Flood's On Draft [04]
On Draft and it's completely different but also still On Draft
Everything is cooked
My ancestral heritage runs through Sicily, which likely explains my insatiable desire for Italian sandwiches. I consider this a blessing, not a curse.
I’ve had my eye on Salvo’s for a while. It’s an Italian lunch delivery concept that operates out of a home kitchen in Bed-Stuy, serving the neighborhood plus adjacent Bushwick. Salvo’s is an impressively simple, one-man, grassroots operation. He’s making things like prosciutto cotto sandwiches with fresh mozzarella and marinated artichokes; selling jars of sugo di pomodoro; occasionally doing pop-ups with slightly more involved menu items. I’ll tell you this, no matter what this dude is cooking, his food looks fucking great.
On an early fall Friday, I had just made it through my most important meeting of the day when I checked the clock – 11:36 am. This is a peculiar time of day – too early for lunch, but not too early to be thinking about lunch. I could feel my subconscious Italian desires rising, and Salvo’s found its way into my mind. I opened up their IG to a pinned post: “12-2 pm at Rita & Maria every Friday and Saturday!” Indication of a nice little residency, no pre-ordering required, just roll through. The stars had gloriously aligned for my first Salvo’s experience – a sandwich was imminent.
Arriving at the early end of this range felt like the right move. This would ensure I could procure my preferred sandwich from the daily menu: mortadella with burrata and roasted peppers. With a singular focus on sandwich acquisition, I set out at a pace that would be considered a power walk toward the corner Citibike station. I hopped on a silver surfer e-bike and pedaled East.
As I rode down Lafayette Avenue, it felt as though heaven’s gates were opening for me. Not a single red light from Fulton to Tompkins – unheard of. The sun was peeking through cloud cover, gently warming my skin that otherwise would have been chilled by the crisp breeze. I docked my bike in one fluid motion and hoofed it down the final block. 12 minutes door-to-door (outpacing the GMaps estimated 19 minutes), Lance Armstrong-type shit.
Rita & Maria is a neighborhood cafe that feels like Berlin – I mean this in the best possible way in case you’re Berlin-indifferent. It has a rustic, chic, airy feel and a distinct creative energy. It’s tastefully curated, but effortlessly hip. I’ll be straight with you, Rita & Maria is rather inconveniently located, even for a local to the borough and eager explorer. It’s 10 minutes north of the Utica A/C, and 30 minutes on foot from the Bedford/Nostrand G — biking was the only reasonable choice. I’ve encountered plenty of West Village girls who refer to Brooklyn as some Pangaea-like, uncharted land mass, which is always hilariously small-minded. But this was legitimately new territory for me.
At 12:13 pm I stepped up to the counter and placed an iced latte order – whole milk, a little simple syrup. I politely inquired about Mr. Salvo’s sandwich operation, as the Go-4 I’d seen in the Instagram photos was not perched out front. “You just missed him, he took off,” the barista tells me. 13 minutes after the listed start time, the entire thing was over?
“People generally line up around 11:30, and he’s sold through by 5 after, so I’d recommend coming earlier next time.” I consider myself a rather resilient human, and although the very good latte softened this blow, I was deflated. Not because I missed out on a presumably tasty Italian sandwich. But because I realized New York is cooked.
Everything good in this city has been found, and subsequently ruined by wildly overblown hype. No matter how niche, no matter how randomly located, nothing is immune to long queues and early sellouts. Hidden gems cease to exist, and the iconic spots are mostly inaccessible. For a while, it seemed like people were only lining up for stupid shit like circular croissants and gentrified chopped cheeses. But now, it’s apparent that even the deep-cut Bed-Stuy Italian sandwich purveyor is facing demand far greater than supply.
This is all, of course, an exaggeration. But I do feel there’s been a serious cultural shift over the past few years. It seems that good enough is no longer good enough. More people than ever are seeking out the best restaurants and food that New York has to offer — not settling for a good meal, and certainly not accepting mediocrity. They’re traveling far and wide to get the best of the best. The rising cost of dining feeds this fire – if you’re gonna spend the money, you want it to be great. There’s also an unprecedented amount of information easily available to us via the internet that supports decision-making. If you’re routinely making bad restaurant calls in 2024, there’s no one to blame but yourself – and that puts a lot of undue pressure on the whole deal!
