31 Mar 2016

The Making Of A Deli Tee

Okay. I usually start these making of the issue stories with, I’ve always wanted to do a.. But this time I’ve really, really wanted to do a NYC Deli T-shirt probably since the first time I went to NYC. I just love how they look and how every little deli always have their own for sale at the door, no matter how small the joint is. “World Famous”, is a word often printed to describe what’s special with whatever random deli or diner I walked through the door at. If it isn’t their burgers or fries that’s world famous, it’s their ice-cream, BBQ sauce or even their corn-bread. If their food is really bad (and they probably know it), they’re going with ”Ben’s Restaurant at the World Famous Rockefeller Plaza” printed T-shirts. If it’s ”World Famous”, who can resist it, right? What’s also fascinating to me are all the hideous pictures of food plastered outside of every joint, and they seem to have been there forever too, all yellow and almost impossible to see what it portrays. And since they’ve not put any effort what so ever in to making the food look tasty or even eatable, I guess that they’re only there for one reason, to show (just in case) that you can buy food here, if there was any confusion about that.

deli

To not do anyone any favors, or disfavors if you will, I’ve chosen to do a fictional Deli instead of teaming up with a real one. But all the elements of what I love with the NYC Deli design is in it. The only thing that is real is the picture, which was taken when I visited the “World Famous” Kat’s Deli on 205 E Houston Street. For people outside of NYC, Kat’s Deli is probably mostly known for the orgasm scene in “When Harry Met Sally”, but for the locals in NYC it’s defiantly known for their fantastic meat sandwiches. So, this picture captures the split second before I bury my face in this bad boy. Best in the history of EVER!