Fiore's House of Quality

The Allure of Hoboken’s Roast Beef and ‘Mutz’ | Eater NY

"At 414 Adams Street near 5th Street in Hoboken, I discovered Fiore’s House of Quality: the sign outside says 1913 but the shop was actually founded in 1903, John Amato Sr. bought it in 1965 after working there since 1948, and following his recent death it’s been taken over by his son John Amato Jr., an almost royal succession in the Mile Square City. The tightly organized Italian deli—shelves lined with pastas, sauces, taralli, olives, and pickled peppers—has been celebrated for over a century for its homemade mozzarella, nicknamed “mutz,” made fresh daily. There’s no official menu, but every Thursday and Saturday that mutz is used to make a sandwich unique in the metropolitan area: the hot roast beef and mozzarella hero with gravy ($20 whole, $10 half). The roughly two-foot hero loaf (formerly from Dom’s Bakery Grand, now from Amato’s Bakery) is split and filled with thin, generously layered, marinated roast beef that needs no extra seasoning, thick slices of mutz tucked under the beef, and gravy ladled from a water bath—the gravy is definitely not canned and the sandwich maker controls it—producing a moist balance from cheese, gravy, and rare beef that glisters with meat juices; garlic-laden sautéed red peppers are optional. Yes, it’s a glorious mess with no place to sit, so eat it immediately or risk it dissolving into a kind of savory bread pudding." - Robert Sietsema