What to Eat

Saltie Makes a Sandwich Almost Entirely Out of Lettuce

Photo: Grub Street

No one has done more for the plight of the meatless-sandwich lover than the ladies of Saltie. On any given day, at least 80 percent of the offerings at the Williamsburg shop can be described as veggie-centric, and yet they’re so rich and distinctive that you barely notice. You might have heard stories about vegetarians who accidentally catch a whiff of some bacon sizzling in a pan, and the next thing you know, they’re making plans to barbecue a whole hog in their backyards. It’s like that at Saltie, only in reverse. The vegetable-averse, if they can be persuaded to take a bite of a Saltie Clean Slate or a Scuttlebutt, find themselves suddenly craving things like parsley or beets or quinoa in their sandwiches and entertaining strange ideas like growing zucchini on their roofs.

Still, when the Underground Gourmet noticed the shop’s latest concoction, called the Romaine Dinghy of all things, we thought the Saltie squad had gone too far. Here, after all, was a focaccia sandwich that consisted of bread and lettuce and not much else. Put another way, it was a sandwich starring what many sandwich eaters consider a disposable garnish. We had our doubts, and who wouldn’t? And yet the bread is fairly oozing with gobs of good mayo. The romaine is crisp and dressed to order with extra-virgin olive oil, lemon, and anchovy, and then piled high as if it were a portion of Katz’s pastrami. Some radish slivers and chives give it a little bite. In short, it’s a BLT without the B or the T, but damn if the dinghy thingy didn’t win us over.

Related: The 101 Best Sandwiches in New York

Saltie Makes a Sandwich Almost Entirely Out of Lettuce