[MUSIC - Luscious Jackson: Citysong]

Kousha Navidar: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Kousha Navidar in for Alison Stewart. Listen, it has been a scorcher in the city, and for a lot of people, if the temperature is high, cooking over a hot stove sounds about as appealing as getting stuck on a crowded F train with no air conditioning.

What do you eat instead? For many, the answer is a sandwich. Now, while some people may go for the simple PB&J or grilled cheese, others like sandwiches that take a little bit more time and effort, but some might want to outsource their labor. Then the question is, where can I get the best sandwich in the city?

Katie Honan is, by day, a government and politics reporter for THE CITY, but she has another passion and it's sandwiches. For about 10 years, she's been trying to find the best. She even has a map that she has curated as a guide on where to get the top sandwiches in the city. If you're listening right now and you have a favorite sandwich in New York, we want to hear from you. Where is it? What do you like about it? Give us a call, send us a text. We're at 212-433-9692, that's 212-433-WNYC.

What's your order? Do you want the crust on or the crust off? Do you stick to classics or something a bit more elevated? Give us a call, hit us up on our socials as well. We're @AllOfItWNYC. Like I mentioned today, we're joined by Katie and we're getting the insider info about where to get the best sando. Katie, welcome to All Of It.

Katie Honan: Thanks for having me on to talk about my-- I guess I am passionate about sandwiches.

Kousha Navidar: Well, I am also passionate about sandwiches, so you're in good company. You have a sandwich map guide. Can you tell us how you started this?

Katie Honan: Yes. To be honest, I did this in 2014 and I have no memory as to why. I posted it on my Facebook page, which I guess I was more active on in 2014. The cross-section of friends I have, it's a much broader cross-section than maybe I have from Twitter, which is maybe just more people who care about government and politics. I just asked where people's favorite place was to get a sandwich in New York City.

I got such a big list of places, random places, people told me their favorite sandwiches, and a lot of under-the-radar places too, so I just put it on this map and it became this self-adding thing. More people reached out to me to tell me, "Oh, why don't we get this place? Why don't we get that place? There's a lot of different options," and I just keep adding to it. I forgot I did it 10 years ago. I forgot how long ago it was.

Kousha Navidar: 10 years is a while. How have you seen the list evolve? Besides just the volume of options that you have collected, do you see certain types of sandwiches popping up or trends or anything? How's the list grown over the years?

Katie Honan: Well, the list has grown randomly, and I think you see new places. I was trying to clean it up this week because a lot of these places have unfortunately closed. That's been an issue and it's sad to go through. I didn't take them off the list. I just wrote close. Maybe I'll change the icon to it, but you just see the trends in what people are looking at.

I think based on when I first made the list in 2014, it was maybe more traditional sandwiches, traditional deli sandwiches, your parms from within the parm culture of chicken parm, [unintelligible 00:03:31] plant parm. I wrote a big story last year about a rare artichoke parm. These have been added and it comes in waves because as soon as I post it, people-- and New Yorkers, as we know, New Yorkers are very territorial and they do know a lot.

As soon as I share the map, what people want to see is, "Okay, does she have my favorite spot?" If I don't, they tell me, "You got to put this place on. You don't have enough of one part of the city." I try to make it a broad sandwich list. The New York Times this week released a sandwich list. It seemed it had, to me, lacking a lot of outer borough picks, not enough Queens. I'm a Queens person, so I'm always going to think there's not enough love for Queens.

A council member said, "You don't have enough Bronx places." He gave me some suggestions, so I'm always open to suggestions. I will add, I don't think I'm a food critic, so if you tell me the sandwich is great, I'm going to trust you. If other people disagree, that's not my business because I'm not the one eating it, so I try to be much [crosstalk]--

Kousha Navidar: You're just the platform. You're the platform for the sandwiches.

Katie Honan: Exactly. I'm not here to say this should be on or off. If you're telling me this is a place where you go for sandwiches, I'm going to trust you.

Kousha Navidar: You mentioned the artichoke parm sandwich. That's in Brooklyn. You wrote an article about it. Where do you get it? Is that your top sandwich, you'd say?

