so I just got some fries...guilty pleasure of mine now but frequent eat as a kid.  Someone had an extra side of Russian dressing, to my mind simply 'the pink sauce,' and already being a flavor adventurer particularly when it comes to condiments, I dipped one of my fries in that allured pink sauce and took a bite.  What a bite!  I stopped exploring, eating each and every last bite of fry in that delicious pink sauce.  I couldn't get enough of the stuff.  At the time, I didn't know what possibilities rye bread, pastrami, swiss cheese, spicy brown mustard, AND of course delectable pink sauce in a harmonious balance would bring....

Flash forward to the present day.  Today marks the last show at Rent for Adam, Ephraim, and myself.  Roxy Deli, directly under the Rent billboard seems more than appropriate for a post on today of all days.  Adam and I say goodbye to Rent but certainly not to all of you.  This is only the beginning of a partnership that we hope will last many years to come, and hopefully we'll all get to share the stage together again doing something even half as powerful and important as Rent.

Back to the topic at hand...the bites.  I made the trip over to Roxy Deli between shows on January 14th, National Pastrami Day.  I hadn't eaten at Roxy since that fateful day back in 2004.  I remembered loving the pink sauce, but it had been so long that my first bite, especially on the sandwich, was almost as if I was discovering it for the very first time.  The sandwich itself is so big that one can barely take a bite.  It is easily the size of two sandwiches in one, which is exactly what I made it into.  I saved the other half for the next day, and it was every bit as good as the day before.  If one can resist the temptation of scarfing down the whole thing, the price is pretty reasonable.  If you can't resist the power of the pink sauce, you're looking at a pricey sandwich and a potentially upset stomach due to the pound of pastrami in there.

Justin, what are you looking at?

@crackmyribsopen tweeted, "lol are they lady and the tramping a pickle?"

One of the best parts of the deli experience is the fact that pickles come with every meal.  I'm a fan of half-sours myself.

Adam's favorite: McClure's Pickles and Bloody Mary Mix.  Find it at Chelsea Market.  You WON'T regret it.

I know it might seem touristy, but hey, what's so wrong with that?  It's popular for a reason isn't it?  I live here and after finding my long lost pink sauce, I'll be frequenting Roxy Deli from now on.