Named after a Roman street, Via Della Scrofa is the kind of bottega or alimentari you might find in Rome, with a tiny counter selling tiny espressos and focaccia, as well as imported groceries from Italy. “It’s small family-owned joints like this that make New York what it is,” says Gollan. While the rest of the group gets to try the Porcodeddena panini (made with porchetta), I’m getting a Bono: grilled eggplants sweetened with sun-dried tomatoes, with arugula and buffalo mozzarella, in a warm roll that’s toasty on the outside and soft and warm on the inside. The bread is perfect—it’s a rosetta (or michetta), a traditional Roman bread roll. I wash it down with a Crodino, a popular non-alcoholic bitter aperitif from Italy.
Around us, the Lower East Side Arts & Culture Open House, an annual event, had taken over the street, adding personality to our time with its bands, pop-up stalls, and lively crowds. Gollan regales us with stories of owner Giovanni Bartocci, describing him as a real character with “a man bun, suspenders, tattoos, and naturally, a Harley,” and I look around hoping he’ll show up. I ask Gollan why he isn’t eating with us. “I never want to tire of these sandwiches, and if I keep eating them, I will.” The wind picks up and blows over the canvases at an art stall, but the band is undeterred, playing “New York, New York.”
Stop #2: Nishaan
Order: A chopped cheese, but make it desi
An 11-minute walk up 1st Avenue and a few blocks later, we spot our next sandwich spot. A cobalt-blue sign reads Nishaan; bags of rice are piled high along its exterior; and a long line snakes out of what I can only assume is a tiny space inside. Nishaan began as a pop-up at the weekly open-air food festival Smorgasburg and went on to win season 18 of The Great Food Truck Race. While there are other dishes on the menu (elote chaat, mango lassi), it’s Nishaan’s twist on that great New York City bodega staple, the chopped cheese, that many are after: a spice-laden chapli kebab, chopped up on a griddle with peppers and onions, then enhanced with a zingy cilantro sauce and tamarind chutney. When it opened in August 2025, it was one of the most talked-about new restaurants in New York City, which has emerged as a hub for a new generation of Pakistani eateries. “New York belongs to everyone, and so does the sandwich,” proclaims Gollan.
