Rose Lee: So, I'm on my way
to Fiore's House of Quality, which has been an institution in Hoboken, New Jersey, since [1913]. So, they're best known for
their roast beef and mutz hero, which is on "30 Rock." They only sell it twice a week, and people line up for
it for hours on end. So, I can't wait to give it a try and see if it lives up to the hype. Customer: What do I get here? What do you think I get? I get the mozzarella. What do you think I'm gonna get? (laughing) The cold cuts, you
know, it's always fresh. Rose: People flock to
Fiore's House of Quality on Thursdays and Saturdays, year-round, to wait in line for a
roast beef and mutz hero. John Amato Jr.: Some days,
it flies out the door. Some days, it stays a little longer. I mean, you know, the crowd
is ferocious sometimes. Customer: $400 worth of subs. Sent here from Wall Street. Took the ferry straight to Hoboken. We are interns. Rose: The storied Italian deli
has been a staple in Hoboken, just across the Hudson
River from Manhattan, for over 100 years. Fiore's House of Quality
was founded in 1913 by an Italian immigrant
named Alphonso Fiore, who initially opened up
the space as a cheese shop. Years later, the Amato
family came into the picture, which is when John Amato Sr. started working at the shop. John: In 1950, my father
started working for Joe Fiore. Sweeping the floors, making deliveries. Some of his famous people he
delivered to was Dolly Sinatra. Rose: 15 years later, Joe
Fiore decided to retire and sell his business to the Amato family. Today, three generations of Amatos work in the cheese and sandwich shop. Fiore's is the definition of old-school. First off, there's no menu in sight, unless you count the list
of daily sandwich specials. There's also no website, nor
social media of any kind. Here's how to order at Fiore's. First, choose your bread,
of which there's two kinds: round rolls baked in a conventional oven and a longer hoagie-style
loaf baked in a brick oven. You then take your bread
of choice to the counter, where you'll order your sandwich. If you order the roast beef and mutz hero, they'll ask you if you
want gravy on the side or spooned over the sandwich. Keep in mind: The spot is cash-only. So, what makes this sandwich
worth waiting in line for? Well, for starters, it's the star of season two, episode 14, of "30 Rock," "Sandwich Day." Frank Rossitano: And the
dipping sauce, oh, joy! God bless us, everyone! Rose: Another reason is
that Fiore's only sells the coveted sandwich twice a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays. But, most importantly, people wait in line because this sandwich is
in a league of its own. Making Fiore's roast
beef and mutz hero begins with the sandwich's most
important ingredient: the mutz. John: Our mozzarella is the best in town, because we make small batches. We concentrate on the mozzarella. That's what we're known for. We don't want to mass-produce it. Rose: John starts off the
mutz-making by pushing a big wedge of cheese
curd through sharp wire to break it up into smaller pieces. Once the curd is broken up, hot water is added to
begin melting it down. Then, John uses a long wooden stick to mix the curd into the water. Slowly but surely, as John stirs, the mozzarella starts to come together. Once the mutz has a good stretch to it, it's ready to be braided. After the mutz is braided,
it goes into a salt brine, which lightly seasons the cheese. Once I saw the mutz being made, I couldn't wait to get
my hands on a sandwich and taste it for myself. Mmm, wow. It's really simple, you know. There's really not a ton
of ingredients in it. It's just mozzarella, roast beef, and then that au jus sauce
that they put on top. And I just, I think that's really what makes this sandwich one of a kind, is that each and every
flavor in this sandwich tastes delicious on its own, but combined, like, the
bite of the sandwich, with all of the ingredients together, is just a beautiful
marriage of just, like, a little bit of sweetness,
savoriness, saltiness, and it's just delicious. It's so good. I mean, this gravy is so good,
I could take a bath in it. And for people who really like,
I think, a wetter sandwich or something that has more dressing to it, I think dunking's the way to go. It's amazing. Customer: This place is
a blessing and a curse. The best mozzarella
you're ever gonna have. That's the blessing. The curse is when you move away, you're never gonna have
anything like this ever again.
