Sportsmeat

Apologies to the Mets fans, but after my third consecutive ham-and-swiss-on-wheat this week, I started to daydream about some of the more memorable sandwiches I’ve eaten in my life. Listed below, for your enjoyment, are my top five.

5. BLT on Challah, Black Sheep Luncheonette, New York, N.Y.
I don’t even know if this place is still in business, but you have to appreciate a chef who has the beans to put bacon on challah. The bread is sliced about an inch thick, and the mayo has some sort of herb-age going on. Simple but delicious.

4. Meatball Parm, O.I.P., Lewisburg, Pa.
Look, they’re little footballs! The warm, oval bread makes the sandwich at O.I.P.’s. The bread makes everything. You could sit there dipping bread in sauce all day without ever getting your dinner and still leave happy. Oh, and they slice up the meatballs – nice touch.

3. Ham Sloppy Joe, Towne Deli, Summit, N.J.
Three slices of rye, lots of ham, lots of Swiss, lots of Russian dressing, lots of cole slaw… it’s like a summit of world leading ingredients. The Towne D (not to be confused with Lewisburg’s Towne T) makes quite possibly the best Jersey-style Joe. A certain Oldwicker might disagree.

2. Chicken Cutlet Sub, Tony Luke’s, Philadelphia, Pa.
The seven minutes that you spend waiting for your sandwich at Tony Luke’s seem to take even longer than the hour or so you spend in line waiting to order. But the prize – warm, breaded, well-seasoned thin slabs of chicken on a crusty sub roll with lettuce, tomato, and mayo – is worth the wait.

1. Vito’s Sub, Vito’s Deli, Hoboken, N.J.
I like my Vito’s with roasted peppers. You don’t have to get roasted peppers. That’s just something I like to do. Vito’s, like all good delis, is a model of inefficiency. Even though they know tons of people are going to order the Vito’s, they wouldn’t even think of pre-slicing meat. Each sub is made to order, each meat returned to the fridge between customers, even if it’s only going to sit there for three seconds.