While fans of the mile-high sandwich creations at the erstwhile Carnegie Deli might not be as impressed, in local circles the “decker” at Ben Poremba’s Deli Divine (5501 Delmar) has been called “Dagwood-esque” and “the Burj Khalifa of sandwiches.”
The three-tiered wonder consists mainly of smoked, cured meat (from Detroit’s renowned Sy Ginsberg’s Meat & Deli) and can be constructed any number of ways. Look for it under the “Classic Sandwiches” section of the menu, below the five available meats and three choices of bread (from Newark’s nearly century-old Paramount Bakeries). A condiment combo is added: standard yellow mustard and the deli’s famous sauce. Sandwich builders select the meats in “nosher” or “fresser” portions (4 and 6 ounces, respectively). Here, the choice is lean pastrami; cold-smoked turkey breast; and “corned, brined, and boiled” beef tongue.
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Split the sandwich, and add a side, such as potato salad, egg salad, a vinegar-based red cabbage slaw, or traditional kasha and shells (“not the most popular choice,” executive chef Anne Fosterling confesses, “but once people try it, they’re all over it”).
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