NYT writer Ed Levine is talking about competition for the classic New York Italian hero from the Vietnamese, Puerto Rican and Dominican communities in NYC.

Quick sandwich tips for Toronto: California Sandwiches on Claremont St. (about a block and change north of Dundas W.) for a great Italian sandwich (the sauce!); Oliveira's at Dovercourt and College St. W. for old-skool Portuguese chicken sandwiches; and Banh Mi at Spadina just north of Dundas for tasty, dirt-cheap Vietnamese subs.

Anyway, back to the NYT story (if you can look at the photo of the high-end Vietnamese sub and not drool, you're not fully human):

EW YORK's hot heroes speak many languages. No, not the buff guys in the the firefighter calendar, but those long, crisp and slightly chewy rolls filled with meat or cheese and served hot from the oven or grill. They are working-class sandwiches, which provide comfort and sustenance any time of day or night.

After writing about cold heroes last fall, I intended to limit my treatment of the hot version to the more familiar and beloved hot Italian-American heroes. But citywide wanderings over the last three months have convinced me that two other sandwiches are ready to take their rightful places in the New York hot heroes pantheon. Already on the rise as part of the New York food scene is the Vietnamese banh mi — a toasted baguette filled with pork, pickled vegetables, fresh coriander and mayonnaise. Restaurants here add things like grilled shrimp and grilled mushrooms.

Not so well known outside their communities, Dominican and Puerto Rican establishments in all five boroughs serve a roast chicken hero, complete with dark meat and skin stripped off the bone, yielding a winning combination of salty and sweet, crispy and tender.