Singer's Significant Meats - Chef-Owner Douglas Singer and Chef Pete Smith (From PS7s) At Union Kitchen

[KeithA]

After seeing the Post article, I headed over for lunch at the Singer's Significant Meats pop-up today (Sun and Monday lunch only for limited time, unclear how long). I met Doug Singer who was doing FOH and his partner Pete cooking in back. Very friendly gents. Also really good meat - hefty sandwich of thinly sliced melt in your mouth meat with a bit of fat, but not too much on thin sliced toasted rye with a shmear of mustard. Decent pickle with it too. The only odd thing is I ordered pastrami, Doug and I went back and forth a bit to confirm that I did get the pastrami.  He swears it was their pastrami but I'll say it was a really good corned beef. I say this becasue there was no pepper/spice crust and it wasn't peppery or smoky in flavor - it tasted like good cured corned beef. I probably should have asked for a corned beef slice to compare but didn't have time.  Either way, go enjoy a sandwich but don't necessarily expect your usual pastrami.

http://www.singersmeats.com/

[Adam23]

So good.  So good.  Easily the best corned beef in the DC metro area.  Dare I say, possibly anywhere? (and i've eaten a lot of corned beef)

We went to the pop up on Saturday.  Had a pastrami reuben, corned beef sandwich and a farro ratatouille.  All were excellent but the corned beef was the star.  It was very very tender, juicy, not particularly salty and tasted delicious.  Highly recommended.  The pastrami is good as well.  It is more or less like their corned beef but a bit peppery and spicy.  You could easily mistake it for corned beef though.  So if you like very peppery pastrami, thick cut with a crust, this isn't what you are looking for, but if you like corned beef with some spice, you will like this a lot.

[lekkerwijn]

A welcome surprise this weekend, one can purchase Singers' pastrami and corned beef by the pound at Breadfurst. $18/pound and the woman behind the counter had never used the slicer before so it wasn't pretty and it wasn't served warm from the sous vide marinating its own fatty juices, but was still pretty good. if you need a fix on Monday-Saturday, paired with some delicious fresh bread this is a great option. 

[KeithA]

A welcome surprise this weekend, one can purchase Singers' pastrami and corned beef by the pound at Breadfurst. $18/pound and the woman behind the counter had never used the slicer before so it wasn't pretty and it wasn't served warm from the sous vide marinating its own fatty juices, but was still pretty good. if you need a fix on Monday-Saturday, paired with some delicious fresh bread this is a great option. 

You beat me to it! Really excellent meats and my slice job yesterday was a bit better - I asked for thin and they showed it to me and wrapped it up nicely.  My slices were a bit fatty which I don't remember from the popup, but they still taste good.  According to Singer's email yesterday their meat is also available at Smucker Farms on 14th St and another local shop too.  Plus you can buy direct for the same price too in larger quantities.

[DonRocks]

A welcome surprise this weekend, one can purchase Singers' pastrami and corned beef by the pound at Breadfurst. $18/pound 

You beat me to it! Really excellent meats and my slice job yesterday was a bit better - I asked for thin and they showed it to me and wrapped it up nicely.  

Yes, there are now four locations (other than Union MarketKitchen) where you can purchase Singer's corned beef and pastrami (they're here - sorry for not just listing them, but the list could change, and the link to it will always have the current list).

I don't know if it's a formal agreement, but the retail locations seem to all sell the meats for the same price (someone might want to check on this).

A long way since the Newton's Table pop-up! And, I suspect, a long way to go. They'll deliver to anywhere in DC, and will ship overnight to anywhere else - does anyone know what the delivery fees are?

Also, durst any voice maketh the comparison between Singer's and Stachowski's?

[The Hersch]

Also, durst any voice maketh the comparison between Singer's and Stachowski's? 

I haven't had Singer's, but I can compare the prices. Stachowski's pastrami as of three or four weeks ago was $14.99 a pound. Singer's is $19, which makes Singer's about 27% more expensive than Stachowski's. Since Jamie's pastrami is the best I've ever eaten, if Singer's is really worth the extra $4 per pound it must be mind-blowing.

[Josh]

Yes, there are now four locations (other than Union MarketKitchen) where you can purchase Singer's corned beef and pastrami (they're here - sorry for not just listing them, but the list could change, and the link to it will always have the current list).

I just want to point out that Singer's is at Union Kitchen, not Union Market.  

[DonRocks]

I just want to point out that Singer's is at Union Kitchen, not Union Market.  

[You're right, I'm sorry.]

[KeithA]

I haven't had Singer's, but I can compare the prices. Stachowski's pastrami as of three or four weeks ago was $14.99 a pound. Singer's is $19, which makes Singer's about 27% more expensive than Stachowski's. Since Jamie's pastrami is the best I've ever eaten, if Singer's is really worth the extra $4 per pound it must be mind-blowing.

The meats tastes are very different. Stachowski is very peppery and aggressively spiced (probably more than any other pastrami I've had and one of the reasons it isn't my favorite IMHO) whereas Singer is almost under spiced. When I ate Singer's at the pop up I asked them to double check they hadn't given me the corned beef. In terms of pricing, Stachowski is definitely less expensive even a bargain for artisanal pastrami (isn't that an oxymoron ;-) in the DC area.  I think Singer's pricing is pretty normal compared to other specialty cured meat places like DGS and Wagshal's.  All of it is more expensive than mass-produced meat.  All of that being said, I think they are both good quality products, but different tastes that will appeal to different people.

Here is my personal ranking of local deli meats:

1. DGS's pastrami - rich, smoky, spicy and supremely flavorful (I haven't tried their corned beef yet - it is too hard to pass up the pastrami)

2. Wagshal's smoked meat - smoky, not spicy

3. Singer's corned beef - melt in your mouth but with some good fat

4. Stachowski's roast beef dip - not spiced, but great beefy flavor (the pastrami is good too but I think its flavor is mostly pepper and I don't like the gargantuan sandwich)

8. Parkway Deli - corned beef and pastrami are reheated, mass-produced Saval but they are tradition - still good, but much less so hence the #8.

I also used to love Attman's in Baltimore for corned beef, pastrami and hot dogs but I haven't been in years (nor made it to the Cabin John one yet) so it doesn't make the list.

I'm sure I've left off some good ones here and there are some local notable places I've never tried like Deli City but these are the one's that I regularly return too - DGS just makes my mouth water.

[Rhone1998]

The meats tastes are very different. Stachowski is very peppery and aggressively spiced (probably more than any other pastrami I've had and one of the reasons it isn't my favorite IMHO) whereas Singer is almost under spiced. When I ate Singer's at the pop up I asked them to double check they hadn't given me the corned beef.

Maybe they're playing around with the recipe, or maybe we just have very different tastes, but the Singer's pastrami I had tonight (pre-packaged and purchased at Smucker Farms) was very peppery.  I think of Stachowski's version as emphasizing smoke above any particular spice.  (For the record I really like both versions.)

[DonRocks]

The meats tastes are very different. Stachowski is very peppery and aggressively spiced (probably more than any other pastrami I've had and one of the reasons it isn't my favorite IMHO) whereas Singer is almost under spiced.

Maybe they're playing around with the recipe, or maybe we just have very different tastes, but the Singer's pastrami I had tonight (pre-packaged and purchased at Smucker Farms) was very peppery.  I think of Stachowski's version as emphasizing smoke above any particular spice.  (For the record I really like both versions.)

These are both really good posts - very useful in the long-term (and, I suspect, helpful to Singer's as well).