When Harry Met Sally… may be considered one of the great rom-coms of the ‘80s, but it’s best remembered for one scene. Yep, that one. It takes place at Katz’s Delicatessen, home to arguably NYC’s finest pastrami. (Although let’s not sleep on Pastrami Queen or 2nd Ave. Deli, off of 3rd, or David’s Brisket House, in beautiful Bed-Stuy.) Meg Ryan’s Sally doesn’t have the pastrami, instead favoring some monstrous OCD concoction she mostly doesn’t eat. What she does have is cinema’s loudest, most epic fake orgasm, all while Billy Crystal’s Harry patiently looks on. But not everyone’s a fan of the iconic faux-O.
Ryan recently did a fun little interview for Interview with Carol Burnett. In a bit teased out by Entertainment Weekly, the chat turned to the Katz’s outburst.
“It’s funny, my son just called me this morning and he’s in New York staying at a hotel that’s right across the street from Katz’s Deli,” Ryan said. “My daughter was here and everybody was on speaker, and they were like, ‘Mom, this is a very unique embarrassment.’”
Ryan added, “He said, ‘You know you can go into that deli and there’s an arrow pointing down to the table where you shot that scene.’” (This is true.)
Ryan has been mostly absent screens for a way too long, but that’s about to change. She teamed up with David Duchovny for What Happens Later, a rom-com about two ex-lovers who run into each other at an airport and proceed to sort out why on earth they broke up in the first place.
What Happens Later hits theaters on October 13. When Harry Met Sally…, meanwhile, currently streams on Max.