Rhonda, a focus group coordinator with
the gravely voice of a Mafia Don, is on the phone.
"Tina" she rumbles. "Do you do sandwiches?"
"How does one ’do’ a sandwich?" I asked, wondering
what kind of focus group she had in mind.
"Do you love them?" she growled. "Is a sandwich,
like, your favorite thing to eat? We’re looking for total sandwich
freaks! People who would rather eat a sandwich than, I don’t
know what. Eat a 10-course meal at Le Cirque? Get it on with
a hunky stud? Win the lottery?"
"Of course I’m a sandwich freak!" I said with a laugh.
"I can’t get enough of them! Love them! LOVE them! LOVE
THEM!" (Rhonda isn’t a stickler for the truth. I just fill
a seat at one of the groups she books and say, "I love"
whatever I’m being paid $100 to love. She gets her commission,
I go home happy, and the company paying for our opinions, oblivious
to the roomful of liars Rhonda has gathered, is happy, too.)
I’ve attended focus groups with total Dannon Yogurt freaks, total
Oscar Meyer hot dog freaks, and have sided with total Windex
freaks. (We preferred it over generic window cleaners.)
This time (Rhonda would be amused to know), I answered truthfully.
I do love sandwiches. Always have. As a child, I loved toasted
English muffins spread with sweet butter and topped with slices
of ripe tomatoes.
I vaguely remember my first kiss, but the memory of my first
meatloaf sandwich (garlicky with lots of hot gravy) will stay
with me forever.
And, oh, the simplicity of the panini I had at breakfast in Italy
(they "do" sandwiches for breakfast there) – pressed
as flat as a pancake and served hot off the grill: the filling
was one slice of prosciutto and a bit of parmesan. It was a sandwich
that celebrated the bread as much as the filling. It was thin,
rich, compact, elegant – a revelation.
Tom Perez serves a panini at his Le Petit Cafe on Court Street
in Carroll Gardens that reminded me of my first panini in Rome.
(Eat the panini al fresco, in the cafe’s new garden – which recently
opened after five months of renovations that tripled the size
of the cafe.) Perez buys ciabatta bread specially baked with
semolina flour from nearby Caputo’s bakery. The bread is crusty
outside, tender inside and, when pressed, creates a delicate
yet chewy panini.
His panini No. 1, from a menu of 16, sports thin layers of prosciutto,
fontina cheese, mushrooms marinated in vinegar and a touch of
oregano, and a few leaves of arugula. It is that little touch
of vinegar that cuts through the richness of the cheese and prosciutto
and gives the sandwich an acidic spark.
The panini No. 2: roasted eggplant, scamorza (mozzarella made
from cow’s milk), and a smoked prosciutto called "speck,"
was drizzled with a little fruity olive oil. Both panini, with
their perfect balance of bread to filling, make the overstuffed,
knife-and-fork sandwiches Americans are used to seem vulgar.
Brian Karp and Chris Evans, owners of Press 195, a sandwich and
wine bar that opened this summer on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope,
could qualify as total sandwich freaks. Stop in on a Saturday
and you’ll find them behind the grill, assembling and pressing
sandwiches and pitching in when the waitresses get swamped.
Karp purchases his ingredients from small, local purveyors near
his weekend home in upstate New York. That means that the honey
jalapeno mustard comes from the farm of "a nice guy named
Lou," and the maple syrup used in the pesto hails from a
farm in Prattsville.
The menu, featuring 16 pressed sandwiches, offers unexpected
choices like the No. 9: homemade roast pork, queso blanco (traditional
Mexican white cheese), pickled jalapenos, cilantro, red onions
and a roasted garlic spread. This pungent, creamy and spicy Mexican
take on the panini, made with ciabatta from Park Slope’s Uprising
bakery, has big, brawny flavors, yet the sandwich fits neatly
in your hand. The more traditional No. 13, with slices of ripe
tomato, fresh basil, a slice of creamy mozzarella and a dab of
pesto, slightly sweetened with maple syrup, tasted cleanly of
summer tomatoes and basil.
Union Picnic, another summer newcomer, which opened on Union
Avenue in Williamsburg, offers "everything you’d want in
a picnic basket" according to co-owner Aviva Wallace.
Besides fried and rotisserie chicken, Wallace, with partner Suzy
O’Brien, offers lunch and dinner sandwiches three ways: cold,
grilled or as a hero. Union Picnic’s "It" sandwich,
popular with the coffee shop’s hip clientele (the suede jockey
hat is de rigueur headwear here), is the grilled avocado Reuben,
a spin on the traditional Reuben made with corned beef. Everything
– the perfectly ripe avocado, the Swiss cheese and sauerkraut
– arrives hot and melted. It’s a delicious mess: It’s Oscar to
the panini’s Felix. Try it with a glass of fresh squeezed, tart
not sweet, blueberry lemonade.
I’m looking forward to redoing all the sandwiches I’ve mentioned,
especially Le Petit Cafe’s No. 1 with its tangy mushrooms and
salty prosciutto and Press 195’s roast pork No. 9. I’m a total
freak for that sandwich!
Where to eat:
Le Petit Cafe (502 Court St. between Luquer and Nelson streets)
offers sandwiches from $4.75 to $5.75 (.75 for each additional
topping). Cash only. For information, call (718) 596-7060.
Press 195 (195 Fifth Ave. between Union and Sackett streets)
offers sandwiches from $5 to $8. Cash only. For information,
call (718) 857-1950.
Union Picnic (577 Union Ave. between North 10th and North 11th
streets) offers lunch sandwiches ($3.95-$5.25) and dinner sandwiches
($4.95-$7.95). Cash only. For information, call (718) 387-3800.