Katie Honan: That's a hard question. I get it at Mama Louie's in Prospect Leopard's Garden. It became this obsession of mine to figure out its origin, and why it's the only one that I've ever seen across the city. Someone asked me this too, what my favorite sandwich is. I can't say which one it is because I think there's different sandwiches I want to eat at different points in my life, at different points in the day.

There's different circumstances in which I want to eat different sandwiches. There's some sandwiches I end up eating a lot that I wouldn't even call my favorite sandwich. It's just the closest one to work, so it's a very difficult question to ask. The artichoke parm, which I simply call "the sandwich," it does hold a very, very special place in my heart because of [crosstalk].

Kousha Navidar: Listeners, what Sandwich holds a special place in your heart. I'd love to hear from some folks in the outer boroughs, as Katie was saying. If you've got some Queens love, we're here for that. Give us a call, send us a text. What is your favorite sandwich? Where is your favorite place in the city to get a sandwich? We're at 212-433-9692. That's 212-433-WNYC. Got a caller, Elliot, Jersey City. Hey Elliot, welcome to the show.

Elliot: Hi. Thanks for having me.

Kousha Navidar: Sure.

Elliot: Speaking of Queens, I wanted to shout out Cherry Valley in Whitestone. It's a rite-of-passage place for kids who live in Queens. They're known for their fat sandwiches. My favorite sandwich is the TCS, which stands for the Chicken Sandwich, [laughs] so pretty simple, but it's definitely one of my favorite go-to places when I'm in Queens.

Kousha Navidar: Nice. Elliot, thank you so much for that call. Cherry Valley, shout out. Katie, have you been to Cherry Valley before?

Katie Honan: Yes, I have, and I've been there at different point. I think in college I went to St. John's, so that was a big spot. If someone had a car, we'd go. Like Elliot said, it's very well known for its big sandwiches and it's one of these iconic Queens places for these large sandwiches. I will say I had a really good sandwich in Jersey City a couple of weeks ago at Cangiano's Marketplace, so shout out over the river, the other river.

Kousha Navidar: Oh, it goes back and forth. That's great.

Katie Honan: Yes [laughs].

Kousha Navidar: We're all New Yorkers here. We're all generally, [laughs] yes.

Katie Honan: We're all in the region.

Kousha Navidar: We're all in the region. Some texts I want to read. "Be At One is the Turkey number four, and Depanneur in Williamsburg." Okay. Then another one that says "Waldorf chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread, Sunac Natural Foods in Market in Hell's Kitchen, but go there early because those sandwiches go early." We've got another one that says "So many great sandwiches at this Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn spot. Try double-smoked bacon, broccoli rabe, tomato, and lemon mayonnaise." I don't know what that place is. I think that's left off the text. If you sent that text, tell us where it is.

Then, of course, we've got here roast beef on rye with coleslaw and Russian dressing. Those all sound so good. Listeners, if you have a favorite sandwich or a favorite place to get a sandwich in New York City, give us a call, send us a text. We are here at 212-433-9692. That's 212-433-WNYC.

We're talking to Katie Honan, who is a reporter for The City and has made a very comprehensive 10 years running list of the sandwiches you can find in the city and the surrounding area.

Katie, I'm wondering, there are certain sandwiches that scream New York City, bacon, egg and cheese, big old flocks. Is there any sandwich that you feel like is just New York through and through?

Katie Honan: I believe it's Brancaccio's on Fort Hamilton Parkway that that text came from. I know that menu, that order, especially the double-smoked bacon, so I believe that's what the reference was, a pretty well-known spot. There's a couple of iconic sandwiches. It's odd I find some bagel combinations in my brain. I don't consider a sandwich, but I think the parms within the parm culture, I mentioned earlier like a chicken parm, eggplant parm, meatball parm, obviously, the rare artichoke parm, sometimes a shrimp parm here you'll see, I think that is.

Of course, New York is such a diverse place that you get into. Would you consider some West Indian type of sandwiches is like a doubles, would you consider that a sandwich? I don't know if you would, but I think that's a category on its own, but yes, I think I'll stick. Then that classic Italian hero. I also think, when I think of a New York City, and this is maybe also very outer borough Jersey, long Island specific, but you go to a graduation party and they have a couple of six-foot heroes, you have the classic American, and then you have the classic Italian.

