Katz’s Deli, a NYC icon, gets its first-ever commercial

When New Yorkers book a wedding venue, a straightforward exchange of cash is typically preferred by both parties.

But when Nicolas Heller, the Jewish-Italian filmmaker and social media influencer who’s better known to his 1.4 million Instagram followers as New York Nico, wanted to tie the knot with his fiancée, Naomi Otsu, at Katz’s Delicatessen, the price was higher than they expected. 

So Heller made an unconventional arrangement with the famed New York establishment: He would create and direct the deli’s first-ever commercial, which was released last Friday, Nov. 22.

“Obviously, Katz’s doesn’t need a commercial, which is why they’ve never had one,” Heller said. “Everyone and their mother knows Katz’s.”

The Lower East Side institution, whose roots began in the neighborhood in 1888, is famed for many things, including their enormous pastrami sandwiches — which was one of 11 Jewish sandwiches on the New York Times’ roundup of sandwiches that define the city — and their World War II-era slogan, “Send a Salami to Your Boy in the Army.”

The popular deli, located at the busy corner of Houston and Ludlow Streets, has made multiple film and television appearances — including, of course, the classic “I’ll have what she’s having” scene from 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally.”

And now, Katz’s is making its digital ad debut. The spot, which runs just under a minute and a half, stars Dave Roffe, 72, a Rockaways-based retiree who’s a fixture of the lifestyle brand Old Jewish Men. Roffe plays an exaggerated version of himself and his fictitious twin brother, Dan. 

Katz’s deli wanted to highlight their nationwide shipping — and that was the only instruction they gave Heller.

Katz’s Deli did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

In the commercial, the twin brothers are speaking on the phone; Dan is suntanning on the beach in Florida (filmed, for those in the know, on Rockaway Beach), while Dave is in the line at the deli. “Listen Dave,” Dan tells his brother. “You know the only thing I miss about New York is the Katz’s pastrami on rye.” Dave, being a world-class mensch, readies to send Dan yet another sandwich in a soggy manila envelope — which is when we learn about Katz’s next-day shipping via a cameo by Heller himself. 

It’s perfectly Katz’s and perfectly New York, and the response to the digital spot, which Heller wrote with David Hurwitz, has been positive on social media. “It’s really good,” writes Instagram commenter Jeremy Kareken, a playwright. “As an ad and as a short film. It works.”

Director of photography Joe Bressler shared a behind-the-scenes clip, where he explained that the crew shot the commercial on location and the restaurant did not close down for the day. For now, the ad can be seen on Heller’s and Katz’s Instagram pages and on YouTube; it’s unclear if it will make it on the air anywhere. 

“When I do ads, people enjoy them, but they don’t have shareability,” said Heller, who has also made commercials for Nike and Shake Shack. “But this, I think, because it was Katz’s first-ever ad, and because it featured Dave, and because I had full creative control, I think it was just a perfect storm, and people loved it.”

Like Dan, Heller, too, always goes for the pastrami sandwich — lean — at Katz’s, and given the size of the sandwich, he said he usually shares it with a friend. A native New Yorker, he got his start in film during college making low-budget music videos. After a brief stint in Los Angeles, he came back to New York, where a 2014 video about local celebrity Te’Devan Kurzweil, known as “The 6’7” Jew Who Will Rap For You,” became his big break. The experience, he said, upped his confidence and guided him in the direction of short documentaries featuring New York’s most interesting characters — and eventually, the Instagram shorts he is known for.

Heller, whose father is Jewish and mother is Catholic, did not have a bar mitzvah, and neither of his parents are religious. But he loves the vibrant Jewish food scene of New York, and is easily able to list some of his favorite places to grab a classic Jewish bite: Zabar’s on the Upper West Side, Lee Lee’s Baked Goods in Harlem (his favorite place for rugelach), B&H Dairy in the East Village, Russ and Daughters on the Lower East Side, and, of course, Katz’s.

“But, you ask me what my background is, I usually say ‘pizza bagel,’ Jewish Italian,” he said. “I feel like Jews and New York Jews and New York Italians are very similar. So there’s that sort of Jewish-Italian handshake, as my friend [the writer] Jason Diamond likes to call it. But I’m, like, all over the place, meeting different types of people.” 

Just last month, he published his first book, “New York Nico’s Guide to NYC,” which features his 100 favorite businesses in the city, including many Jewish eateries, like Katz’s, where Heller has been going since he was a child. Diamond was a collaborator in Heller’s book.

“It’s become a tourist destination,” Heller said of the deli. “And in my opinion, there’s a lot of spots in New York that don’t really deserve to be tourist traps. But I feel like Katz’s kind of deserves to be a tourist trap. It’s that good, both in terms of the food and the ambience, and it’s sort of this place in New York history.”