The Sandwich Diaries

(I know I was gone for awhile but I went on vacation. Sorry for the wait.)

My first gig when I started working in New York City was working in Client Services for Red Car, a post production company, located in NoHo, which specializes in commercials. Because my main duty was to fetch lunches for the many directors and producers that we serviced at Red Car, I became very familiar with all the popular eateries in the area. Once Upon a Tart is the spot that has stayed with me long since I left Red Car.

Located on Sullivan St. (which in the epicenter of what I consider the Foodie Mecca of Manhattan), Once Upon a Tart is a French inspired bakery that, as it’s name suggests, specializes in tarts. It’s hard to miss with its teal awning, benches, and chalkboard sign that list the daily specials. It occupies two spaces that are adjacent to each other, one that is strictly for take out and another that is a sit down café, which is modeled in the style of a Parisian Bistro.

And you definitely feel like you are in a Parisian Bistro once inside the café, with it’s already made sandwiches on display, wire frame chairs, marble table tops, and that I’m better than you because I’m eating here attitude that all the patrons seem to carry. The only discernable difference is that Parisian cafes are notorious for their lingering customers who spend their days people watching and sipping espresso. While at Once Upon a Tart there is a sign to inform you that each table has a 30 minute time limit, which reminds you that even though you’re pretending to be in Paris, you’re still in Manhattan. 

Since all my previous sandwiches were more carnivore friendly, I’ve decided to give my vegetarian readers some love with a Goat Chesse, Portobello Mushroom, Grilled Radicchio Sandwich. I understand that vegetarian dishes in general have a reputation for being tasteless fru fru pansy meals. But when done right, vegetarian dishes can be tastier than any meat lover’s dish. In fact I believe it’s more difficult to make a tastier vegetarian dish and it speaks to the high level of the sandwich crafter’s skill to make a delicious vegetarian sandwich as opposed to making your run of the mill deli dish.

When I asked the girl behind the counter some questions concerning the preparation of the sandwich, she was kind enough to provide me with the Once Upon a Tart cookbook for some answers. The goat cheese (or as I like to call it rich man’s cream cheese) is mixed with Herbs de Provence, which is a dried herb mixture containing rosemary, sage, thyme, basil, fennel, savory and marjoram from the Provence region of France. The Portobello mushroom is simply roasted with olive oil salt and pepper. Radicchio is an Italian red leafed vegetable with a bitter flavor that is slowly gaining a following in North America. All of these ingredients are tied together by a black olive vinaigrette that is drizzled throughout the sandwich.

This sandwich is goat cheese galore from one end to the other. You can see the Portobello peeking out from underneath the mountain of goat cheese. The red leafed Radicchio adds some much needed color to an admittedly dreary looking sandwich. As I hold the sandwich in my hand I can see the black olive vinaigrette trickle down the pile of goat cheese like bleeding mascara.     

Obviously the first thing I notice as I bite into the sandwich is how the goat cheese dominates my palette. The cheese is very fresh and creamy but stops short at being too rich. This can be attributed to the other flavors, which not only mask the richness of the goat cheese, but also brings out its subtle sweetness. I do get a hint of the other flavors, the bitterness of the radicchio, the earthiness of the mushroom, and the saltiness of the black olive vinaigrette, but there is no doubt that the goat cheese is the star of the show.

One gripe I have with vegetarian dishes in general is that although they can be very delicious, they also have a tendency to not be very filling. Which is why whenever I get a sandwich at Once Upon a Tart, I always make sure to get a side salad. Now I know what you’re all thinking, “Why in the hell are you talking about salad’s George!? Goddamnit! This is a sandwich blog!!!” But bear with me. First of all, it wasn’t this sandwich or the tarts that brought Once Upon a Tart to my attention. It was the salads. There are four categories of salads (Bean, Grain, Vegetable, and Potato) at Once Upon a Tart and each day there is a new salad for each category. These salads redefined vegetarian foods for me as something that cannot only make you feel good but taste good as well.

Sure this goat cheese sandwich isn’t particularly mind blowing and Once Upon a Tart does a have a bit of a snooty air to it; but truth be told it certainly hits the spot when I’m looking for a healthy alternative. I don’t come out of this meal not feeling sluggish and ready for nap. Instead I feel light and refreshed, like I just did some yoga. And there is way more to this spot than sandwiches. So if you feel like trying out something different and healthy head on over to Once Upon a Tart. Oh yeah. And there tarts are pretty good too.     

