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A collegiate brush with sandwich greatness at foodie mecca Zingerman’s while studying at the University of Michigan spoiled Pete Levin for just about everything else he found when he returned to New York. So, Levin—who also runs Professor Thom’s sports bar in the East Village and works as a cue-card man for Saturday Night Live—decided to take matters into his own hands. The result is this southside sandwich shop that smartly bridges the gap between the once great but now rare old-school Italian hero style and the more modern raised-pinkie panini parlor. All the produce comes from Greenmarket, the breads from Tom Cat Bakery, and the mortadella on the toothsome Jones Road hero from boutique salumi maker Fra’ Mani. The Evil Reuben (smoked turkey, provolone, coleslaw, and Russian dressing on marble rye) is first-rate, too, but Levin’s personal fave is the Pablo Honey, a turkey-and-potato-chip sandwich with a side of dipping gravy that he concocted at the NBC commissary. — Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite

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