Now Delis will do I had six-foot heroes for my birthday party a couple of months ago, and they do all different kinds. They do a veggie, but I think of that too, like the pre-sliced big hero that just whittles down throughout the day.

Kousha Navidar: It's also the communal aspect of what you're talking about as well.

Katie Honan: Exactly.

Kousha Navidar: It's like it is a sandwich as much as an experience. Not to get too metaphor-like, or philosophical, but yes, it is very New York City, I think.

Katie Honan: Like I said earlier, it's hard to pick my favorite sandwich, but I know the circumstances in which I always enjoy eating a sandwich, like at the beach. I went to the beach this weekend. I made some big sandwiches, come into fours. Sharing it with friends at the beach after you've been swimming is a really great feeling. For those of us who are 21 and older, after you've been maybe out late drinking, a sandwich at two o'clock, three o'clock, whenever in the morning, that sandwich is a very special sandwich.

Even the romantic idea of maybe the first sandwich you cook for someone you like and maybe want to get to know better. What would you make for them? Years ago, there was a woman who was told if she made a certain number of sandwiches, she'd get an engagement ring. I don't mean like that, but in this active generosity and love in trying to make a sandwich for someone, I think. I like that idea of it as well.

Kousha Navidar: Katie, let me follow up on one part of that. It's 2:00 AM. You're out. You're feeling good. You're feeling like you need a sandwich. What sandwich is that for you?

Katie Honan: I allow myself once a year, in this circumstance, a bologna and American cheese, mayo mustard on a Kaiser roll. I don't want it in the daytime. Go out and buy a bologna sandwich. I don't know if that seems very-- At 2:00 A.M, 3:00 AM, 4:00 AM, whenever, that's it. Growing up, there were some delis that I would go to in particular that I would go get that.

Kousha Navidar: You're speaking my language. I love bologna and I will stand by that forever. For the other one, sandwich you're making for somebody you love, what sandwich are you making?

Katie Honan: It depends on what they want, but I do an Italian combo. I like making maybe a grilled chicken and putting that on-- It really depends on what they're looking at. I like to see what's fresh. I'm not a vegetarian, but I've made veggie-forward. I'm sorry to use that phrase. That sounds-- A very vegetable prominent sandwich depending on what's fresh and that kind of thing. I like to listen to people about what they're into and what they want to eat, and then go from there.

Kousha Navidar: Listeners, we're talking about the best sandwiches in the city, best places to get sandwiches, and sandwiches that you love. We're here with Katie Honan, who is, by day, a reporter for THE CITY, and every other time, especially during lunchtime, a lover of sandwiches, as am I. We're talking about the best sandwiches. If you have a sandwich that you love, give us a call, send us a text. We're at 212-433-9692.

Quick public service announcement. If you're texting us, we cannot get links that you send us. If it is a link to a place, we won't see it pop up on here. Do us a favor, write out the place where you to like get your sandwiches. We'll be sure to give it a shout-out on the air.

A few texts that I would love to read. One says, "The Reuben sandwich invented at Reuben's and features pastrami. What's more than great deli?" Another one says, "At the moment, vegan deli in Bed-Stuy has a phenomenal bacon, egg, and cheese. All their meats, bacon, sausage, pastrami, turkey, ham, are made in-house and are outstanding." Another one says, "The Rat Pack was the best Italian hero, the Michelin star of sandwiches." Another one just says, "Love Cubans. Love Cuban sandwiches." Let's go to Howard in Forest Hills. Hey, Howard, welcome to the show.

Howard: Hi. How are you? I used to eat all the time, Vietnamese sandwiches, banh mi sandwiches. I love them. The place I used to go, I don't know if it's still open, it was on Grand Street or Mulberry. If not, it's easy if you Google Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches you could find. It's the best of both worlds, France and Asia's refreshing and delicious.

