😴🇮🇹 Don't sleep on this North End spot

It’s Tuesday, Boston.

💬  Boston Bravoholics, this is your Super Bowl: The Red Sox must’ve heard about Emily’s bachelorette party, ‘cause Aug. 1 is Bravo night at Fenway. Yes, Tom Schwartz will be there. And yes, your ticket comes with an iconic hat. There are still some seats left for ~$70. 

💥🎟️ Also: LAST CALL for our flash sale! Tickets to Best Day Ever, our party in Southie this Saturday, are 50% off until 11:59 p.m. tonight. Grab yours here before the deal ends! 

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Vote-by-mail reminders

• New South End pasta spot

• Coldplaygate’s marketing masterclass

Up first…

TELEPHONE TAG

Your fav sandwich’s fav sandwich

It looks like a primo beach day … which makes us want a FAT sammie real bad. For this month’s small biz telephone tag, we asked Boston’s iconic sandwich spots where they get the best sandos.

Here’s what they said:

🥪 Cutty’s wants a breakfast sammie from Sunny Girl. You know it’s a truly great sandwich when “you get a little sad after you [finish] it,” said Charles Kelsey, Cutty’s chef and co-owner. He calls Sunny Girl’s sandwiches “artistry,” with top-shelf ingredients and flavors that “turn your head.” His go-tos? The TikTok-famous egg sandos or the (pre-’98) Italian with mortadella and burrata.

🥓 Sunny Girl wants a chicken caesar wrap from Dovetail. For Sunny Girl's chef/owner Jesse Rosen, the formula for a killer sandwich = fresh bread + simple, high-quality ingredients. “It doesn't need to be … some insanely artisanal thing,” he said. “Just simple and good.” And Dovetail’s gorgina sandos fit the bill. “Everything is delish,” said Rosen. His absolute fave is the chicken caesar wrap with confit chicken and herby croutons. Bonus points if you eat one on the adorable patio.

🇮🇹 Dovetail wants a tuna sandwich from Salumeria Italiana. A great sandwich is all about the right ratios, according to Dovetail’s co-owner Kari Cooney. And Salumeria never misses. Although it’s a North End institution (think: everyone’s speaking Italian and meat is cut-to-order), this spot tends to fly under the radar. It’s hard to go wrong, but Cooney’s go-to is the Italian tuna sandwich, which swaps mayo for olive oil and gets loaded with pickled veggies. “It’s just delicious,” she said.

💔 Salumeria Italiana left us on read (sad!), so we went down the street to Table Mercato. Boston foodie TikTok already knows all about Table Mercato’s massive focaccia sandwiches. And we’re happy to report that the TikTok girlies didn’t lead us astray (it wasn’t named Boston’s best sandwich for nothing!). The TABLE sandwich is algorithm-approved, but the Roman with stracciatella and prosciutto is a sleeper hit.

🐟 Table Mercato wants a tuna sammie from The Big A Malden. When your job revolves around Italian sandwiches, you’re not exactly craving prosciutto on your day off, said Table Mercado owner Jen Royle. But she does crave Big A’s “life changing” tuna sandwich. It’s big, cold, has the right amount of mayo, and when she eats it, she feels like Bethenny Frankel in her viral chicken salad sandwich reviews. “[Bethenny’s] like ‘oh, this one's davoon,’” Royle said. “That's how I feel like I am with my tuna.”

TOGETHER WITH TD BANK

Stretch your dollar (and your legs)

💳🌍✈️ International travel sounds expensive… until you’re sipping $3 wine at a cafe in Portugal and wondering why you ever paid $18 for a spritz. Exchange rates matter — and with the U.S. dollar stretching more in some countries than others, choosing the right destination can make all the difference. From surprisingly affordable sushi in Tokyo to $2 cortados in Mexico, here are five countries where your dollar does the absolute most. 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🗳️ Voting by mail in this year’s primaries? Read this. Boston’s primary election is on Sept. 9, which means if you’re planning to vote by mail, now’s the time to apply for your mail-in ballot. Here’s the deal: To make things easier, the city is automatically sending applications to everyone’s door, which you’ll need to fill out and get to City Hall by Sept. 2. But if your address isn’t up-to-date with the elections department (you can check here!), you won’t get yours. In that case, update it ASAP and fill out the app online (or one of these other ways). 

🥵 “It’s been too long since Boston’s last heat wave” — literally no one. But whether we like it or not, Boston is under another heat advisory through Wednesday, marking the third time this summer the city’s seen a three-day stretch of 90+ degree temps. The worst of it is coming today, with a high of 97 degrees that’ll feel more like 101. But Wednesday won’t be much better, with “feels like” temps nearing 99. Our advice: Stay inside and crank the AC, or find a creative way to beat the heat. 

⚾ The count for Fenway’s concession workers: 1 strike - 0 new contracts. After a weekend of hitting the picket line for higher wages and protections against automation, there’s still no new contract in sight for Fenway’s concession workers. While some fans obliged the union’s request to avoid purchasing food in the park, it was business as usual for many others, and the park brought in replacements to man the stands. As for what’s next, if things aren’t hammered out soon, the union said the strike could continue.

🍝 This new pasta spot is taking over our IGs. Enter: Capri, the South End’s newest spot for steak and pasta. It only officially opened on Monday, but you wouldn’t know it from our Instagram feeds, which are currently flooded with moody shots of its cozy, retro decor, massive outdoor patio, and … rigatoni alla vodka. The menu is the lovechild of a traditional Italian spot and a steakhouse. Think: Burrata, meatballs, pastas, filet mignon, and mashed potatoes. Make a res here.

QUICK QUESTION!

🗳️ How are you planning to vote in the primaries (“I’m not” isn’t an option <3)?

ONE LAST THING

Coldplaygate’s marketing masterclass

Astronomer may be down a CEO, but its PR team is KILLING the game. The tech company involved in the recent Coldplay kiss cam scandal that broke the internet is trying to move on … in the funniest possible way. 

The tech company’s account posted a video where Gwyneth Paltrow (the ex-wife of Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin) introduced herself as Astronomer’s “very temporary” spokesperson, and answered a few cheeky FAQs.

“We’ve been thrilled that so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation,” she said. “We will now be returning to what we do best — delivering game-changing results for our customers.”

You can watch the whole thing here. 

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

💋 Thanks for reading! We’d say this PR team isn’t getting paid enough … but at a data workflow automation company, they probably are.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, TD Bank, for supporting local journalism and helping travelers spend wisely.

📵 The results are in: 63% of B-Siders said they’re all for locking cell phones away at concerts … although one reader made one very relevant point: “All for it, but ... without phones, would we have gotten the gift of [Coldplaygate]?” Fair!

🎵 🛍️ Don't forget to grab your tickets to Best Day Ever, our Aug. 2 food, music, and shopping bash at Artists for Humanity!

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].