Last night’s dinner came after a brief (meaning I only browsed a third of the inventory) stop at EAT Records, and was obtained at the Franklin Corner Store, at the corner of Franklin and Huron Streets (one block north of India Street, which is the north exit of the G-Greenpoint stop). Having been anointed Sietsema’s favorite Cuban sandwich purveyor in last year’s “best of” issue, I was somewhat surprised to find that the store came off less as a Hispanic grocery and more as the kind of sandwich shop you’d stop at for provisions on your way to a Cape Cod beach.
The sandwiches are arranged on big index cards taped to the wall – for maximum ease in browsing, as there are more than seventy sandwiches, I recommend picking up the takeout menu. In it, find a mess of named combinations, among them two named after fascist dictators, one named after a juiced former baseball player, and still another that shares a name with the venue for a Rolling Stones show at which people were knifed by bikers on drugs. What the hell?
Nonetheless, I found the Cuban sandwich to be good, if not breathtaking. The usual Swiss cheese was augmented by American, strangely, but the effect (more gooey melted cheese) wasn’t unwelcome. The meats weren’t terribly unique, by the way, but it’s still nice to be reminded (in and amongst the prosciutto cotto) that good sandwiches can be made from Boar’s Head.
I hear there’s a good Cuban at 69th Street under the 7 train. Further investigation required.
Twenty Bucks A Day 