Willy Corman and Jack August are total New Yorkers, born and raised and still living in and crushing on this crazy city. They went to schools you've heard of if you also went to schools here (Corman, in fact, grew up around the corner from where I lived on the Upper West Side when my kids were little, so they definitely toddled around together at Hippo Playground—IYKYK—back in the late 1990s), and they both studied art in college and met while working at the gallery Zwirner six years ago.
Turns out, though, that despite all of life's possible paths before them, Corman and August really wanted to make sandwiches.
"Four years ago Jack asked if I wanted to open a sandwich shop, and I was like, perfect," Corman, also a gallerist, told Hell Gate. "It sounded manageable. But the first year was spent trying to find a space, and a chef, and money, and nothing was working. Finally we said 'fuck it, let's just do something.'"
So the duo charmed their way into a series of weekend popups in downtown community gardens, all profits going to their hosts, which led to a few catering gigs, and then, miraculously, the perfect space opened up on East 4th Street, with room for seating, a big enough kitchen to do interesting stuff (though they did have to install a new gas line, which took many more months than they would have liked) and a relaxed vibe that can only really be manifested mid-block around these parts, away from the avenues.
Say hello to 20 Blocks, now serving some of the city's absolute best sandwiches. And while Corman and August bring an unmistakable NYC energy, confidence, humor, and style to the place, the kicker ingredient here is chef Griffin Valentine, who cooked at places like Gem Wine and Cove before turning his full attention to putting great things between really good bread.
The menu will be a bit fluid, but at the start 20 Blocks features three sandwiches, all total bangers. I'm not even going to rank them—they're all tied for most delicious.