Since 1998, the esteemed Peanut Butter & Company sandwich shop has been a peanut-butter mecca for college students (NYU is around the corner) and celebrities (think Jerry Seinfeld).
Imagine 15 unique PB creations, including the Pregnant Lady (peanut butter with pickles) as well as Seinfeld’s favorite and namesake, Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedy Special (a toasted bagel schmeared with PB, a honey drizzle and cinnamon). So when the restaurant’s founder, Lee Zalben, was challenged to devise a new peanut-butter sandwich for every day of the year, he jumped at the opportunity. What resulted were work-of-art sandwiches like “PB&I Do” — a seven-tiered wedding cake with butter-cream frosting — and “Nut n’ Honey in the City,” an homage to New York with vertical honeycombs fashioned to resemble the skyline.
Much deserving of preservation, they were photographed by acclaimed food photographer Theresa Raffetto and styled by Patty White. This week, some of those whimsical images are on display at their very own exhibit the Nutropolitan Museum of Art. Each family attending the show receives a free jar of the nutty stuff.
And better yet, a second jar will be donated to the Food Bank For New York City in their honor. “Peanut butter is a beloved sandwich,” says PB pooh-bah Zalben, who should now be anointed the Warhol of peanut butter.
