Tina Solo

Tina Solo

The Pastrami Project

Collage of 12 delicious pastrami sandwiches, with caption "The Pastrami Project."

Summary

The Pastrami Project is a passion project sharing trivia and reviewing some of the best pastrami New York City has to offer.

Every other week during the second half of 2023, I ate and reviewed an iconic pastrami sandwich alongside my husband and some dear friends. In between sandwiches, I researched and shared fun facts about the restaurants we visited or about pastrami itself.

Roles

Brand Designer
Graphic Designer
Researcher
Content Writer
Video Editor

Brand Identity

My goal was to visually translate the essence of the pastrami sandwich: bold, juicy, yet simple and matter of fact. This included leaning heavily into pastrami’s rich history with the accompanying graphic elements, and of course having loads of fun coming up with pastrami-themed color names.

Social Media

Review of Katz’s deli, cover slide: a view of the deli interior. It shows a wood-paneled wall cluttered with photos and signs, and a red door with an emergency exit.
Review of Katz’s deli, second slide. It has Katz’s location, price of the sandwich, and guest names. It also shows a collage of the deli sign, our guests, and some neon signs.
Review of Katz’s deli, third slide. Quotes about the sandwich read: "It has that bacon texture but thicker, almost like a steak. I personally would prefer it to be flakier, disintegrating, but it's very unique. It's still tender, moist, no gristle. - Tina." and "It has a really meaty taste. Very steaky, very savory. That comes through over the spice of any other flavors." - David.
Review of Katz’s deli, fourth slide. Quotes about the sandwich read: "Smoky and flavorful. Definitely moist. But the bread was a disaster. Too thin and wimpy for the heft of the meat. Maybe with a different carved you can manage better." - Nanci. and "It's pretty great that it's been here so long and that they haven't given it much of a facelift. The authenticity feels special." - Dan.
Review of Katz’s deli, fifth slide. Quotes about the sandwich read: "There's so much meat, the most of any sandwich we've had — they should have a bread that can hold it. It's Katz's! They could get their own bread if they wanted. I'm holding them to a higher standard." - David. and "You're not gonna be coming here all the time. It's a 10 as in, come once a year if you live here, or if you don't and you visit, you gotta do it. You can't not come here at least once." - Tina.
Review of Katz’s deli, sixth slide. It lists the score each guest gave across categories for taste, texture, bread, and value.
Review of Katz’s deli, seventh slide. It has the group averages: 8.5 for taste, 9 for texture, 8.9 for value, and 4.4 for bread.
Review of Katz’s deli, eighth slide. It lists our group verdicts: “hearty all around,” “lackluster bread,” and “pay a lot, get a lot.”
The Pastrami Awards, cover slide. It shows a collage of 12 delicious pastrami sandwiches.
The Pastrami Awards, second slide. It shows David’s Brisket House at #12 and Junior’s at #11.
The Pastrami Awards, third slide. It shows Mendy’s at #10 and Katz’s at #9.
The Pastrami Awards, fourth slide. It shows 2nd Ave Deli at #8 and Frankel’s at #7.
The Pastrami Awards, fifth slide. It shows Liebman’s at #6 and Butcher Block at #5.
The Pastrami Awards, sixth slide. It shows Hometown BBQ at #4 and Pastrami Qeeun at #3.
The Pastrami Awards, second slide. It shows S&P Lunch at #2 and Sarge’s at #1.

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Want to collaborate together or commission a project? Have questions or comments about my past work? Just wanna say hey? I’d love to hear from you — reach out below and I’ll get back to you soon!