One of the most famous characters from Seinfeld is the "Soup Nazi." Like so many show ideas, this was based on one of Larry David's real-life experiences. The character was modeled after Al Yeganeh, a real life Soup Man who owned a soup place in midtown called, Soup Kitchen International. He had a strict set of rules and if you didn't follow them, he refused to serve you. This happened to Larry David and they used the experience for the Seinfeld episode. The original Soup Kitchen was closed for years, but it Yeganeh recently re-opened it at the original location at 259 W. 55th Street. Let's go see if there's soup for us!
Look, up in the air...SOUP!
He changed the name from Soup Kitchen to Soup Man in a nod to the Seinfeld character, even though he sued them over the charaterization of the character. The lawsuit was later dropped, but he got a boatload of publicity, which is all he probably wanted anyway.
There's a crowd out front and no one is in a proper line, why is Al not enforcing his rules? Could he have mellowed out through the years?
The soup's change daily and here's today's liineup.
And of course there's T-shirts for the tourists.
No wonder there's no rules being enforced, Al's not here. She told me he pretty much just manages the place now.
Since there's no place to sit there, I went to a nearby McDonald's, got a drink and sat down.
I got the lobster bisque and a large bowl is ten bucks. Not cheap, but you do get bread and an orange. Okay, let's try it out!
Holy shitballs, it's the best lobster bisque I've ever had! Shortly after I finished a manager threw me out for bringing in outside food! I pointed out that I bought a drink, but since it was empty, he told me I had to leave because it was crowded. I'm finishing this up on the sidewalk. I'm thinking of a new character now, Ronald McDonald the Nazi!
The next stop on this tour of all things Seinfeld is the Royale Pastry Shop, located at 237 W. 72nd Street. They used this storefront for the exterior shot where Elaine and Jerry go to get a chocolate babka cake for a party they're attending. The trip turns sour as they have to settle for a cinnamon babka and Jerry gets sick after eating a black and white cookie. I love black and white cookies and thought I'd stop in and get some photos along with a black and white cookie. I hope I don't throw up!
Oh no, the Royale Pastry shop is now a Jenny Craig! This sucks, big time! I have only one word...Newman!
Well, I won't be denied my black and white cookie! I'll get one in Andy's deli, Jenny Craig be damned!
Ahhh, the black and white cookie!
Delicious! And now...a short story!
My First Black and White Cookie and George Black and white cookie’s are just one of the many things that are somewhat unique to New York City, kind of like egg creams and knishes. The place where I got my first black and white cookie was also a place where I had a small run-in with Jason Alexander, the actor who played George Costanza on Seinfeld.
When I first moved to New York back in 1993, I lived on the corner of 75th and Broadway. A half a block down between 75th and 76th was a little deli that quickly became, “my deli.” My first day in New York, I stumbled in to get a diet Coke and I saw the black and white cookie in a display along with some Entenmann’s cakes and donuts and bought one. After that day, pretty much every day when I got up my routine would be to throw on some clothes and stumble to the deili to get a diet Coke and a black and white cookie. At night, it’s where I got my beer. I became a regular, would joke around with the guys that worked there and it was pretty much the only place I ever bought my black and white cookies, till I moved out of the neighborhood in the fall of 1998.
1998 was not only the year I moved downtown, it was also the year that the final episode of Seinfeld aired on May 14, 1998. Sometime in the summer of that year, I believe it was in August, I walked over to my deli to get a six pack of 16-ounce Budweisers. I wandered in and said hi to the familiar face behind the register—it’s funny, I was in there every day for five years and never knew the guy’s names who worked there and they didn’t know mine, they called me, “boss,” and I referred to them as “pal,” or, “my friend”—and made my way back to the beer cooler in the back.
The deli was a narrow, railroad style space and the aisles were easily blocked if someone was bent over looking at a potential purchase. It always bugged me when someone blocked the aisle. It’s a fucking deli, not a department store. You should know what you want before you go in, grab it and purchase it. And for God’s sake, don’t dwell at the counter, make your purchase and get the fuck out of the way for the next person. There’s nothing I hate worse than aisle-blockers and counter-dwellers.
So I made my way towards the back and some asshole is bent down, at the potato chip stand in the back, blocking my way to the beer. I stood there as this asshole was examining bag after bag and as I looked closer, I saw it was Jason Alexander! He had grown a beard, but there was no mistaking him. I think he was in town doing a play. A woman was standing behind him and I assumed that was his wife. After a minute or two, I coughed and then said, “Excuse me?”
He looked up from his bent stance, looked pained and said, “Yeah, what do you want?”
I think he thought I was going to ask for an autograph or something goofy like that, but I pretended like I had no idea who he was and said, “I want to get some beer, but it’s back there and you’re blocking the aisle.”
He looked relieved jumped up and said, “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Then he looked at his wife and grinned as if to say, “This guy has no idea who I am.” It was kind of funny.
I quickly grabbed the six pack and made a beeline to the register. I wanted to beat him there, the odds are since he was an aisle-blocker, he probably was a counter-dweller as well! Cue the bass line for...now!
I thought it only fitting to start this day of Seinfeldian sights at the place where Jerry was the original master of his domain, his first apartment in Manhattan. The ironic thing about Seinfeld is that it was filmed in L.A. not New York, so Jerry’s apartment was actually on a set in L.A. But they used the address from his first apartment that he lived in when he was first starting out as a standup comic. The address is 129 W. 81st St., so that’s the first destination of the day.
And it's off we go.
Love the subway tiles!
And through the magic of the internet, here we are on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Here it is, 129 W. 81st Street, Jerry Seinfeld's first Manhattan apartment. I bet he didn't think when he moved in here that one day he'd be able to buy the building. And you know what they say about Manhattan apartments, it's all about the location. And that is certainly true here because we are just about a five minute walk to...
I'm going to post a Seinfeld clip to go with each post, I couldn't find the clip of Kramer eating at Papaya Dog, so this is the best I can offer up! See you at the next post in about an hour.
Look, up in the air...SOUP!
He changed the name from Soup Kitchen to Soup Man in a nod to the Seinfeld character, even though he sued them over the charaterization of the character. The lawsuit was later dropped, but he got a boatload of publicity, which is all he probably wanted anyway.
There's a crowd out front and no one is in a proper line, why is Al not enforcing his rules? Could he have mellowed out through the years?
The soup's change daily and here's today's liineup.
And of course there's T-shirts for the tourists.
No wonder there's no rules being enforced, Al's not here. She told me he pretty much just manages the place now.
Since there's no place to sit there, I went to a nearby McDonald's, got a drink and sat down.
I got the lobster bisque and a large bowl is ten bucks. Not cheap, but you do get bread and an orange. Okay, let's try it out!
Holy shitballs, it's the best lobster bisque I've ever had! Shortly after I finished a manager threw me out for bringing in outside food! I pointed out that I bought a drink, but since it was empty, he told me I had to leave because it was crowded. I'm finishing this up on the sidewalk. I'm thinking of a new character now, Ronald McDonald the Nazi!
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