ALL’ANTICO VINAIO: NEW YORK CITY HAS SOME FAMOUS DELIS BUT COULD THIS BE ITS NEW GO-TO SANDWICH SPOT?
The Cost -$19 per person
The Atmosphere – All’Antico Vinaio is a very small, deli-style sandwich shop located on 8th Avenue in the Theater District of Manhattan, just a short walk from Times Square or Hell’s Kitchen. Seating inside is limited to a few not-so-comfortable counter seats so it’s not a great place to visit with a large group if you are expecting to dine in. However, it is a quick and easy place to grab a sandwich to go as long as you avoid the potentially long line.
New York is known for its sandwiches. From Carnegie Deli to Katz’s, the city has been serving up some amazing sandwiches since the late 1800s. Across the Atlantic Ocean in the late 1900s, an Italian family opened a sandwich shop in Florence that quickly earned the love of its residents. That sandwich shop was All’antico Vinaio, and since its founding in 1989 it has grown and expanded to have multiple locations in Florence as well as an outpost in Rome, Milan, and now, New York, where it has set out to establish itself as one of the premier sandwich shops in town.
The Order – La Favolosa, The New Yorker, and La Toscana.
The Fantastic – Despite two of the sandwiches earning the same rating, the New Yorker was definitely my favorite sandwich of the day. A roast beef sandwich with tomato, arugula, and porcini mushroom cream on All’antico Vinaio’s signature schiacciata, a Tuscan flatbread that resembles focaccia, the New Yorker gives you all of that roast beef flavor you want with a porcini cream that is to die for. The tomato tasted like nothing, which was a clear reminder that I was still in the United States and not, unfortunately, in Florence, but the massive sandwich overall was a true delight. At $18, this sandwich is tied for the most expensive one on the menu, but it is truly worth the price, especially because each of the sandwiches is big enough for two not-overly-hungry people.
The second-best sandwich of the day was La Toscana. A generous portion of spicy Tuscan salame with pecorino cheese and a bit of truffle honey on shiacciata, the combination of the flavor of the meat with the cheese and the sweetness of the honey was pure brilliance. The ingredients on this sandwich are a bit simpler than some of the other sandwiches but that doesn’t take anything away from it; in fact, I would argue that the achievement of this much flavor and greatness using so few ingredients is a testament to All’antico Vinaio’s use of the best ingredients around.
The Great – I had high expectations for La Favolosa, a sandwich that has been raved about by critics. The sandwich uses the same Tuscan salame as La Toscana but adds both porcini cream and artichoke cream as well as eggplant, which gives a bit of a caponata feel and taste. While I enjoyed each of the ingredients individually, I thought La Toscana did a better job showcasing the amazing meat and found that the flavor combination really showed off the individual ingredients whereas some of the flavors in La Favolosa got a bit lost in the mix. That is not to say this was a bad sandwich though, just that I would not order it over the New Yorker or La Toscana if you are only going to get to try one.
The Verdict – As it did in Florence, All’Antico Vinaio is quickly winning over the hearts and taste buds of New York City residents and tourists alike. While some might be shocked at the price tag given that the sandwiches can be up to $18 each, the size and generous portions of meat and cheese make this a great value and a must-try for lunch. Make sure you get there on the earlier side though as you never know when this small shop is going to sell out of your number one choice!