AlwaysInvestigating: Nine More Great Sandwiches

Arthur Bovino — June 02, 2010

Leonardo Scarpone’s Italian ‘Dagwood’ at Sanpanino.

Love the Robs, and we always look forward to New York Magazine’s epic articles and slideshows listing the City’s bests. But what’s with the numerical widows? This year’s fantastic sandwich list, “Dagwood, Eat Your Heart Out,” appears in print with 51— the online version, 101. And last year’s Most Notable Burgers numbered 82. Don’t our friends at the magazine like round numbers?

A bunch of our favorites showed up, but the heart-sinking sadness we experienced when some didn’t make the list combined with our hatred of widows, compelled us to suggest the addition of another nine sandwiches (in no particular order) to put the list out here on the interwebs at 110. Adhering to the non-burger rules that seem to have been applied to this round-up, we’ve omitted these.

As for the article title, Sanpanino’s Italian Dagwood, while commissioned, could have made the list too.

Another nine great New York sandwiches >>

Featured Dish: Bereket’s Doner Kebab

GutterGourmet — March 04, 2010

Bereket’s Doner Kebab with the works.

It is late at night. You’re on East Houston. You stroll past Yonah Schimmel’s Knishes, then by Russ & Daughters. You stagger in the door, and tip the counter man who slices the perfectly spiced meat and overstuffs a sandwich for you. The bread disintegrates, unable to contain the mountain of meat inside. No, not Katz’s Romanian influenced pastrami on rye, I’m talking about the Doner Kebab on pita at Bereket Turkish Kebab House.

The lamb-beef fusion is covered with hot sauce and cacik, a Turkish yogurt sauce, which is runnier than its thicker Greek cousin, tzatziki. The meat, which is only a little bit thicker than prosciutto, absorbs their flavor the way pastrami soaks up Jewish deli mustard. The countermen expertly alternate the meat with tomatoes and onions inside the grilled pita before applying the red and white sauces.

The Turkish Doner is distinct though similar to the Greek gyro and the Middle Eastern shawarma. Basically they all involve lamb and/or beef rotated on a spit with the roasted meat sliced by hand and stuffed into pita bread with various vegetables and condiments. Perhaps if we set a long enough table and served all three (and threw in some Jewish pastrami for good measure) we could bring peace to the Middle East, or at least a helluva party to the Lower East Side.