Hold the mayo, please, and may I add extra avocado? Think about how many times you’ve requested to personalize your sandwich order.
Barney Brown, a new virtual sandwich shop and delivery service in Manhattan, New York, allows you to customize your sandwich. Build any kind of sandwich via BarneyBrown.com or the digital shop’s app, choosing from a selection of five categories of ingredients: bread, protein, cheese, toppings, and condiments.
Whether it’s a classic Reuben, with pastrami substituted for corned beef, on marble rye; or it’s a healthier variation on a BLT, your personalized sandwich can be created from scratch on the “Create a Sandwich” page, and can be saved to “Your Menu,” with the option to re-order it the next day for lunch. For the more adventurous eater, there’s an option to choose from a gallery of sandwiches created and shared by others, that are filtered by “most liked” or “most popular.”
Barney Brown was created by Baked by Melissa’s co-founder Matt Baer, who below offers his pro tips on sandwich making.
- Source quality ingredients. The key to creating the perfect sandwich is choosing thoughtfully sourced ingredients. All breads, meats, and toppings are garnered from local, regional, and national providers, including Tom Cat Bakery in Long Island, New York, Boar’s Head, and The Pickle Guys in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
- Spice it up. Go for a combination of spicy mayonnaise with pepper jack cheese, jalapeños, and banana peppers for a sandwich that packs a spicy punch. For that next level of spicy, sriracha is the go-to condiment.
- Spread condiments appropriately. A light portion of honey mustard and a light portion of mayonnaise can make for a killer condiment combination. We’ve seen this on several turkey and roast beef sandwich creations.
- Mix and match ingredients. For proteins, take advantage of our half portions. This allows you to build some creative sandwiches, like a ciabatta with half portions of ham, prosciutto, and pepperoni. For these Italian meat combos, I’d recommend mozzarella or provolone as a cheese. Semolina and ciabatta are our most popular breads when it comes to these Italian sandwich creations.
- Know which meats go well with which condiments. Corned beef and pastrami always go well with coleslaw and Russian dressing. Throw any of these combinations on rye bread, and you’re good to go.
To test out the service, we created the “hautest” sandwich, which totaled to about $22, with generous servings of turkey, ham, and prosciutto; Muenster and Brie; toppings of tomatoes, arugula, and avocado; and spicy mayonnaise and spicy brown mustard for a little kick; between rye bread.
The service is available daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and delivers in Manhattan between 14th street and 42nd street, and between the FDR and West Side highways.
