Posted by alexb on Thursday, June 1, 2017 in Blog posts.

If you have spent any amount of time in new york, you already know that deli sandwiches are the cornerstone of a new yorker’s budget meals. Especially in the suburbs, everyone has their favorite deli. But there are undoubtedly some that are better than others. When I was in high school, there was a deli next to my school that had the best chicken cutlet sandwich known to man. Everyone has their allegiances, but I have found a new one: Caseificio Borderi. While in Siracusa, I decided to do some research on the best cheap eats for lunch there. Most places had 100 or 200 reviews, but there was one with 3000 reviews so I knew that if it was this popular, I had to check it out.

When I got there, all I saw was a swarm of people around this one tent-like structure. As I got closer, I saw one man putting on a show. He was making some of the most interesting deli sandwiches. The combination of fresh sicilian products and his mastery of the art of sandwich making was what made this the best sandwich I have ever had.

While I was waiting for an hour on the line to get one, the man would give the customers free tastes of fresh cheese, salami, beer, and anything else he wanted to give away. It never really felt like I was waiting on a line because I was just watching and trying to learn how this man made these beautiful creations.

Each sandwich was similar, but prepared slightly differently every time. When getting a sandwich here, you don’t order anything specific, you just say the meat you want and he puts whatever else he wants on there.

What I love about this deli is something that is applicable to many places in sicily; you blindly trust the professional and expect that it will be good. This happened with my haircut and and several other restaurants so far this trip.

In america, people seem to be a lot less trusting when paying for a service. They want to know what they are paying for, which is understandable, but this limits the chef’s artistic freedom. What was so cool about this place was that they ask you 2 questions — do you want everything on it and what meat do you want — and the rest is left up to the master chef. Especially with picky eaters, trust is often difficult to obtain; however, i believe that we need to learn from some of the best Italian restaurants and trust their expertise more.

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This is a video of him making one of his sandwiches: https://youtu.be/zdqT0sBd2So