New York is filled with great sandwiches made by great, normal people: the no frills tuna melt on rye at S&P Lunch in Flatiron; the Pho #1 with roast beef from Sunny and Annie’s Deli in the East Village; and the once-and-future chopped cheese at Blue Sky Deli in East Harlem.
But today I want to talk about another kind of sandwich shop. You might be familiar: They’re run by social-media influencers and, in one case, an Oscar nominee. For months, I’ve been fascinated by these new businesses, which have all opened in the last six months or so. Partly because of their relentless fans, but mostly because their food looks quite good. Could it be? This week, I grabbed a place in line. (There’s always a line.)
The TikTok French dip
It’s easy to dog pile on a sandwich that costs $28, requires customers to stand in line and — it has to be said — originates in Los Angeles. But the French dip at Salt Hank’s in the West Village reignited my love for prime rib. The sliced beef is dunked in a meaty jus, then layered onto a baguette with provolone cheese, ultra-caramelized onions and horseradish-heavy aioli, and finally baked. It’s not refreshing in any way, and it’s the exact opposite of what you want in the summer. And yet, it’s all I can think about.
Is Salt Hank a person, a place or a thing? I’ve since learned that the titular Mr. Hank (real name: Henry Laporte) is a friend of the French dip with 2.6 million TikTok followers. He has been making them in some form for nearly seven years, initially drawn to their underdog reputation. In his hands, the French dip steals the show, attracting fans from 11 a.m. (half an hour before the restaurant opens) until it sells out: by 3 p.m. most days. The wait aside, my only complaint is with the ultra-thin fries: Next to the French dip, they look and taste about as exciting as toothpicks.
280 Bleecker Street (Jones Street), West Village
The Silver Linings cheesesteak
When Danny & Coop’s Cheesesteaks — the Coop in question is the actor Bradley Cooper — opened in December, it almost certainly would have been faster to take an Amtrak to Philadelphia than to wait in its lines. Those days are thankfully behind us, and when I stopped in for lunch this month, I was able to walk right up to the counter and order a cheesesteak with a short wait.
Danny & Coop’s is affiliated with Angelo’s Pizzeria, one of the best restaurants in Philadelphia. But unlike Angelo’s, it does just one thing: thin folds of rib-eye steak slathered with translucent griddled onions, creamy Cooper Sharp cheese, and pickled hot or sweet peppers (your pick). Everything is stuffed into a yielding, foot-long sesame roll that soaks up every drop of meat, cheese, fat and grease. The cheesesteaks cost $18, but they abide by the same economic laws that govern the pastrami at Katz’s Delicatessen: Half a sandwich is plenty.
151 Avenue A (East 10th Street), East Village
Mi casa es Cug casa
When I walked into Casa Cugine, I have to admit: I was on the defensive. Here was a sandwich shop, so new its meat slicer hadn’t arrived, opening on a block in Williamsburg that already had two longstanding Italian delis: Emily’s Pork Store, open since 1974, and Anthony & Son Panini Shoppe, established in 1994. Of course, there’s more to the story. The face of the restaurant, the Italian American influencer Danny Mondello, who almost everyone calls “Cugine,” lives in the area, grew up on Staten Island, and his business partner is an owner of Anthony & Son. Phew.
This might be the only non-bodega sandwich shop in New York City that also sells pregnancy tests and Visine eye drops. (All things that Mr. Mondello says he apparently needs in his daily life.) And what of the sandwiches? My favorite so far from the tight menu is the one with sliced salami, sweet balsamic and tangy sun-dried peppers, although I suspect that might change when fried chicken cutlets are added to the menu later this summer. If they look anything like the ones he makes at home on Instagram, I won’t be the only one lining up.
427 Graham Avenue (Frost Street), Williamsburg
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