Great American Bites: Simple sandwiches sparkle at Cutty's in Brookline

• Cutty's mom-and-pop owners are both graduates of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America
• The deli has evolved from a local favorite hotspot into a culinary attraction for the Boston region
• Rather than purely sourcing locally, Cutty's aims to have the best-in-class ingredient lineup

The scene: At first glance, Cutty's looks like any mom-and-pop neighborhood deli on a busy suburban street. In fact it is a local mom-and-pop deli, except that the mom and pop owners are both graduates of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America and both worked at the critically acclaimed Cook's Illustrated magazine – based just up the block in the heart of Brookline, a near suburb of Boston. Cutty's has become a regular favorite of the staff, all the way up to the editor, of what may well be America's most discerning food publication. Then again, it has become the choice of lots of people in Brookline, and increasingly beyond, evolving into a destination and culinary attraction for the entire Boston region. It is only open for breakfast and lunch, and at prime lunch hours there is often a line snaking down the block.

Cutty's occupies a simple space, a glass storefront where you enter and are almost immediately at the counter. The floors are bare wood, and there are just six small tables – most regulars get their sandwiches to go, and you can call ahead. The furthest they go towards "décor" is a huge blackboard listing all the specialty vendors they employ for ingredient sourcing, from Vermont's legendary King Arthur Flour to Bazzini Nuts in the Bronx to a Gouda manufacturer in the Netherlands. The mortadella comes from Verona, Italy, the ham and roast beef from ultra-natural Niman Ranch. Rather than a purely local focus, the goal is the best-in-class for every ingredient. Cutty's won Boston Magazine's Best of Boston 2012 award as Best Sandwich Shop.

Reason to visit: Any sandwich, but especially the Saturday Pork Rabe special, Ham Dijon, Roast Beef 1000, Spuckie and Eggplant Spuckie (old Bostonian for subs) – and the homemade potato chips.

The food: "We wanted to start our own business and both had a lot of experience in the culinary world and restaurant business," said the pop half of the operation, Chuck Kelsey. "We've lived in Boston for a while and there are not many places to get a good sandwich. Then we thought, 'If we can't make a decent sandwich, we probably shouldn't go much further.'"

Rest easy, Chuck: you certainly make a decent sandwich.

The formula at Cutty's is very simple but one few eateries pull off: Source all the finest ingredients, make everything you can from scratch, and put it all together in the best possible way. Take the Ham Dijon sandwich for instance, which sounds deceptively simple with just ham, mustard, butter and pickles on bread. Nothing to it, right? Except that the ham is the intense and natural top of the line, dry-cured "Royale" from Niman Ranch; the mustard is true French Dijon; the pickles are excellent gherkins sliced thin to add their wonderful presence without overpowering. But the real key is the butter: the Kelseys taste-tested myriad versions before settling on the European-style Cabot 83 from Vermont's most famous dairy. The combination of these four simple ingredients is far more than the sum of its parts, it's joy in every bite. And the bread is a baguette baked by a top Boston bakery, which Cutty's gets delivered twice daily because they feel it needs to be served within a few hours for maximum taste.

It's the little touches like the butter that make the sandwiches sing. The bestseller is the Roast Beef 1000, with in-house, slow-roasted roast beef, crispy-fried shallots, sharp cheddar and Thousand Island dressing; but it is the black-pepper brioche roll that elevates it to stardom. Nearly every specialty sandwich is served on a different bread -- from ciabatta to sesame rolls, each carefully chosen to complement particular ingredients. With the exception of the bagels, baguettes and one or two other specialty rolls, all the baked goods, including breads and desserts, are made from scratch in house.

There are just eight specialty sandwiches, plus a small slate of basic choices including grilled cheese, turkey, ham and roast beef built to your specifications. Of the specialties, two are only available on Saturdays, both made with Italian-style pork that is salted for two full days, then roasted, cooled and thinly sliced. The Pork Rabe with broccoli rabe and provolone is Kelsey's homage to Philadelphia's famous Italian pork sandwich, previously covered in this column. But he uses the inspiration as a launching pad for a different take -- skipping the copious wet gravy and serving it on a round roll for a more structured take on its Philly counterpart. This Saturday special sells out every weekend, and many travel here because of it.

Breakfast is just slightly simpler but no less tasty, with a "basic" egg sandwich served on a fresh brioche with optional truffled ketchup or red-eye mayo, plus a few other choices like house-made granola. The deliciously addictive homemade kettle chips – Kelsey tried many different oils before hitting on his secret choice – are surprisingly popular at breakfast and a must-have side at lunch. The other sides are far more sophisticated, unique twists on salads such as wheat berry and beet or peanuts and fennel. The final crowning touch is the simply elegant fresh-baked desserts from sugar cookies to brownies – ultra-rich thanks to first-rate Mexican chocolate – of course.

Cutty's does not have an earth-moving contribution to the sandwich canon, the equivalent of Central Grocery's New Orleans muffuletta, but it is easily one of the nation's best delis and reliably excellent. The owners' culinary expertise is evident in the ingredients, flavor combinations and consistency. If you love a sandwich here, and many do, you will love it just as much the next time you visit.

What regulars say: "It's around the corner from my office – I ate lunch there yesterday," said Elizabeth DeLucia, who works for the non-profit Dana Farber Cancer Institute. "I like the breakfast sandwich on brioche and for lunch the eggplant spuckie. I love the homemade limeade – don't miss it."

Pilgrimage-worthy?: Yes – among the best deli sandwiches in New England.

Rating: Yum! (Scale: Blah, OK, Mmmm, Yum!, OMG!)

Price: $-$$ ($ cheap, $$ moderate, $$$ expensive)

Details: 284 Washington Street, Brookline, Mass.; 617-505-1844; cuttyfoods.com/

Larry Olmsted has been writing about food and travel for more than 15 years. An avid eater and cook, he has attended cooking classes in Italy, judged a BBQ contest and once dined with Julia Child. Follow him on Twitter, @TravelFoodGuy, and if there's a unique American eatery you think he should visit, send him an e-mail at travel@usatoday.com.