TikToks Cugine opens Brooklyn sandwich store,…
This sandwich influencer has gone brick and mortadella.
Danny Mondello, the Italian-American behind @Meals_by_cug has turned his social media model — making chicken cutlet sandwiches and tossing pasta into the air from a frying pan for more than 2 million followers on TikTok and 1.5 million on Instagram — into Casa Cugine, a new sandwich store, market and cafe in Williamsburg.
When he’s not slicing soppressata behind the road, Mondello, 28, personally greets clients from a garden chair outdoors the Brooklyn storefront, his pinky finger, encircled with a gold ring, jutting out as he sips his signature Diet Coke.
“It’s a dream come true,” Mondello informed The Post of opening the store earlier this month on a neighborly Graham Avenue block.
Danny Mondello, the Italian-American behind @Meals_by_cug with tens of millions of followers, has turned his social media model — making chicken cutlet sandwiches and pasta — into Casa Cugine, a new sandwich store, market and cafe in Williamsburg. Brian Zak/NY Post
“You see families, you see the old Nonnas walking down the street. Everybody knows each other,” he stated as he nodded to passersby.
Fans of Cug — short for “cugine,” which is Italian for cousin — are touring from as far as Texas and South Carolina to get a style of viral sandwiches just like the “Hey Toots” with turkey and spicy soppressata; and the “How Ya’ Doin,” with chicken cutlet and broccoli rabe.
“The menu is Italian-American delicacies — everything you want. Panninis, like what they do back in Italy — hot soppressata, provolone, olive oil and oregano. Real simple. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. We just want something that’s good, and not over indulgent,” Mondello stated, noting the store will finally serve heroes.
The Rossville, Staten Island, native labored as a line cook in school in New Paltz and made it large posting cooking videos during the pandemic.
The menu at Casa Cugine contains panini sandwiches like scorching soppressata, provolone, olive oil and oregano, along with espresso and desserts. “We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel,” Mondello informed The Post. Brian Zak/NY Post
Rainbow cookies are a signature at the cafe, along with Italian pastries like sfogliatelle and cannoli. “We just want something that’s good, and not over indulgent,” Mondello stated. Brian Zak/NY Post
When he’s not slicing soppressata behind the road, Mondello, aka Cugine (left), 28, personally greets clients from a garden chair outdoors the Brooklyn storefront. Brian Zak/NY Post
Rachel Kriesel, 23 (proper) from Clinton Hill, took her best good friend, Sophia Ojeda, 23 (left), visiting from Austin, Texas, final Monday for a panini, in hopes of getting a picture with Cug. Brian Zak/NY Post
“Since I’m 18, I have always worked in delis and sandwich shops growing up. It’s kind of where I got the name ‘Cug’ from. Some guy would come in and call everyone Cug,” he stated.
The Casa Cugine space was beforehand home to Cafe Capri, a family-owned espresso store that opened in 1974 and shuttered in 2015. Mondello stored the unique molding from its earlier proprietor, but has also made the store very a lot his own.
A customized gold signal on the espresso counter reads “Reserved for Cug & Ya sista,” while a portrait of Frank Sinatra hangs above a still life of Cug’s pinky ring hand gripping a cigarette.
Rachel Kriesel, 23, from Clinton Hill, took her best good friend, Sophia Ojeda, 23, visiting from Austin, Texas final Monday for a panini, in hopes of getting a selfie with Cug.
The Rossville, Staten Island, native labored as a line cook in school in New Paltz and made it large posting cooking videos during the pandemic. Now, he’s promoting his own branded spices and different ingredients. Brian Zak/NY Post
“Since I’m 18, I have always worked in delis and sandwich shops growing up. It’s kind of where I got the name ‘Cug’ from,” Mondello informed The Post. Brian Zak/NY Post
Casa Cugine is also a feast for the eyes — with Italian-American impressed merch. Brian Zak/NY Post
“I was following his social media and I saw a post about his restaurant and that it recently opened. We’ve both been fans of him for so long,”stated Krisel, sporting a Casa del Cug T-shirt.
“We love his sister jokes. I’m also a Diet Coke fan. We were both really depressed and isolated during the pandemic and we would send each other his videos,” Ojeda stated, of making the journey to get a zucchini eggplant sandwich.
Another customer from afar, South Carolina clothes designer Michael, 35, began following Cug two years in the past and was taken with his Staten Island accent.
“I’ve been here twice,” stated Michael, who declined to give his final identify. He raved about the rainbow cookies.
Customers get pleasure from espresso and pastries at the counter, where a signal reads “reserved for Cug & ya sista.” Some vacationers have traveled as far as Texas and South Carolina to help the favored influncer. Brian Zak/NY Post
Cugine embellished the cafe with a still life of his pinky ring-clad hand, and different homages to Italian-American tradition. Brian Zak/NY Post
“He’s authentic, man. I’m not Italian, I’m Russian — I have no idea about how they should talk, the lingo, the slang. What really made me like his videos was when he would cook in his house, saying a bunch of Italian s—t. The chicken cutlet sandwich looked bomb.”
Mondello informed The Post that he wished to diversify his endurance by having a business of his own offline.
“There’s only so much social media you can do. There’s no long term play for it. It’s very hard,” he stated. “When I’m 50 years old, what am I supposed to be doing? Still flipping pasta?”
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