Episode
DMA#50: Aussies in New York Getting Sandwiches with Ben Gollan
- Published
- Jun 20, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3726
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Summary
My drawing board is currently covered in a mix of art supplies and aggressively pungent deli meats. I’ve got a puddle of Higgins ink dangerously close to a towering pastrami on rye, and my entire apartment smells of mustard. Outside my window, a sanitation truck is violently reversing down 9th Avenue. The floorboards are vibrating. On my monitor, looking entirely too relaxed for a man navigating the crazy New York City culinary scene, sits Ben Gollan, a fellow Aussie expat making a go of it in the big smoke. If you enjoy my work and would like to support, please upgrade to become a paid subscriber (only $1 per week) Ben’s the undisputed Sandwich Tour King of New York. He runs a wildly successful walking tour company called ‘A Man and His Sandwich’, where he guides people through the absolute best, most artery-clogging delis in the five boroughs. But the thing that always short-circuits my brain about Ben isn’t his encyclopaedic knowledge of cured meats. It’s his backstory. It’s always deeply comforting to talk to another expat. We spent a significant portion of the hour just being two Australians with thick accents, complaining loudly about the structural inefficiencies of New York City while simultaneously admitting we’d never live anywhere else. We got into the gritty reality of the New York hustle. If you’re an Aussie expat, you know the exact cultural whiplash we’re talking about. Back home, we have this insidious thing called the tall poppy syndrome. If you try something outside the box, people immediately try to cut you down. Ben mentioned that when he goes back to Australia and tells people he runs sandwich tours, they laugh and ask what his real job is. But here in New York? People look at him and say, “That’s a great idea, I bet you’re the best.” The city runs…