It’s possible that Volk had actually opened his shop back in 1887 and remained absent from the city directories for over a decade, but it seems unlikely (and perhaps even suspicious) that the supposed date of the transaction just happens to be exactly one year before the much-publicized 1888 founding date for its rival claimant, Katz’s.
The second belonged to Sussman Volk, who emigrated to New York City from Lithuania and opened a butcher shop on the Lower East Side. One day in 1887, the story goes, a Romanian friend stopped in to ask a favor before departing for a visit to his home country. In exchange for storage of his trunk during his travels, the Romanian offered Volk the secret recipe for his renowned pastrami. Volk agreed, and he promptly started making and selling the meat in his butcher shop. It was an immediate hit, and soon customers were ordering pastrami by the slice and asking for bread to put it on. Volk took over the shop next door at 88 Delancey Street, put in some tables, and created the first New York deli.
