Italian Food Ctr   

186 Grand St
New York, NY 10013
212-925-2951
www.www.italianfoodcenter.com

Directions   Email   Send to Cell  

A hero ain't nothing but a sandwich, so the saying goes, and in New York -- home of the hero -- it's truer than it ought to be. Philly has its cheesesteak. Chicago the hot dog. New York, it could be argued, is too big to have an official sandwich; too sprawling to be encased between two slices of bread and slathered with condiments. But in some distant past -- before Nolita, before panini -- if you wanted New York on a roll, there were two basic options: the Jewish deli for corned beef and pastrami or the salumeria for the now-endangered Italian hero. They're still serving the real deal at the Italian Food Center; prosciutto, provolone, mortadella, salami, roasted peppers (with an optional dose of the hots) on fresh-baked Italian bread. Be warned: This is a specialty grocery store with a deli counter. You cannot eat here. But if you're a fan of the Italian hero and you've been disappointed time and again by the feeble offerings grudgingly assembled in pizzerias, you owe it to yourself to make a special trip to Grand St. for one of the last true tastes of old Little Italy. -- Adam Mazmanian