Faicco’s makes a sandwich bigamist out of me.

I’ve been cheating on Alidoro lately – Faicco’s, on Bleecker Street next to Murray’s Cheese, makes an exceptional and quite cost-effective ($7) hero of their own.  Unlike Walter’s, though, you’ve got to divine the hero’s ingredients yourself, as they are set up to indulge even the wildest and worst sandwich fantasies you could come up with.

Taking Ed Levine’s advice to heart, as well as my conversations with and sandwiches from Walter, from whom I have learned much about minimalist hero formulation, I have divined the following formula for success at Faicco’s:

1. The sesame bread is superior to the standard.
2. House-made meats.  This includes the roast pork and roast beef – there’s ham, too, but I’ve not yet tried it as I feel like it would require a slightly different formulation.
3. No cheese.  I really don’t feel like it’s needed in this context, and particularly not on the beef.
4. Ground black pepper right on the meat.
5. Pepperoncinis provide some of the liquid and all of the heat.
6. A drizzle of olive oil for a little additional grease and flavor.

That’s it!  No lettuce or tomato (though fresh arugula, a la Alidoro, would work admirably here), no mayo or mustard, no Subway sandwich “artists.”  Just you and the peppers and the meats, increasing your coolness together.  Yum-O!