Why Hoagie Dom thinks Philly is ‘the greatest sandwich city in the solar system’

If you’re a fan of Philly’s sandwich scene, you’ve heard of Hoagie Dom, if not the man behind the moniker, Dominic Rocconi. On Instagram, Rocconi has inspired a following for his sandwich-obsessed musings and cheeky humor. He is also behind the one-man “hoagie residency” at Northern Liberties’ Bardot Cafe, where he irregularly pops up, slinging his brand of carefully crafted, wistful riffs on classic Italian sandwiches.

Hoagie Dom sandwiches are something to behold — that is, if you somehow snag an order, as they sell out within minutes. In honor of The Inquirer’s Hoagie Bracket, we chatted with the fast-rising Rocconi about what drives his passion, why the hoagie is so important to him, and why he goes out of his way to bake his own bread.

The hoagie has a direct line leading all the way back to Italy — I am Italian American, both my parents’ families have come from different parts of Italy, so I feel a deep connection and bond to all of these Italian sandwiches. The Italian hoagie, cutlet and broccoli rabe and sharp provolone, the roast pork and even the cheesesteak. It’s funny to say but these sandwiches are a source of pride. And you know, Philadelphia is the greatest sandwich city in the solar system! For me to be able to carve out my own little place in this town with my sandwich as a prideful Philadelphian … It’s just really awesome to be able to do that. Somebody who grew up eating hoagies and all these different sandwiches — Cosmi’s and Pastificio’s and Angelo’s — it’s just really cool to be a part of that.

Yeah, it always starts with an idea. And you know, that idea could come from anything, like the conversation that we’re having right now, or I’ll be walking around the Italian Market or in Center City, and I’ll jot it down in my digital notepad and I’ll come back to it later when I’m thinking about sandwiches that I want to create for a pop-up. I have a list long of probably 50, 100 sandwich ideas. I’m riffing on all the classics, the chicken cutlet, roast pork, hoagies, obviously.

Sometimes the ideas come from my experiences of traveling abroad in Italy or childhood meals that my Nonna or great-aunt Giovanna made for me, sitting at their table in their kitchen. My experience is directly folded into a lot of these sandwiches. Then I’ll just start to test them out, if they’re feasible, logistically but also an accessible price point. I’ll start testing them out at home, pick up all my ingredients, mostly in the Italian Market, but also sourced directly from providers. From there I’ll say, “OK, like this could use a little bit more acid,” so I’ll add a little bit more lemon to the pesto or sauce — I’ll kind of tweak and go from there. That experimentation will determine, like, do I want to bring this to a pop-up?

Oh yeah, I’m a one-man hoagie band. I get up early to bake all the bread prior to the pop-up, but I also prep everything: the pickled things, all of my sauces. I’m also making sure I slice the onions the way I like, the lettuce — even the cheese grater has to be a certain grater. The front-of-house folks [at Bardot Cafe] have been great, so I can just focus on the orders. I’ve been selling 55 to 70 sandwiches during presale. The first four pop-ups were cutlets, serving stuff like a Calabrian cutlet sandwich and a crispy eggplant Caesar. The next ones I’m going to focus on salumi and cured meat-based hoagies.

I feel connected to each hoagie and when I’m making them, feel like I’m in a championship game, just so focused. I’m somebody who appreciates all the senses: smelling and tasting and touching everything that goes into the hoagie. Even when I’m picking up products, I like to do that in person. Like, I picked out this head of lettuce, I picked out the lemon, I picked the meat. I’m connected to each thing going into the sandwich, and that someone is going to hopefully enjoy. I’m trying to give my best effort and serve people a hoagie that I would eat and make for myself.

Hoagies are just my life — this is what I ate and loved, and the great Italian women in my life, developing my taste buds, that all played a part. I didn’t start focusing on my own creations until I started reviewing hoagies. That was three years ago, when I perfected my cutlet, I made my own bread, which is an ever-evolving process. I still tweak and make it better, but the pop-up is my chance to share.

Yeah, there’s a lot of people I’ve talked to who have given me tips and tricks about baking. It’s very much a testament to effort. I try to achieve a somewhat crusty exterior hoagie roll with a soft inside. Not too chewy, not too dense, like a nice airy open crumb, all from a 24- to 36-hour cold fermentation. If I want to try to improve my bread, I need to keep everything the same and just change one variable and see what that does and take notes to try and understand all the factors that are at play since bread is so fickle. It’s been fun. It’s been challenging. It’s also something that I’ve never really explored until deciding I should make my own hoagies.

I think Philadelphia is definitely the greatest sandwich city in the world. And the reason is that because we have so many great bakeries, all the hoagies in the bracket and on the list all start with incredible bread. Either they come from great bakeries, or bake their own bread like Angelo’s, which is the best in the entire city. Look at all the great sandwiches that you can have, and it’s pretty cool to represent that a little bit.