(Again I have yet to get a camera. Please bear with me.)

I first came upon this week’s sandwich while delivering a package to a postproduction facility in the Union Square area. As I arrived to the facility, David Wilson, a sound mixer and father of two from Scotland had just sat down to eat his lunch. David usually maintains a cool demeanor; however, the look in his eyes, as he opened up the paper bag containing his lunch, burned with the fire of anticipation and excitement. He looked like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning.

As David opened up the container that held his sandwich, an aroma that can only be described as succulent filled the room. “What’s that,” I asked mystified. “It’s the Five Spice Glazed Pork Belly from Num Pang,” replied David in his Scottish brogue. He picked it up, closed his eyes, and took a bite. David proceeded to smile and nod his head as only a man in the midst of unadulterated satisfaction would. I began to salivate. I knew I had to have that sandwich.

Num Pang, which is Cambodian for sandwich, is another one of those if blink you miss it type of sandwich shops. Located on 21 E 12^th St, it mainly functions as a take out spot but you can eat your food there by going up an ominous spiral staircase located at the back of the shop.  The stairs will lead you to a room with bar style seating along its red walls and fenced in windows. It so effectively captures the atmosphere of eating at run down South East Asian eatery that I half expected to walk into an underground Russian Roulette tournament ala Deer Hunter.

The hallmark ingredients of the sandwiches at Num Pang are cucumber, pickled carrots, cilantro, chili mayo and a mini French baguette. This style of sandwich is owes its origins to a culinary marriage of cultures due to French colonialism in Indochina. The Pork Belly is cooked over night in Five Spice marinade. Five Spice is originally a Chinese spice mixture that has become prevalent in Asian cookery in general. The mixture traditionally includes cinnamon, cloves, star anise, Sichuan pepper, and ground fennel seeds.

This sandwich is deceivingly small. I guess what most people don’t realize about the sandwiches at Num Pang is what they lack in length they make up for in depth. The pork looks gorgeous with it’s mahogany color and burnt ends. Sitting on top of the meat is a pickled Asian Pear, which looks a translucent slice of juice just waiting to explode. All the ingredients are loosely piled on top of each other and both of the pieces of bread are slathered with the chili mayo. There’s no doubt that this is gonna be a messy sandwich.

I immediately go for the burnt ends, because I know that’s where most of the flavor is in the meat is. The first flavor that hits me is sweetness. That probably comes from not only the sweet ingredients of the Five Spice but also from the juices of the pickled pear and carrots as well. With my next bite, I dig into the pear and the juice bursts all over my mouth. At that moment I look at my fingers and see that they are covered by the chili mayo that is soaking the bread. This sandwich is a messy experience but it’s a fun kind of messy that keeps you coming back for more.

The most impressive thing about this sandwich is how all the ingredients work together in order to enhance the most desirable flavors. For example, I’m personally not a fan of cucumbers but it works perfectly in this sandwich. It serves as a buffer between the mayo and the meat as well as takes away from of the bite from the chili’s so you can appreciate the flavor from the spices. The same can be said about how all the textures work together. The juiciness of the pickled pear off sets the creaminess of the mayo. The science behind this sandwich is a testament to the rawness of the individual ingredients.

And the Pork Belly itself brings this cornucopia of flavor and texture together. It serves as a canvas where each element can leave its mark. The meat itself is tender but is just firm enough that you can feel the give that is the most satisfying part of biting into any good chunk of meat. The Pork Belly isn’t as juicy as I would like, but Num  Pang has a history of being hit or miss when it comes to the succulence of it’s meats. But like I said before, the star of the show isn’t the meat, it’s how all the elements work together to create heavenly sandwich experience.

This sandwich transcends time and space. Eating this sandwich with your eyes closed is like being in the last 30 minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey.  And it’s not just the Pork Belly, every sandwich is great at Num Pang because this shop treats its signature ingredients with the utmost respect, so you are bound to get the same ballet of flavor and texture in every bite no matter the sandwich.        

