Review: S&P Sandwiches Is An Antidote to NYC’s $30 Pastrami Era | Eater NY

"Halfway through lunch at S&P I watched a staffer wheel out a metal sheet pan holding a pastrami so blackened and heady it looked like a steaming meteor, and I instantly regretted ordering a BLT; when I returned a week later the spiced meat had sold out by 2:30 p.m. — this successor to Eisenberg’s, run by Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross of Court Street Grocers, serves a pastrami that belongs in the same conversation as Katz’s or 2nd Ave, with an aroma like a sack of hot dogs that vacationed in a steakhouse dry‑aging room and an exterior bark rubbed with coriander as if the chefs wait for each order to come in. The sandwich is a steal at $16 (about $21 after tax and tip) and is portioned for a solo diner; request a “moist” cut and the thick hand‑sliced beef shows a luxurious, accordion‑like texture after a long, roughly 14‑hour steam, yielding a flavor that’s sharp and herbaceous with notes of cilantro and lemon, a whisper of smoke, aggressively salty meat softened by a sugary fat cap, all tucked into Anthony & Sons rye — it’s the kind of once‑a‑week snack I’d pair with an egg cream, and Finkelstein says they intend to keep the price where it is for the time being." - Ryan Sutton