#74 – SCUTTLEBUTT SANDWICH at SALTIE

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.

SADLY, SALTIE IS NOW CLOSED.

According to Wikipedia, a scuttlebutt is a cask used for dispensing drinking water in a nautical setting. Aside from the fact that the food and café have a nautical theme, I can’t quite figure out why the girls at Saltie in Williamsburg used the term scuttlebutt to name one of their amzing sandwiches. Could it have more to do with the slangy use of the word, meaning “gossip, or rumor”?

Either way, scuttlebutt is a funny sounding name and whether or not it makes sense with these particular ingredients, it ended up on Time Out’s list and so I made my way back to Saltie on a Saturday afternoon for some high sea sandwiches. I had stumbled in here last year and absolutely fell in love with The Captain’s Daughter, which even made my own Top 100. And I was excited about being forced to try new items, although I did also order that old standby and it was delicious as usual.

The Scuttlebutt was another major sandwich. It featured Saltie’s famous chewy foccacia bread with a wonderful brown outer crust and a chewy soft center. And in true Saltie fashion, a hint of sea salt on top separates this bread from all the other impostors out there. I can’t begin to tell you how perfect the bread here is. They could put a bunch of dirty seaweed inside and the bread would bring it to life, I’m sure.

But the fillings are much fresher and well-thought out than sea scraps. The ones for the Scuttlebutt supposedly change based on the season, but you can expect a hodgepodge of flavors and textures. In addition to the recurring hard boiled egg, we also got some spicy greens (arugula perhaps?), sweet briny black olive pieces, salty capers, crunchy tangy pickles, crumbly feta cheese for bite, and finally a nice serving of creamy garlic aioli. It was filling and complex, not to mention wonderfully delicious. It could be slightly salty for some people, but I think it’s well-balanced. And who expects a place called Saltie to go light on the salinity? You might just need a scuttlebutt filled with water to wash down this scuttlebutt sandwich. At least that’s the scuttlebutt going around town.

Would Saltie’s Scuttlebutt Sandwich make my Top 100 of the Year? It’s just as good as the other amazing sandwich, partly thanks to their spectacular bread, which earns it a 9 out of 10.