"I'll Have What She's Having" Jewish Deli Exhibition Opens Friday on Central Park West

If you're a lover of Jewish delicatessen, you'll love the new exhibition opening this week at the New York Historical Society Museum on Central Park West, just a three minute walk from the American Museum of Natural History. The exhibition opens on Friday, November 11, and runs through April 2, 2023.

Organized by the Skirball Cultural Center, “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli examines how Jewish immigrants, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe, imported and adapted traditions to create a uniquely American restaurant and reveals how Jewish delicatessens became a cornerstone of American food culture.

The exhibition explores the food of immigration, the heyday of the deli in the interwar period, delis and Broadway, stories of Holocaust survivors and war refugees who worked in delis, the shifting and shrinking landscapes of delis across the country, and delis in popular culture. On display are neon signs, menus, advertisements, deli workers’ uniforms, and video documentaries.

The exhibition was featured last week on CBS TV along with a tour of Zabar's, the iconic Manhattan deli, appetizing store, and bakery that was founded more than 80 years ago -- a family business that is still going strong.

Here's a video of the CBS program. Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.