Sandwich Spinoffs: Restaurants Spread Their Sammies

Lauren Bloomberg

Tribeca gets a mouthful at Pane Panelle.

First, there was speculation that the owners of Torrisi Italian Specialties would take over the vacant space next door. Then it was announced last spring that they would indeed turn the adjacent spot into a second location: a spin-off of their lunchtime sandwich concept called Parm. Even better, the lauded chefs teased us with a taste of two of the Parm sandwiches at a kiosk within the walls of Yankee Stadium -- one with turkey, the other featuring a meatball (yes, singular). Well, supposedly the permanent spot on Mulberry Street will be open soon, but Torrisi isn't the only restaurant spawning a sandwich shop.

This past summer, Tribeca Italian restaurant Bar Stuzzichini spun off into Pane Panelle. The focus here is on its eponymous sandwich, a brioche bun stuffed with layers of friend chickpea fritter and ricotta and caciocavallo cheeses, and versions of that sandwich, including one that adds fried eggplant to the mix. It's a tiny takeout window that fills the gaping sandwich void of upper Tribeca with a lot of flavor.

WD~50's Wylie Dufresne and his dad, Dewey, are in the planning stages of Byggyz, a shop destined for downtown Manhattan sometime next year. Last month they gave us a sneak peek at the San Gennaro festival. Their Byggybeef features technologically tinkered slow-braised short ribs that are "meat glued" into a square shape topped with American cheese, a special Asian-inflected sauce, and pickled vegetables, on ciabatta bread.

Also on the haute sandwich trail are the Lower East Side's JoeDoe and Brooklyn's Mile End. According to reports, the former's spin-off will be called JoeDough (har, har), though Mile End won't be playing the name game. Their new location, called Mile End Sandwich, will bring their Montreal-style bagels, and hopefully their chopped liver, into Manhattan.

With all this bread we suppose New Yorkers won't be going on no-carb diets anytime soon.

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