If you traveled by rail in the U.S. in 1938, the year my father was born, one of the options for a dinner entree was grilled steak. The price of $1.50 included relish, soup, potatoes, vegetables, salad, bread and butter, beverage and dessert, and it was the most expensive item on the menu.
On January 27, 1951, my father's family went straight from his bar mitzvah to a celebratory luncheon at Sussman & Lev, the fabled Baltimore deli that dispensed corned beef, roast beef, cream cheese and lox, spiced beef, chopped liver and other Jewish delicacies.
My father has always has been a passionate foodie. He knows what he likes, and he especially likes steak and deli fare. He has eaten one or the other every time he has had the chance for the last 70 years, and he's not tired of either one yet. It was my father who gave me my first taste of duck, tongue, schmaltz and steak tartare. As a child, I would watch him sneak tiny bites of crispy, fatty, forbidden bits and do the same- I knew they must taste like treasures- and they did.
Today is my father's 70th birthday, and on Sunday we will celebrate at Stove, his favorite restaurant, located in the Port Norfolk neighborhood of Portsmouth, Virginia. The chef and owner, Sydney Meers, also happens to be one of my father's favorite people, and is a visual artist as well as a culinary artist, as I plan to show you in future posts.
I've blogged about my father
here, and his own People + Food post can be seen
here.
Happy Birthday, Papa. We'll see you tomorrow- hope you're ready, we have a lot of celebrating to do...and the eggs.
