#24 – THE PANAMA SANDWICH at TORRISI ITALIAN SPECIALTIES

Once again Time Out New York released their Top 100 Dishes of the year and once again, I’m going to eat my way through every one. And no price point or subway delay will stop me. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100.

I’m truly amazed at how many critics and publications showered Torrisi Italian Specialties with all sorts of accolades last year. I can’t tell you how many times I read that some big critic called owners Mario Carbone and Rick Torrisi the second coming of food.

I do admit that the concept is intriguing: it’s a modest Italian sandwich shop by day and a no-reservations ever-changing prix-fixe dinner spot by night.  And the room is small, cozy, and dressed up with Italian products (like canned San Marzano tomatoes and gourmet pistachios).

The Time Out list brought us here for lunch to try their Panama Sandwich. It wasn’t listed anywhere on their simple overhead menu, but when I asked for it, the disinterested cashier knew what I was talking about and  told us it would be a few minutes. We snagged a hard to come by table and waited and waited and waited. I’m not sure why our meal took so long when everybody else around us were savoring Italian specialties.

Finally, our order came up: the sandwich along with a sampling of their daily sides. We had some spicy broccoli rabe, a sweet and tart beet salad, and roasted brussels sprouts. All were a notch up from your usual Italian sides. No complaints here.

The Panama is simply a turkey sandwich, but with a bit of a kick. Besides the usual turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and mayonnaise, they smear a portion of spicy sauce on the bottom of the crusty bread. It’s subtle enough to not over-power the mild, old-fashioned turkey sandwich, but it gives it that extra bit of heat to compete with your corner deli.

Another thing the corner delis can’t compete with is the house roasted turkey that Torrisi uses. Last year’s Time Out list included a house roasted turkey sandwich (from Douglaston Delicatessen), but I bet the TONY writers have long forgotten about that mediocre incarnation. This turkey is generously brushed with honey, garlic, and thyme before being roasted in a special oven that puts any brine or baster to shame. The result is a juicy, moist melt-in-your-mouth turkey that’s as cared for as if it were Thanksgiving Day. But this fowl is served year round.

The rest of the sandwich disappointed a bit. The lettuce and tomatoes were flat and uninspired. They kept this turkey sandwich in the realm of deli food instead of raising it to heaven where all the critics have firmly put it. I expected some house roasted tomatoes or some special gourmet greens. But apart from that fabulous turkey and spicy sauce, this would have been just another day at the bodega.

But I guess that’s why this place is so worshipped. Because it’s not just any sandwich. It’s a modest, not too fancy lunch with exceptional ingredients and masterful chefs putting them together. I can only imagine what happens at dinner.

Would Torrisi Italian Specialties’ Panama Sandwich make my Top 100 of the year? The turkey itself is exceptional and I appreciated the surprising addition of the spicy sauce. But the rest of the sandwich is nothing special so it can’t get above an 8 out of 10 for me.