Last week, EOW's Nicholas T. Hall took down a chopped liver and pastrami sandwich at Kenny and Ziggy's. I can't stand chopped liver (no fault of Nick T.), but I was interested in some of the comments the piece generated. Like this one from Eric Sandler: "I know the sandwiches are good, but I go there infrequently enough that I'm usually craving smoked fish. A Freddie's plate with lox and baked salmon - so damn good."
That was all the convincing I needed, so I headed over to K & Z's for a quick lunch.
Once I sat down and caught the waitress's attention, she quickly handed me one of the monster menus. Not today, my good lady. I knew what I wanted--the Freddie's Plate with Nova lox and smoked salmon (actually called the Freddie's Salmon Enchanted Evening).
A few minutes later, it arrived at my table in all its salmon glory. It also came with all the fixings--cream cheese, red onions, lettuce, cucumbers, a plain bagel, and tomatoes. I started with the Nova lox. It consisted of two, thickly sliced pieces that were so soft to the bite. I constructed an open-faced sandwich with the other ingredients and topped it with the lox. Thinking it couldn't get any better, I forked into the hunk of cold smoked salmon. This was ridiculously good. The blending of the natural fattiness of the fish, along with the smoky and salty flavors, was damn near perfection. Someone in the back obviously knew their way around smoking a fish.
The entire plate ran me $17.95, and although expensive, the portions were huge, and the execution was amazing. I'm a big fan of fine steaks, and for me, the smoked salmon was my version of eating a great steak from a fine chop house.
Thank you, Eric, for my best Off the Wall suggestion to date.
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