Last week, Becky Hughes took over the newsletter because I was up to my eyeballs in spreadsheets filled with sandwiches. This week, all that beautiful organization came together in the form of our list of “57 Sandwiches That Define New York City,” a grand survey of all five boroughs through the lens of its most inspired dishes between two slices of bread.
How the sandwich gets made
When the sandwich project was born, I knew the selections had to reflect a few key factors: the city’s history of immigration and globalism, its most iconic institutions (Jewish and Italian delis, neighborhood mainstays), its ingenious chefs and, most important, all five boroughs.
I came up with a list of about 50 leads, then asked our Food staff to share their adds and to highlight any blind spots. We compiled a list of over 100 sandwiches, and after three weeks of scouting, narrowed the selection to 57 worthy choices. From there, our tireless photo editor Gabriel H. Sanchez commissioned three photographers to photograph every one of them.
Because I have a car, I took on the Bronx and Staten Island. (Shout out to Pamela Silvestri, the food editor at the Staten Island Advance, for taking me out to try sandwiches on a rainy Friday afternoon.) But my favorite sandwich was a little closer to home: I haven’t stopped thinking about the vegan lobster roll at Aunts et Uncles in Brooklyn. It proves that necessity truly is the mother of invention, because I need that “lobster” roll made with hearts of palm in my life.
I thought I’d ask my fellow sandwich hunters about which sandwiches stood out to them the most during our delicious journey across the city.
