Food

Carnegie Deli Returns As Pop-Up For ‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’

Flyers advertising the “Midge Maise” sandwich

By Michael Kaminer November 29, 2018

That Mrs. Maisel has got some chutzpah. First, she says things no 1950s housewife should utter. Now, she’s resurrecting the Carnegie Deli.

To celebrate a new season of runaway hit The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon Studios is bringing the Carnegie back as a weeklong popup, December 1-8 in Soho. “While it may be 2018 on the outside, it’s 1958 on the inside—the decor, the jukebox, the photobooth, and even the menu,” according to the pop-up’s web site.

Reservations – at homeofthemaisel – sold out almost immediately. But you can still try the take-out counter for a “Maisel” or “Susie” sandwich – 99 cents apiece – a mini-knish (75 cents), or a black-and-white cookie (50 cents). And a limited number of tables will open for walk-ins, the web site says. The pop-up will be at 201 Lafayette Street, which housed the Jack Kerouac-endorsed San Remo Cafe around the same time Midge Maisel would have been working out her comedy routines.

Publicists for the pop-up didn’t return the Forward’s requests for comment, so we’re still in the dark about what’s in those sandwiches – or who’s supplying them.

The real Carnegie Deli, of course, closed in 2016 after nearly 80 years in midtown Manhattan. The company still sells meats online, and wholesales to delis around the country.

What does the original Carnegie’s founding family think of the knockoff?

“We’re thrilled,” Sarri Harper Weissman, VP, Carnegie Deli Products, Inc., told the Forward. “Midge’s character will be immortalized through the comedic tradition of a namesake sandwich, and the pop-up will feature other selected Carnegie Deli favorites, including knishes, pickles, and cheesecake.”

Weissman, in true Carnegie Deli tradition, couldn’t resist a pitch. “While our 7th Avenue physical location may be closed, Carnegie Deli lives on in various locations across the U.S. including Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Deli Las Vegas at The Mirage Hotel & Casino. We also ship our famous cheesecakes, pastrami and corned beef to deli lovers across the Continental U.S. for wholesale purchase,” she continued. Maybe it’s time for her to get her own TV show.

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