Everyone knows where their favorite sandwich shop is, how long it takes to get there, how long it takes for an order to be finished. It’s the place where you can almost taste your sub while you’re listing all the toppings.
The tiny sandwich shop with a big reputation on Palm Beach is
a fairly unassuming place with a simple name: the Sandwich Shop at Buccan. As it implies, the name comes with a heavy reputation to uphold, because multiple James Beard Award nominee Clay Conley owns this little shop next to Buccan and Imoto.
And like the offerings at its loftier relatives, taking that first bite makes you pause and then dive back in for another bite.
Building the best sandwich means using the best tools, and layering flavors like layering bricks. The Italian sandwich ($13) is a good example. On the fresh baguette is mortadella, salami, ham, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickled peppers, which supply a little heat and a lot of flavor. The balance between bread and meat is crucial, and this time, the harmony is perfect—one of the best Italian subs I’ve ever tasted.
There are hot and cold sandwiches, salads, sides and drinks (alcoholic and non). The prosciutto sub ($14) with pesto spread, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and arugula is another well-built mouthful. Well, many mouthfuls that spread to having leftovers. (The portions are generous.)
The shaved vegetable salad ($12) includes paper-thin zucchini strips, carrots, cherry tomatoes, mixed baby greens and a beautifully mixed white balsamic vinaigrette. The dressing is effective when drizzled on the Italian sandwich, too. The hot Cuban sandwich ($11) with pit ham, pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and a nicely tart-ish mustard aioli is a worthy contender but doesn’t match the Italian sandwich’s five stars. While the meat is tender, the bread top-notch and the aioli memorable, the combination just misses having an authentic flavor.
This Sandwich Shop just moved to the top of my list, and the Italian concoction is calling my name again.
This story is from the July/August 2020 issue of Boca magazine. For more content like this, subscribe to the magazine.
