Nate 'n Al expands

Nice to see somebody expanding these days. The venerable Bev Hills deli, where Larry King is practically Velcroed to his favorite banquet, opens today at Rick Caruso's The Lakes complex in Thousand Oaks. David Mendelson, grandson of Al Mendelson (who was the one-time partner of Nate Reimer), says they had long thought about a second location. Of course, this creates some interesting competition with Brents Deli, which already has a location in nearby Westlake Village (along with its mainstay in Northridge) - and which some aficionados consider the best deli in all of Socal. Let the pastrami wars begin!