(I apologize for the lack of photo’s. My Iphone sucked and it did not do the sandwich justice. I will remedy this for future posts.)

I decided to go hard or go home for my first sandwich, The Meatball Sub. Now this certainly is a manly sandwich and it should be approached with a certain level of respect. You don’t want to walk into this meal with a sort of sandwich hubris (a sense of overconfidence that you will walk away from this sandwich encounter unscathed). It is a very filling sandwich and to eat this Meatball sub with anything less than an empty stomach would be a rookie mistake.

Sanpanino, which is located at 494 Hudson St between Grove and Christopher was recommended to me by a coworker who was pregnant at the time so I figured she knew a thing or two about satisfying insatiable cravings. This place is a bit of a hole in the wall and it’s pretty easy to miss if you’re not on the look out for it. It has very simple décor and tiny eating area so it’s mainly meant to be a take out spot. The service is quick and painless and the cashier (who is probably the friendliest customer service representative in all of the West Village) owns the place and looks like Mark Ruffalo.

Now why did I pick this Meatball Sub at all of those available in the city? Well first of all it’s only available on Wednesday’s. Come to Sanpanino on a Wednesday and the line will be out the door. Also this is the only Meatball Sub I’ve had that has a hint of cinnamon to it which was a wonderfully creative touch to a seemingly simple sandwich.

I also spoke to Leonardo Scarpone, the cashier and owner about what makes his Meatball Sub so special. Good meatball sandwiches are hard to find, says Leonardo. Most people go to pizzeria’s and those meatballs are usually frozen and thawed out so the meat isn’t very fresh. We buy fresh meat every Wednesday from Ottomanelli’s on Bleecker St. The fact that it’s once a week always give the customers a guarantee the meat will be fresh.

I asked Leonardo about the hints of cinnamon I’ve tasted in his meatballs and about any other possible secret ingredients that might be in his sandwich. My mother would definitely have disapproved of the cinnamon, Leonardo says with a chuckle. At first we even tried it with raisins but that didn’t go over to well. It was just a little experimenting I did in the kitchen. Also we use a little bit of lamb meat as well.

I promptly get my sandwich and start walking back to my office. I dig my nose into the bag and get a whiff of that savory marinara sauce. It makes me think about that scene in the Godfather when Clemenza teaches Michael how to make sauce. I’d imagine that this marinara smells exactly like that.

As I look at this Meatball Sub sitting on my desk, I ruminate as to how I should approach consuming the sandwich. The marinara sauce is overflowing from the hoagie slit and slightly moistening the bread. The meatballs are packed together with the fresh mozzarella at the bottom of the hoagie slit. Luckily the folks at Sanpanino were kind enough to cut it in half for me. I have decided to eat it from the top down leaving the mozzarella for last. It seems like a simple task but will most certainly require a good deal of sandwich dexterity.

That first bite just tastes like a home cooked meal with your family. It’s comfort food at it’s finest. You can tell that the meat is fresh because it melts in your mouth like butter. The meatballs maintain the same flavor and texture from the surface to the center. It’s a very full flavor. If you’re not looking for it, you can almost miss the cinnamon as its mainly a background flavor that compliments the meat. And I can definitely taste the lamb as it gives the meatballs an earthy flavor that can’t be found in beef.

Enough can’t be said about the mozzarella. It tastes like it was just made right in front of you. I once made the mistake of eating this sub with provolone and although it was still very good, the flavor of the provolone was too overpowering and the subtleties of the cinnamon and the lamb are lost. The mozzarella just sits in the background and adds a creamy texture to an already tender dish. And once you’re done with the meatballs, you’re left some impressively rich mozzarella. Just eating the cheese alone could be a filling exquisite meal.

I am now entering the post meatball sub daze. It is a dreamlike state where the lines of reality are blurred. If it gets to be too much for you just tell yourself “Don’t worry, it’s just the sandwich”.

It’s gonna take a little while before I can go on with my day but it’s a small price to pay for a little piece of heaven. This sandwich deserves its special day. If you ever find yourself in West Village, lost, confused, and hungry, head over to Sanpanino for a little comfort that you could only find in your mom’s kitchen. And this place has got more than meatballs going for it. This sandwich is definitely gonna be making another appearance on Sandwich of the Week.