Milton Parker

The restaurateur who made the Carnegie Deli famous

Milton Parker

1919–2009

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Milton Parker “was the man who turned the overstuffed pastrami sandwich into a New York landmark,” said the New York Post. He made his signature restaurant, the Carnegie Deli, famous by piling a pound of meat 6 inches high on bread—bigger than any mouth could handle—and courting a celebrity clientele that transformed the place into a major tourist attraction. Parker’s business rules were basic: “Keep it simple, do not be greedy, and have fun.”

Parker was born Milton Packowitz in Brooklyn to parents who died when he was young, said The New York Times. He worked at local diners as a teenager and later opened a coffee shop in Levittown, “the cookie-cutter suburb” on Long Island. When he sold it in his late 50s, he found himself bored. So in 1976, with his business partner Leo Steiner, he bought the Carnegie at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. “Steiner, who died in 1987, was the shtick-happy frontman who greeted customers and escorted celebrities to their favored tables.” Parker, by contrast, was “the back-room planner who brought taam, a Yiddish word suggesting great flavor and quality,” to his establishment’s rich smorgasbord of knishes, brisket, matzo-ball soup, and other classic deli fare.

His showmanship was legendary, said The Washington Post. Among Parker’s promotions were “pickle-eating contests and a 60-pound bicentennial ‘Statue of Liverty,’ composed of chopped liver and a turkey-wing torch.” Before long, the Carnegie was a Manhattan fixture. Woody Allen filmed scenes for Broadway Danny Rose (1984) there; as Parker recalled, “They paid us $6,500 for three days and we got $8 million of publicity.” When CBS journalist Bob Simon publicly longed for a Carnegie Deli corned beef and pastrami following 40 days in Iraqi captivity in 1991, “Parker sent one right away via the Concorde.” In true New York fashion, Parker named many of his signature sandwiches for show business and political notables. The Henny Youngman featured cream cheese, Nova Scotia salmon, lettuce and tomato on a huge toasted bagel. “Of the creation named for President George H.W. Bush in 1992—tuna, chopped egg, and mayonnaise on white bread—Parker said, ‘No meat. Just like the economy.’”

Parker’s appetite matched his business flair: He always started his lunch by downing a foot-long hot dog. As a farewell gesture at his memorial service last week, his daughter, Marian, who survives him along with his wife and son, placed one on his coffin.