There’s an old saying that goes: “You’re not in traffic, you are the traffic.” And it’s something I remind myself of often. I can sit here and complain about lines, and places selling out 5 minutes after opening. But I am part of the reason these places are so damn busy. I am the traffic. And you are too.
Was this Salvo’s sandwich expedition a disappointing one? Yeah. Will I try again another time now that I know how it goes down? Absolutely. This experience shows there are so many people in this city who care about the food they eat — and that’s awesome to me. I’d rather be surrounded by people who give a shit, even if it means standing in the occasional line. Demand will always outpace supply, that’s the state of the industry, and it’s how things work in a city of 10 million. You can choose to be mad at the way things are or embrace it. I choose the latter.
Recently Added
The newest additions to the Flood’s hit list
Diamond Lil Greenpoint
Sooner or later you’re gonna have a hot date lined up in Greenpoint, and when that day comes I want you to be equipped with excellent bars for the occasion. Here’s my pitch for Diamond Lil – take it or leave it, but maybe just take it because it’s free advice and I’ve never steered you wrong.
Diamond Lil is an intimate neighborhood cocktail bar a few blocks off the main Manhattan Ave drag. It has the casualness you’d expect from a nicer dive, but with beautiful design features like velvet booths, a curvy onyx bar, stained glass, and mosaic floors. It’s elegant but very chilled out, which is a combo that I find sets the right tone for an early-innings date. The backyard garden is even a bit more laid back, which is a nice little hang on warmer nights. The cocktails are creative yet approachable, but opting for beer or glass of wine here isn’t out of place at all. If for whatever reason you have an aversion to art nouveau and its whimsical undertones, perhaps do not take this bar recommendation. But otherwise you can roll out Diamond Lil with confidence.
Best Dishes
Some of the best things I ate (or drank) recently
Prik Khing Moo Noom — Soothr East Village, New York
Soothr is one of my most frequented restaurants in New York – it’s a great play in just about every situation. The struggle I often encounter here is pushing myself to try new things – it’s hard to skip over the certified hits like khao soi, jeeb dumplings, and si-krong pad ped in favor of the unknown. On my most recent visit, I had my parents along for the ride, and we went spicy. Prik khing moo noom is a stir fried pork dish in a hot chili herb paste that’ll leave you tingling in all the right ways. It’s pretty wicked, but for reference I consider myself to have a 5/10 spice tolerance and I was feeling fantastic eating this. This discovery, unfortunately, makes future orders even harder – I won’t want to skip this one.
Pastry Spread — Bakery Four Tennyson, Denver
It was a celebratory weekend out in the mountains for my buddy Tyler’s wedding (great guy). But before making the drive out of Denver toward the Rockies, scoping out the bakery scene felt like a good move (it was). This pastry spread at Bakery Four was legit. Lemon zest morning bun, tomato ricotta danish, cherry “poptart,” and monkey bread for good measure. We stashed a few fresh baguette sandwiches for the road as well – a roast pork sandwich is always a good thing to have in your back pocket.
Flood’s Hi-Fi
Artists and records for moving and grooving
Charli xcx — Mean girls featuring julian casablancas & I think about it all the time featuring bon iver (songs)
The Charli xcx BRAT remix album is out, appropriately titled Brat and it’s completely different but still also brat. It’s an incredibly impressive, star-studded release that compliments the original hyperpop record so nicely. Some songs go harder, some scale it back. Some feel like remixes, some feel like new tracks altogether. Two songs really hit for me, and they happen to come back-to-back on the record. “Mean girls featuring julian casablancas” is a smash. It utilizes the piano-driven breakdown from the original song as the focal point and primary rhythm to create a quirky, cheerful tune supported by Julian’s signature distorted vocals. And then we go right into the gem of the album: “I think about it all the time featuring bon iver.” This one reminds me of a Fred Again.. Actual Life 1- type of spoken word, soft electronic, ethereal song. It somehow managed to be even more intimate and personal than the original – Charli’s natural, un-autotuned voice, plus Bon Iver’s high notes result in chillingly special shit.
Get the full Flood’s Hi-Fi playlist, updated regularly on Spotify
Up Next
Places on my radar
Bar Bête Cobble Hill, Brooklyn — majorly due for a revisit to this neighborhood charmer
La Rai Lower East Side, New York — sitting on tiny plastic stools at a Vietnamese natural wine bar sounds like the damn dream
Hart’s Crown Heights, Brooklyn — as a massive Cervo’s fan, I can’t explain how this place has slipped through the cracks