Meg Ryan might have faked an orgasm at NYC’s Katz’s Deli in When Harry Met Sally. But hundreds of New York snowbirds spent decades in their own state of bliss at Miami Beach’s Rascal House, which served Jewish comfort food ever since Wolfie Cohen opened it in 1954. It closed in 2008, and diehard fans lined up to score mementos from their favorite corned beef sandwich purveyor. Cream cheese-flecked plastic menus sold for $25 each. The sign with the adage “There are two kinds of people in this world: people who love delis, and people you shouldn’t associate with” went for $250. For those who need to dwell further on the demise of the local institution, catch the Mini Miami Beach Jewish Film Festival at the Jewish Museum of Florida this Sunday. The fest will include four shorts by young filmmaker Aaron Davidson, who recorded the Rascal House’s last day of whitefish, blintzes, and cheesecake. Stay seated for his other films about Beach bastions Abraham’s Kosher Bakery and Goldstein & Sons butcher shop, as well as Davidson’s latest, “Ehruv With a View,” which explores the Orthodox Jewish community’s boundaries in Miami Beach.
Sun., April 24, 2 p.m., 2011