Sad, sad news. Sammy’s Roumanian, the New York temple of chicken fat (schmaltz), garlic and vodka has closed. Owners say they will reopen in another location. Won’t be the same as the ramshackle basement on the corner of Chrystie and Delancey on the lower east side. Pete Wells, in a 2014 review (New York Times), called Sammy’s “the most wonderful terrible restaurant in New York.” He added: “Sammy’s is a permanent underground bar mitzvah where Gentiles can act like Jews and Jews can act like themselves.” SJ and HG loved Sammy’s (BSK turned thumbs down). Fueled by vodka enclosed in a block of ice, SJ/HG relished chopped liver (drenched in schmaltz), garlic and schmaltz tenderloin steaks; chopped eggplant (with schmaltz, of course), silver dollar potatoes, kasha varnishkes. Danced the hora. Roared Yiddish songs played by the pianist. Drunk, jolly, Jewish good time. Sammy’s opened in the 1970s and gave its patrons cardiology problems for decades. R.I.P.
Leave a Reply