My Hero!

Distinguished food fanatic Ed Levine takes on the topic of heroes - the kind that comes with a roll, rather than a drumroll - in this week's Dining In, Dining Out section of the NY Times. His five borough tour even includes a few spots in Carroll Gardens, not too far from my hood:

BROOKLYN BREAD BAKERY 436 Court Street (between Second and Third Places), (718) 403-0234. Vincenzo Ruggiero is a publishing vice president during the day. After work he and his wife, Karen, head to their spanking new cafe, which serves fabulous heroes on Royal Crown bread.

CAPUTO'S FINE FOODS 460 Court Street (between Third and Fourth Places), (718) 855-8852. Joseph Caputo makes sublime cow's milk mozzarella and may be the only person in New York to make his buffalo milk mozzarella out of curd he imports from Italy. The sandwiches here would achieve perfection if only the bread were a little better.

He also raves about the infamous Soho Sandwich Nazi at Melampo:

Condiments and dressings can make a huge difference on a hero, but they cannot redeem a bad one. Sliced tomatoes add nothing to a hero unless they are perfectly vine-ripened tomatoes like the ones Alessandro Gualandi puts in his superb mozzarella, basil and tomato hero at Melampo in Greenwich Village.... Dressings deserve a few words as well. The presence of oil and vinegar in a hero often leaves the customer with soggy bread, and too often the vinegar is so cheap it lends the sandwich an unwanted astringent, sour note. I stand for just a drizzle of olive oil across the top of the sandwich, or a light coating of the transcendent caper vinaigrette Mr. Gualandi makes at Melampo.

What's in it? "Herbs and spices," he said, and would say no more. It is so good it can be eaten with a spoon.

I have to agree with Ed on this score. And, I'm sure that sandwich lovers young and old will concur - with their mouths full.