Kousha Navidar: Wonderful. Howard, thank you so much for that call out, banh mis. I love them too. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we are going to take more of your calls. We're going to talk more about some of the great spots in the city to get sandwiches. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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Kousha Navidar: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Kousha Navidar, in for Alison Stewart. We're talking about the best sandwiches in the city. If you've got a sandwich you want to give a shout-out to, or if you have a question about a specific sandwich, where you can get it, give us a call, send us a text. We're at 212-433-9692. That's 212-433-WNYC. We are getting a lot of calls, a lot of texts.

I want to talk a little bit about a question that somebody has just put in our text. It says, "Where can I get the best fish sandwich? I have a flounder banh mi sandwich on my mind this morning." This is from Blue Davis in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Thank you so much for that. I'm here with Katie Honan, who is reporter for THE CITY and has compiled a wonderful list of sandwiches that's been going on 10 years strong. Katie, you hear that? Fish sandwiches, any suggestions that come to your mind?

Katie Honan: It's funny he mentions the banh mi, the caller earlier mentioned it. I think the place he's referring to, it's still open. Anyway, there is a banh mi that I've gotten before from a cart on Broadway in Liberty Street Lower Manhattan that has a sardine banh mi. When I think of fish and chip there, you get your traditional fish sandwich and that kind of thing.

I'm going through the map to see if there's any in particular, but I know I've had the sardine banh mi. I've never had a flounder banh mi. I'm sure there's some places, or even if there's a restaurant maybe, that has, I think of a fish restaurant like London Lennie's, which is in Rego Park. They might have one on the menu, and those kind of things. A flounder banh mi does sound very good. I've only had the sardine one.

Kousha Navidar: If anybody out there listening has a suggestion for a flounder banh mi, or a fish sandwich, in general, I would love to hear it. I'm sure Katie, you would too. Give us a call, send us a text. We're at 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692. We just got a text that I think, Katie, you'll like. It just says, "What sandwich is in the Rockaways?" I think you'd be pretty good to answer that question. What do you think?

Katie Honan: I will say, my middle-of-the-night sandwich eating usually is happening at Pickles & Pies, which is a 24-hour deli that I have been going to for probably longer than I could legally drink. That's a late-night spot. I do like Boardwalk Bagel. They have good sandwiches. Especially, it's right by the ferry for people going to the beach. I will say, when I'm Rockaway, I try to make my own stuff just for a money-saving endeavor.

Those are probably like Boardwalk, a lot of the bagel shops. There's also a Rockaway Bagel on Beach Channel Drive that has good sandwiches. The former 101 Deli, which is no longer worth. This is where I really got into sandwiches. They had Tuesday special, Thursday special, different specials, and that kind of thing. If you're coming on the ferry, definitely-- Again, I don't know if we're counting burgers as sandwiches, but Goody's, which is in Arverne, has really good burgers. You get into the theoretical idea of what a sandwich is and that kind of thing.

Kousha Navidar: That is a pertinent question. We're not going to go into it here, but we have done a segment before on whether-

Katie Honan: It's complicated.

Kousha Navidar: -a hot dog is a sandwich, and we had a lot of opinions. Callers, we are now taking those comments right now. We just want to hear what you like in a sandwich.

Katie Konan: It's heated.

Kousha Navidar: It is very heated. Hopefully, like the hot dog would be if you were eating a hot dog. Some more texts. We've got, "The egg sandwich with pork floss at Bird & Branch in Manhattan is amazing. The egg is scrambled like a fluffy cloud, with soybean chili oil, cube-high mayo, ginger, garlic, sauce, and a soft brioche bun. So good and Asian-owned. Yay." Jenny Acosta from Jackson Heights, thanks so much for that.

We've also got chopped cheese in the Bronx. We've got [unintelligible 00:18:11] banh mi, and we've got an open-faced heirloom tomato sandwich. Any good fresh baked bread cut thick with thick slices of tomato, mayo, salt, and pepper. Simple summer, goodness. We've got a caller I'd love to bring out, Acacia in Greenpoint. Hi, welcome to the show.

Acacia: Hi. My favorite sandwich is a very stereotypical Italian-American sandwich. Has all the meat, some veggie, and peppers, and balsamic vinaigrette. It's currently the best at Anthony & Sons in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, but it used to be at Graham Avenue Meats and Deli. It's a really good, really great, stereotypical Italian-American sandwich because the former owner of that deli went to jail for racketeering. It was on the front page of The Post and everything, but it's still the best sandwich. They took the recipe and you can order the same sandwich, spicy or sweet, Anthony & Sons, currently.

