Norm Langer and the team at Langer’s Deli are the 2026 L.A. Times Gold Award honorees, recognized for sustaining the welcoming Los Angeles deli his parents opened in 1947 and preserving its labor-intensive pastrami tradition.
Established in 2017, the Gold Award honors people expanding the idea of Southern California cooking. Norm’s parents, Al and Jean, opened the deli; Al developed its proprietary pastrami recipe and twice-baked rye. Cured at Burbank’s RC Provisions, the pastrami is steamed for 2½ to 5 hours, losing 35% to 38% of its weight, then hand-sliced because it is too tender for a machine.
Langer has urged officials to clean up the streets and nearby MacArthur Park. After he said in 2024 he was considering closing unless conditions improved, Mayor Karen Bass met with him days later. The article suggests the warning and response may have been among the factors behind a June surge in drug arrests by LAPD and federal agents and a new $40 million lake-and-park cleanup project. Late last year, Langer pledged to keep the deli open at least through the 2028 Olympics, and likely beyond.
