Chicken Soup for Two - Famous Fourth Street Deli

This winter, most of the United States and all of the East Coast north of the Delmarva Peninsula are being pounded by repeated snow, sleet, ice and rain storms. Just when we seem to get cleared out from one, another hits. Cold, flu, and virus germs are rampant and it seems everyone has the sniffles. Bill and Laura are no exception.

So, what to do? Find some chicken soup and not just ANY chicken soup. One Sunday after the 9:00 a.m. service at Christ Church, we decided to head to the Famous Fourth Street Delicatessen on 19th between Market and Chestnut. Laura was incredulous when Bill, a self-proclaimed matzo ball soup maven, confessed he had never had it at Famous. As a New Yorker, she couldn't believe that someone who had been to Famous as often as Bill has over the years, had never had their chicken soup. There was no other choice that Sunday than to see if it held up to the standard of Famous' other offerings. I should admit that we were not the least bit worried that the soup wouldn't live up to the famous Famous standard.

We were greeted by our waitress bearing coffee and a pair of mini danish as is Famous' custom. We didn't need much time to peruse the menu as our eyes were immediately drawn to the Famous Chicken Soup. Advertised on the menu to serve 2 - 3, it promised a matzo ball, kreplach, noodles, rice and kasha. We hedged our bets with a side order of latkes and sat back to enjoy the coffee and danish. It wasn't long before the waitress returned with the accouterments needed to serve our soup. A Paul Bunyan-esque ladle and a stack of napkins were laid on the table. Bill and Laura chuckled over the size of the ladle and realized that the latkes were probably superfluous. Moments later, the waitress arrived at the table laden down with a vat of glorious Famous Chicken Soup not for 2 - 3 but more realistically for 5 -6, typical of Famous' generous portions.

The soup was quintessential Jewish Penicillin - golden chicken broth filled with sweet carrot chunks, onion, and all the promised goodies; one massive matzo ball, kreplach, noodles, rice and Laura's favorite kasha. Wielding the huge ladle Bill served up the first round of soup and we tucked in. As the connoisseur of matzo ball soup, Bill proclaimed it delicious and marveled, as did Laura, at how light and fluffy the ginormous matzo ball was. After slurping down down soup to their fill, Bill flagged down the waitress and asked her to pack the rest to go. Usually at Famous, you pack your own extras but the soup was much too unwieldy for d.i.y. We shouldn't forget the latkes for they were delicious bite-sized beauties served up with sour cream and house made apple sauce.

Our waitress returned to the table with our extra soup, the check and another of Famous' famous touches - a pair of heavenly warm chocolate chip cookies already packed for travel in an old-fashioned waxed paper bag. Laura always wonders how many of these final offerings are eaten in the dining room at Famous and how many are eaten on the way home. We've added a photo of two of the scrumptious looking cakes at Famous for extra torture. Some day, can't say next time, but some day we'll share a slice. Knowing famous one will be more than enough for two to share.

Having lived in New York for 24 years, Laura has seen her share of delicatessens. From the famous Ben's Kosher (where she naively ordered a "kosher" hotdog) to Kaplans formerly on 59th and Park just around the corner from Christie's Auction House, and Liebman's Kosher in Riverdale, she can honestly say that none compare to Famous 4th Street Delicatessen in Philly. And yes, a shiksa can make that claim!