HUNGRY GERALD

So, Sammy’s Roumanian is reopening on the Lower East Side. Schmaltz, vodka, garlic tenderloin steaks, chopped liver.  HG and Jewish fressers rejoice. Cardiologists frown. HG wants the LES comebacks to continue–they are much missed by HG. The two culinary wonders that HG recalls wistfully are “Dairy”–Rappaport’s on Second Avenue in the former Yiddish theater neighborhood and the large Ratner’s on Delancey. In HG’s publicist days, HG ate often at Rappaport’s with journalists. (A particular favorite with the New York Post). Great blintzes, noodles with pot cheese; warmed (not toasted)  bialys. At Ratner’s, HG ate alone or with a variety of eccentric PR clients. Favorite dishes for HG were Nova smoked salmon and cream cheese on an onion roll (“pletzel”) and kasha varnishkes smothered in mushrooms and onions with sour cream on the side.  An odd client only ate mashed potatoes with fried onions–the skinny guy would eat three or four huge helpings. The portions were family style –meant to feed a table of four healthy eaters. Two cheese Danish for dessert. Never gained an ounce, Go figure.