San Matteo Panuozzo

The panino had its run, all smug and neatly pressed and hanging around every hip corner south of 14th Street. It was only a matter of time before the panuozzo—a sandwich made with brick oven–fired pizza dough, native to Salerno—lumbered downtown from San Matteo, the Neapolitan pizza and espresso spot tucked away on the Upper East Side. What's happened is that owners Fabio Casella and Vincenzo Scardino have opened a small panuozzo shop on St. Marks, using freshly-baked bread from the Scardino-built brick oven on the UES to make sandwiches filled with roast pork, house-made mozz, and micro arugula; dry cured pancetta, provolone, black pepper, and artichokes; or mozz, sausage, and broccoli rabe. Like the uptown spot, diners can also finish their meal with sweet and creamy caffe crema.  

See more: East Village restaurants, Italian restaurants, Sandwich restaurants