National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day

I’m feeling a little deja vu today. As it turns out, I’ve written this post before. I will likely write it again.

There are 365 days in a year, and every one of them is designated as some special observance day or another, from the serious to the silly (Squirrel Appreciation Day is January 21st, I must inform my squirrel-obsessed son). January 14th has been designated by some unknown benefactor as National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day. It is a day for great celebration, with a side of Lipitor.

National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day figured early in the development of the Sandwich Tribunal. Josh, Thom, and I first used the words “Sandwich Tribunal” on January 1st of 2014.

@El_Josharino @dodecaphonix we are the Sandwich Tribunal. I like it.

— Sandwich Death Panel Czar (@JimBehymer) January 1, 2014

and it was shortly thereafter that I discovered the existence of National Hot Pastrami Day.

I heard it's Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day. Nice day for a walk. pic.twitter.com/h9VXH5GAH8

— Sandwich Death Panel Czar (@JimBehymer) January 14, 2014

Of course I couldn’t let the occasion go by without a brag.

Sandwich Tribunal, please take note: no judgement required, just gaze in awe @El_Josharino @dodecaphonix pic.twitter.com/zWAzd5g0ZR

— Sandwich Death Panel Czar (@JimBehymer) January 14, 2014

Because at the time, the “Sandwich Tribunal” was just three guys joking around–but very seriously–about sandwiches on Twitter. It wasn’t until later that year that we stumbled across the Wikipedia List of Sandwiches and had the idea to start this website.

So here we are, four years later, and the first thing I can think of when I know we’re covering Pastrami this month is that January 14th is National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day and that means I’m going to Manny’s.

National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day came 3 days early for Mindy and I this year, as we met at Manny’s for lunch on Thursday the 11th (hence the overcast photo above when today is nice and sunny). Manny’s is about equidistant from our 2 offices, mine in the Loop and hers down near McCormick Place, so it’s a pretty natural meeting spot and I’m not sure why we don’t do this more often.

Manny’s is a cafeteria–patrons grab a tray and some silverware on their way in, requesting dishes from a series of steam tables. Mindy ordered a favorite of ours, their beef short rib, tender and sweet.

As always, Gino was working the slicer when we came in, slicing up corned beef fresh, while the pastrami was already sliced and sitting in a warming tray.

I told Gino I was after a hot pastrami sandwich and started to ask for a lean/fatty mix, but he interjected “I know what you want” and proceeded to flirt with my wife while deftly piling a couple good handfuls of thinly-sliced pastrami on a slice of rye bread, balancing a second slice on top, slicing through the stack and slapping a potato pancake and 2 pickle wedges on the plate.

You would be forgiven for thinking that is just a pile of meat with some bread on top. However, there is another slice of bread underneath, and it is just possible to contain most of the meat between the two bread slices long enough to take a bite. It gets away with being called a sandwich on a technicality, I suppose, but it’s more sandwichy than some of the fork-and-knife-only sandwiches we’ve tried. Along with half the sandwich (enhanced with some mustard and horseradish), potato pancake, a pickle, and several bites of Mindy’s short rib, I tried Cel-Ray for the first time, which Serious Eats says is “perfect with pastrami.”

Yes, I did say “half the sandwich.” In previous years I’d have powered through, but I’m slowing down in my old age.

The other half (along with the 2nd pickle wedge) came back with me to the office, where it was consumed 20 minutes later. Sometimes you just need a little break in the middle of a big meal like this.

I’ve made my own pastrami on many occasions, and it’s highly satisfying, but I think National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day is a nice excuse for a visit to Manny’s. There’s something to be said for tradition, after all. I look forward to wishing you many more Happy National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Days from Manny’s in the future. In fact, it’s just about lunchtime in Chicago right now–maybe you should get out for a hot pastrami sandwich and celebrate the day yourself!

Now I just need to start new traditions for Sandwich Day (November 3rd), Hoagie Day (May 5th), Grilled Cheese Day (April 12th), PB&J Day (April 2nd), Hot Dog Day (July 19th), Double Cheeseburger Day (September 15th), Cuban Sandwich Day (August 23rd), Monte Cristo Sandwich Day (September 17th), etc., etc…