September 26th, 2013

Katz's Special
We arrived in New York in July of last year and began the hunt
for our new home. It was taking longer than we had expected to find somewhere, a lot longer. We were beginning to get desperate, my wife was pregnant and due in one month, our two daughters had already started in their new school, and we had long overstayed our welcome with friends. Finally we found it, our perfect apartment, it worked in every way and was within budget. Our landlord – the
owner of a famous Jewish deli – wanted to have a sit down with us to seal the deal. We brought the whole family along to meet him at the deli. He was satisfied that we would be good tenants and invited us to dine. We were treated to a feast, a banquet of Jewish soul food. As we ate, gratitude poured from us, not only did we have a home, we were being nourished, we felt safe, it had been such a long journey but we had made it. The painting ‘Katz’s Special’ is an ode to the glory that is a Reuben sandwich with a giant pickle, and the gratitude we
felt eating them. The sheer pleasure, nourishment and human kindness that is food.

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