Premier Diner in Commack: A sandwich by any other name

I stopped for lunch at Premier Diner in Commack, one of the spiffiest, gleamingest, bustlingest on Long Island. I always find it immensely relaxing to sit at a diner counter watching the servers on their appointed rounds. So contented was I that I didn’t even get annoyed at my lunch, which the menu called a Cuban sandwich panini.

First, it didn’t bother me that they were using the plural “panini” to describe a single sandwich (a panino). It didn’t bother me that instead of the hot, dense, oozing amalgam of roast pork, sliced ham, pickles and cheese, that this one was overstuffed, overpickled and slightly sweet due to the inclusion of glazed ham. A true Cuban sandwich is made with a cheap hero roll that achieves greatness when it is pressed. This one was on a ciabatta roll that would have raised Fidel Castro from his sick bed.

Well, maybe I was bothered just a tiny bit. But I guess that’s what you get when you order a Cuban sandwich panini at a Greek-owned diner.

Premier Diner is at 690 Commack Rd., Commack, 631-462-1432.