I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens

I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens

It’s a ritual. The counterman sliced the pastrami, piled it between rye and slathered it with mustard. And then he offered sliced pickles. He then prepared my side — in this case, not matzo ball soup, not a crispy latke, but Shanghai scallion oil noodles. This wasn’t Katz’s or Langer’s Deli — it was San Wei, a newly opened hand-pulled noodle stall next to a Chick-fil-A in the Queens Center Mall food court. And this was not some fusion Kung Pao p…