Pastrami is smokin' at local Saturday deli

By Deborah Moon Seldner

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On Saturday mornings, the tangy aroma of hot pastrami permeates the Ken's Place transforming the restaurant into Kenny and Zuke's: Deli the Way it Used to Be.
Ken Gordon and Nick Zukin, two Jews who share a love for the taste of classic New York Jewish delicacies, have teamed up to bring that hearty taste to Portland.
"No one in Portland is doing their own artisan pastrami and bagels," said Zukin.
The two met when Zukin went to see the barbecue process Gordon used at his restaurant for his Tuesday night barbecues. The two hit it off and Zukin invited Gordon to join him for a four-day "barbecue crawl" across Texas.
Since pastrami is essentially barbecued corn beef, it was a natural expansion for Gordon's barbecue equipment, according to Zukin. He said the deli was also a natural since his great grandfather was a Russian Jewish immigrant to Los Angeles via New York and Gordon's grandmother was a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant to New York.

"We make the pastrami from scratch, both curing and smoking it," said Zukin, noting they start with local natural beef.
The pastrami and the restaurant are not kosher, Zukin warns, though he said all their sandwiches except the Reuben do meet "the minimal standards of not mixing milk and meat."
This spring the duo started selling their
artisan pastrami on bagels made by Michael Zusman, who sells his bagels at farmer's markets under the name Touch of Grace. After selling out seven weeks in a row, the pair decided to expand their offerings and move to Ken's Place Restaurant on Saturday mornings.
They often still sell out of the pastrami, pickled and smoked brisket, served tender and steaming on rye, though now the pastrami tends to last till at least 1:30.
In the slow food tradition, nearly everything is made from scratch using only the best ingredients, said Zukin. The menu now includes pastrami and eggs, corned beef hash, smoked salmon hash, potato latkes, a variety of pastrami sandwiches on sour rye, chopped liver, half-sour and full-sour pickles, and Knick's Knishes.
You can even try an East Coast deli-favorite egg cream—"no egg, no cream, but ya gotta try one," according to the menu.
The men are considering opening a full-time deli if they can find a suitable location.
For now, the pastrami/deli experience is limited to Saturdays 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at Kenny and Zuke's, 1852 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. For more information, call 503-236-9520.