New York Cheesecake: From "Guys and Dolls" Onward

When Nathan Detroit tries to snooker Sky Masterson into a bet on the number of pieces of cheesecake sold the previous day at “Mindy’s” in the musical, “Guys and Dolls,” he says, “You will admit Mindy has the greatest cheesecake in the country?” Sky responds, “Yes, I’m quite partial to Mindy’s cheesecake.” In the years since “Guys and Dolls” first opened, their Times Square area has changed dramatically. Gone is Lindy’s restaurant, for which “Mindy’s” was a stand-in. Oh, there is a Lindy’s, but it’s not that Lindy’s. Gone is the Turf restaurant, Jack Dempsey’s, Hector’s Cafeteria. Not gone is terrific New York cheesecake.

Someone once wrote that there’s no difference between good wiener schnitzel and bad wiener schnitzel. I’ll do a variation on New York cheesecake. In this city where you’re never walking distance or a bus or subway ride away from a piece of cheesecake, I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad piece of cheesecake. I have had cheesecake that was better than others, and that’s what this is about.

Tasting my way through, Junior’s surprised me. Before Junior’s came into Manhattan and went for big marketing it was Brooklyn’s prized possession. I assumed with the changes in the operation the cheesecake wouldn’t be that good. It’s excellent, smooth and creamy, a classic cream cheese-based New York style cheesecake.

An even bigger surprise was the cheesecake from the Carnegie Deli. A few words about the Carnegie. Time was for me and for my friends the Carnegie was our favorite, the best deli. It was in a permanent face-off with the Stage nearby, just as Ratner’s and Rappaport’s did a downtown dairy face-off on Second Avenue. But we loved the Carnegie. No longer. The corned beef and pastrami are ordinary and honestly if you don’t have that you don’t have me. I was also dubious when I looked at the cheesecake offerings, gelatinous-looking fruit toppings, even a chocolate-topped cheesecake. For my money cheesecake should be eaten plain. I ordered a piece, they serve a really large piece, two could share, three could nibble. It was terrific. Creamy, delicious. They have a side business in shipping cheesecakes and they should. Nathan Detroit would have said, “I am surprised to have obtained a notable cheesecake comparable to that of Mindy’s at the Carnegie Deli.”

Does anybody remember Cheesecake Elegante? It was a very rich, distinctive cheesecake that seems to have vanished from the city. The closest to it in my perception is the cheesecake served in the cheese-centric Artisinal restaurant. The Artisinal cheesecake is, however, tarted up with a too-insistent crust and caramel sauce and the cost of a piece is $11.50. You can nearly buy an entire cheesecake in some places for that kind of money.

On the subject of price, on the upper east side Two Little Red Hens sells a cheesecake some people favor and their version is fine. The cheesecake and the tea room shop is, shall we say, effete, compared to the Carnegie. The young woman behind the counter told me with a straight face that an 8-inch cake is $39. $39! You can get an 8-inch cake at Rocco’s (more on Rocco’s in a moment) for $10.50. Which raises the question, Does price matter if you’re a cheesecake aficionado? Well, yes, at that price it matters.

Cheesecake is in the DNA of New York. People are going to have their favorites, the way we root for teams. Eileen’s, D’Aiuto’s Baby Watson, S & S which supplies restaurants, but will ship direct or you can pick up their cake at Zabar’s. You could make a long list and you wouldn’t go wrong. My own cheesecake taste has shifted in recent years from the straight-up cream cheese style to Italian ricotta cheesecake. I don’t have a good explanation. Ricotta cheesecake is lighter than cream cheese style, some of the bakers add fruit specks. Beats me-- I just prefer it these days. Here, too, people have their favorites, Ferrara, DeRobertis, Veniero. Incidentally, file this away. Veniero, although a classic Italian bakery, makes an outstanding pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And so to Rocco’s. Located just west of Sixth Avenue on Bleeker Street with thousands of people passing by each day, Rocco’s is hardly under the radar. For people who care about these matters, to say Rocco’s makes a great ricotta cheesecake is like saying to someone, “Oh, you’re going to France. They have a city worth seeing called, Paris.” A reverse prejudice might even kick in. Rocco’s is so visible on the Greenwich Village scene, its cafe so popular with tourists and locals, the assumption might be the cheesecake can’t be that good. It is. Not only does it look beautiful, it tastes beautiful.

For cream cheese style cheesecake, surprisingly, the Carnegie Deli. For Italian style ricotta cheesecake, unsurprisingly, Rocco’s. Trust me on these picks. It’s better than even money.

The Carnegie Deli, 854 Seventh Avenue at 55th Street, 212-757-2245. Rocco’s, 243 Bleeker Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, 212-242-6031