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Bread

20 Spring St. between Elizabeth and Mott [map]

I've been to a few cozy restaurants this weekend. Really cozy, if you subscribe to the Manhattan real estate notion of cozy, which of course means that your table is stacked on the table below, and you have to stand on your neigbor's shoulders to eat. Not that this is a problem, especially at tiny paninoteca Bread, in the neighborhood formerlly known as Little Italy. Rumor has it next year the tacky acronym Nolita is being replaced with a symbol; maybe a slice of pizza wearing a Von Dutch hat or an aging rent controller crossing swords with a svelte supermodel type. Needless to say, rents will go up again...

As for the restaurant, starting with bread from nearby Balthazar, and incorporating top quality imported ingredients, balance becomes the shocking and satisfying mode d'emploi in a sandwich arena redolent of Boar's Head banality. Bread's best bet is the $8.50 soup and half-sandwich lunch special, a steal available all week long. Creamy garlic, basil, and pecorino studded tomato soup is a luxe take on the comfort classic, one of the few things I have ever eaten that got better as I ate more, garnished with a tiny slice of ciabatta and a ripe bit of cherry tomato. The tomato soup is always available, and daily specials such as spinach and zucchini may be had as well. Among the delicious and varied panini, traditional italian salume such as prosciutto di parma, spicy capicolla, and aged genoa salami vie for menu space with fresh, hand made mozarella di buffala, grilled chicken and avocado, and perhaps even octopus for those so inclined. Each sandwich is topped with one of many luscious italian cheeses, a condiment like salty olive tapenade, and pressed in a sandwich iron, arriving at the table steamy and moist, with a dash of mesculun dressed in a punchy vinaigrette as a courteous nod to actually eating your vegetables.

Not that hungry? In the mood for a quick snack or a cup of coffee? Sit at the seven seat bar, order a tartine of nutella or tapenade--the same delicious Balthazar bread slathered with your desired spread--and watch the action in the open kitchen. Be forewarned though, Bread is almost always packed from opening until closing, so be ready to wait if necessary. The food is definitely worth a little wait however, so just be patient, have a cigarette, and drink in the dolce vita bonhomie of "the neighborhood."