The Pastrami at Wagshal’s, Wesley Heights, Washington,DC

Wagshal’s is a very high end meat market and boutique grocery and deli with three locations. A market with an attached restaurant sits on Massachusetts Avenue in Spring Valley, and there’s a more deli-oriented location in Wesley Park at 3201 New Mexico Avenue, right by Foxhall Square near Shemali’s and Chef Geoff’s. Finally, their Pitmasters Back Alley BBQ recently moved out of the alley to the Old Bonfield’s auto repair spot out MacArthur Boulevard, the one that used to have humorous signs out front.

My quest for the best pastrami in the Washington area took me to the Wesley Heights location. Wagshal’s has a justifiably high reputation for prime dry-aged meats, kosher cuts, and imported specialties, like jamon Iberico de bellota. If you have to ask how much things cost, you can’t afford them. And Wagshal’s is reputed to make a fine pastrami. Thus my trip to New Mexico Avenue. Wagshal’s there offers both indoor and outdoor seating and separate large and enticing sandwich and plate menus — here’s the sandwich menu —

along with a with a large seafood/[prepared food counter and

prime meats.

It’s all very seductive, filled with the best of everything.

I placed my order — hot pastrami on rye with mustard. Toasted? No, thank you. Yellow, deli, or Dijon mustard? Deli, please. (I love Dijon mustard, but for a deli sandwich, deli mustard.) I got my ticket followed fairly quickly by my sandwich, paid $15 plus, and sat down to eat. The sandwich had a reasonable amount of pastrami,

by which I mean that it is designed to be eaten at one meal without distress. But while the rye bread was very good, nice and fresh, the mustard was just right, and the pastrami had been seasoned very well, it was dry. Really dry.

Dry enough that stray pieces kept their shape in defiance of gravity rather than flopping languidly.

Clearly, this pastrami was cut well before it was served — days before. I believe from the seasoning that it started out in life as a fine, fresh pastrami with a bright future. Somewhere along the way, though, sitting out all night and hanging around refrigerators, it turned into the desiccated wreck you see. What a shame.

Wagshal’s arguably is the best butcher shop in Washington, and they may make the best pastrami within DC as far as I know. There’s a serious quality control problem here, however. Pastrami is a terrible thing to waste. I’ve alerted Wagshal’s, and I hope and expect they’ll get their act back together. Please let me know when it’s safe to go back in the water.

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