Kousha Navidar: Anthony & Sons. Thanks so much, Acacia, for calling in. We just got a text about fish sandwiches, so I want to call it out. Says, "Hot fish sandwich at The Commodore in Williamsburg. The Commodore in Williamsburg seems to have a good hot fish sandwich." Shout-out there. Thanks, listeners, for trying to help us find the best fish sandwiches in the city.

There's another text here. I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into, but I'm going to trust that I'm going to read this. It says, "Yo, Kousha, ask them about Sunny & Annie's." Katie, Sunny & Annie's. Anything that you are familiar with with Sunny & Annie's?

Katie Honan: Yes. I got a shout-out my colleague and friend, Gwynne Hogan, who introduced me to Sunny & Annie's. She brought a sandwich from Sunny & Annie's to work, to our press room in city hall a couple months ago, and she was like, would not--

Katie Honan: She insisted that I have a bite of it, so I did and it had a curry dressing on and it was amazing, so I'm familiar because of Gwen. That place she told me and I've been there since and it's really amazing. It's also on the map. I think they have a lot of creative, really like unconventional sandwiches and combinations there.

Kousha Navidar: There's a follow-up text to it that says, "it's an encyclopedia of sandwiches in a Korean deli on Avenue B. I hesitate to put people onto it, but they got a know." Isn't that always a classic dilemma there? You've got something great. How much do you want to share it? Thank you so much for that text coming out. Let's go to Joshua in Gowanus. Hey Joshua, welcome to the show.

Joshua: Hey, long-time listener. First-time caller.

Kousha Navidar: Welcome.

Joshua: I got to tell you about the chicken salad sandwich at Winner in Park Slope. I never liked chicken salad before this. I never wanted chicken salad before this. It is the perfect chicken salad sandwich. I get it every time.

Kousha Navidar: Hey, sorry Joshua, are you there?

Joshua: I'm here.

Kousha Navidar: Oh, wonderful, thanks. Sorry, I thought that I lost you for a second. The chicken salad sandwich from Winner Park in Park Slope. That's wonderful. We've also got some more texts here. Thank you so much for that call, Joshua. We've also got Pisillo Italian Panini. There's two locations in Manhattan. It's the best. Oh, here's another one. Delicious fish banh mi sandwiches at 536 on West 36th near 6th Avenue. That's great. Okay, so we're looking at trying to fit in as much as we can. Katie, I'm going to ask you just a few rapid fires. What's your favorite sandwich to make at home?

Katie Honan: Based on what the caller earlier said, this time of year, like a sourdough tomato and mayo on two fresh--- you get fresh tomatoes, but at home I like making my own tuna salad too. Sometimes I don't like getting it at a deli because I don't know if it came out a big tub or how old it is, but I like making a tuna salad. If I happen to have good fresh cold cuts, I'll do that. Turkey American, lettuce, tomato, boom, simple on toast.

Kousha Navidar: What's the best sandwich for someone who doesn't really love them? Very quickly. First-time sandwich lover, what would you say, bologna?

Katie Honan: I think some people don't like cold cuts. The idea of it freaks them out. If you want to hit them with some fresh turkey or fresh chicken or whatever, if their dietary restrictions, if they don't eat meat, you could make a pretty good veggie sandwich. I think bread is very important. Bread plays such a pivotal role in a sandwich, maybe even more than what goes in between.

Kousha Navidar: What's your go-to bread? Very quickly.

Katie Honan: I like sourdough. I like the ciabatta. I try to make my own focaccia at home, but it has varying degrees of success, but then just a nice Italian hero from the deli, like a Semolina or white seated Italian hero it seems to be the go-to.

Kousha Navidar: Wonderful. Well, we really appreciate you hanging out with us, and for everybody listening, thanks for your suggestions. We hope that you got some good recommendations that you're excited to try. Katie is a reporter at THE CITY and a sandwich lover. Katie Honan, thank you so much for hanging out with us.

Katie Honan: No, thanks for having me on.

 

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