Next Gen Bodegas, Delis, and Luncheonettes
How a group of New York City chefs are preserving and celebrating the city’s sandwich traditions
Sandwiches are a vessel for more than just meats, cheeses, and spreads. They offer chefs an affordable and approachable way to express their creativity, represent their culture, and share personal stories with guests. Drawing inspiration from the city’s iconic delis, diners, and bodegas, chefs in New York are opening up new restaurants, fast-casual concepts, and counter service spots that take the humble, ubiquitous sandwich one step further with outside-the-box flavors, thoughtful sourcing, and a focus on community.
Due Madri
At Due Madri, reading through the menu is like flipping through a yearbook. Each sandwich has a name, a real one. “A lot of the sandwiches are nods to people that are pals of ours or to the folks who have been making them in Rome and Florence for years and years,” says Chef and Co-Owner Jocelyn Guest. “It’s our spin on things, but we are really paying homage to the people who have been doing this for decades.”
Pulling from their backgrounds as whole animal butchers, Jocelyn and her wife, Co-Owner Erika Nakamura, are intentional about the way they source meats and other products for their food stall at Market 57 in Chelsea. “Our instinct is to make everything by hand, which in many ways is a good call,” says Guest, “but if you’re in New York City and you need really good prosciutto, the wise call is to buy it from the experts, which is usually old dudes in Italy, which is what we choose to do.” For items like their meatballs and brisket, though, they “take the opportunity to source from New York State, sourcing humanely and responsibly raised meat,” and utilize scraps in order to be as “zero-waste as possible.”
The Sergio puts these two intentions on display. The sandwich was inspired by a braised brisket sandwich with salsa verde at Sergio Esposito’s Mordi e Vai, which is at “a food hall and market, much like ours, but in Rome—so arguably more charming,” says Guest. For her rendition, she braises brisket with tomatoes, beef stock, red wine, parmesan rinds, tomato paste, oregano, garlic, and mint for four hours. The tender meat is nestled onto Sullivan Street ciabatta with an herby and acidic salsa verde, pickled radicchio, and a garlic aïoli.
Brown Bag Sandwich Co.
Although it may come as a relief to some, leaving the world of fine dining can be unexpectedly daunting. “I think it's tough for fine dining chefs to find their niche after leaving,” says Chef Antonio Barbieri. “Those restaurants are so regimented and organized, and everyone is at the top of their game. You won't find that outside of that world, and that can be scary.” So, when he made the leap and decided to start a project of his own, Barbieri knew he wanted to do something for himself, something that was personal, rewarding, and fun. In 2024, along with his business partner, Gilli Rozynek, Barbieri launched Brown Bag Sandwich Co. in Greenwich Village, where he brings fine dining chops to the bodega-deli format.
“Brown Bag exists to pay homage to all of the New York City delis that came before us. We created a menu based around classic offerings, sandwiches you can find at most bodegas around the city,” says Barbieri. “My goal was to do ones that would stand out a little more than the rest. One way is by making everything in-house.” Excluding the cured meats, Barbieri is marinating, roasting, slicing, stacking, and, in some cases, chopping his deli meats. “It looks very simple to the customer or consumer, and I know that it's simple, but, through my fine dining career, I figured out how to keep it simple [while] maximizing the flavor.”
His chopped cheese, now an off-menu special, is a tribute to New York. Served on a sesame hero with classic ground beef, onions, American cheese, shredded lettuce, and a special bodega sauce, “it's something hearty, tasty, filling, and affordable. We sell 30 a day, but we cap that. We still want people to enjoy it. It's for the people who are following us and know to ask for it.”
Hen House
Chef Antony Nassif, on the other hand, cooks with nostalgic Lebanese flavors and ingredients, but throws tradition out the window when creating new wraps, dishes, and sandwiches for the menu at Hen House NYC in the East Village. “I have pretty wild ideas and like making fun stuff,” says Nassif. “It's my mad scientist lab. It's a shawarma shop and a sandwich shop [and] a Lebanese fast-casual spot.” There are classic shawarmas and platters, a fried chicken sandwich, and less traditional items— like a lamb shawarma birria, Nassif’s take on a crunchwrap, and a knafeh pancake.
Originally from Montreal, Nassif worked in restaurants across the city before launching his pop-up and then opening his brick-and-mortar. The time spent in those kitchens helped him fine tune his approach: “It's bringing those elements from a high end kitchen, different textures and flavors, and putting them into a sandwich,” he says.
“Unless you have big investors or money behind you, you can’t just open up a high-end restaurant. So, you open a fast-casual thing and you do your food.” For Nassif, that means bold flavors and unconventional combinations. His habibi hot chicken sandwich features a spice blend with chiles from all over the globe—including dried peperoncino, Aleppo, kashmiri, and pasilla chiles—as well as cumin, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, dukkah, za’atar, and paprika. After hot oil is poured over the blend, the crispy fried chicken is bathed in the mixture. “You get the Nashville hot chicken thing,” says Nassif, who serves the spicy chicken with a maple-rose water glaze, toum, and pickles on a milk bun.
Salty Lunch Lady’s Little Luncheonette
Providing something new for guests, however, might mean taking a look back. At Salty Lunch Lady’s Little Luncheonette in Ridgewood, the sweets and sandwiches are a way for Chef-Owner Dria Atencio to create community and make people feel at home, the old-fashioned way. It’s called a luncheonette because “it's a place to come and eat,” says Atencio, but you can also “just sit and stare at a wall with a cup of coffee by yourself. The world is this messed up place, and we want comfort and to be comforted. What better place than a neighborhood spot?”
Since she started working in the industry, Atencio knew she wanted to make sandwiches. “I like sandwiches! They are accessible, fun, and unpretentious,” she says. After the pandemic, she started to put the wheels in motion and opened her luncheonette in 2023. “I think what we are doing here is making sandwiches that are really accessible, and people have an understanding of, but making it our own, twisting it or spending more time on one ingredient.” The Chicky does just that. Atencio makes a chicken meatball with ground chicken, sautéed garlic and onions, thyme, parsley, eggs, panko, and salt. The mixture is smashed into a patty, cooked, and hard seared in a cast iron pan where it develops “these jaggedy edges” before it’s tucked inside of a seeded roll with charred onions, Bulgarian feta, arugula, and a smoked paprika aïoli.
“I hope people feel like they are enjoying good food made with care and good ingredients and getting an experience where they feel welcome,” she says. “A lot of old institutions have been closing. So, hopefully there is another generation that can keep that alive.”
