Berry knows that deli food is nostalgic, personal and, at times, controversial.
“We’ll get people that come in and go, ‘Oh, my God, this is the best pastrami I’ve ever had.’ And then you might have somebody that comes in that says, ‘You call this pastrami?’ You know, and it’s the same pastrami,” he says. “There’s an enormous passion to this kind of food.”
Two meals from Beresovsky’s corroborate that anecdote. Some of its offerings — the pillowy matzoh balls with a dilly, robust soup broth and, yes, the housemade pastrami — are top-notch. The knishes (one potato, the other potato and pastrami) and the presence of Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda on the menu are a mark of deli authenticity.
But a few of Beresovsky’s offerings are lackluster or afflicted by errors. Bites of a Reuben were interrupted by a glob of fatty gristle; the au jus in the Papa Eddie, a French dip with otherwise good brisket, was unbearably salty. Despite an on-menu boast about their New York City provenance, a bagel bore the soft and spongy texture that grocery store bagels often have (a representative for the restaurant says they are from Just Bagels, a wholesaler in the Bronx).
The latkes at Beresovsky’s Deli brought to mind a classic borscht belt joke, retold by Woody Allen’s character in “Annie Hall”: Two women are at a Catskills resort, kvetching about the food. And, as one of them notes, “such small portions!” The latkes are potato-chip crispy, thin and — well, small. Perhaps they’re just how the deli your bubbe took you to as a child prepares them, and that makes them great, to echo Berry’s previous anecdote. Or maybe you’re like me, and you’re left wanting them a little thicker, a little potato-ier and a little bigger, too.
Keep it simple with a Herbert’s Fave — a classic pastrami and coleslaw — and the egg cream, a must. Beresovsky’s is one of the few places in the area to get the old-timey deli classic: a fizzy, creamy chocolate soda that doesn’t contain egg (according to lore, it’s an Anglicization of the Yiddish “echt keen,” or “pure sweetness”). It uses Fox’s U-Bet chocolate syrup, an ingredient that has been associated with the drink since the early 1900s.
“That’s the only syrup for an egg cream, in our opinion,” says Berry, and he’s right.
The deli is in a sliver of a spot adjacent to Gatsby, Knead’s Roaring Twenties-themed American restaurant, and the two places share a kitchen and a chef, Treeven Dove. There’s overlap between the two menus to minimize waste — you’ll find the deviled eggs and matzoh ball soup (a dollar cheaper at Beresovsky’s) on both — and pastrami scraps go into Gatsby’s Reuben egg roll.
The petite space — bright and modern, outfitted in black and white with pops of sunflower yellow — lends itself more to takeout, or a picnic in nearby Yards Park. But for those who want to nosh before a baseball game, there are a few counter seats by the windows and a small patio. Self-ordering kiosks streamline operations, but there’s still a personal touch: On one visit, a sweet cashier gave a free black and white cookie to a cranky toddler to make the short wait go more quickly.
Downtown D.C.’s deli fortunes have risen and fallen over the years. Wagshal’s in Northwest and Parkway in Silver Spring are still going strong, and Buffalo and Bergen and Call Your Mother have expanded to other neighborhoods. Berry hopes Beresovsky’s will leave its mark on D.C., he says: “Deli culture is something that the city needs more of.”
Beresovsky’s Deli
1201 Half St. SE. 202-817-3133.
Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily.
Nearest Metro: Navy Yard.
Prices: $6.50 to $17 for all items on the menu.
