Barney Greengrass: The Sturgeon King

I met up with Bryan Caswell, Houston’s celebrated seafood chef and the author of the Wholefish blog while we were both in New York. I got him to meet me at my favorite New York smoked fish emporium, Barney Greengrass: The Sturgeon King, on Amsterdam and 86th on the Upper West Side. Caswell had already been to Marea, the trendy seafood restaurant that everybody in New York is talking about, so I thought I’d take him someplace old.

Barney Greengrass is an ancient “appetizing store” that’s famous for smoked fish and caviar. Over the years, famous customers at Barney Greengrass have included, Groucho Marx, Alfred Hitchcock, Meyer Lansky, Irving Berlin, and Al Jolson. Marx Brothers scriptwriter and New Yorker essayist, S. J. Perelman, used to write about the place.

First, I introduced Caswell and his family to third-generation owner, Gary Greengrass. Then we sat down and ordered the deluxe smoked fish assortment that includes whitefish, nova, sable, sturgeon, and kippered salmon. We also got a basket of bagels and a salad plate with egg salad, whitefish salad and chopped liver along with an assortment of pickles, onions, tomatoes, etc. I was drinking coffee, but Caswell insisted on washing down his smoked fish with Brooklyn Lager beer. It was quite a feast.

Barney Greengrass celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008. In 2006, the restaurant year won the James Beard Award as an “American Classic”, an honor given to legendary restaurants that have stood the test of time. Barney Greengrass is a vision back in time to the Upper West Side of a hundred years ago. I highly recommend it.