Sadelle’s Open-Faced Tuna Melt
Chapter 4 — Lunch Bagels
A proper melt is a strict binary of hot cheese and cold salad. This hollowed-out bagel half borrows the inverted technique from Sadelle's in SoHo: flipping the bagel inside-out so the crumb griddles to a buttery crunch while the volatile seeds stay protected from a 500-degree broiler. Built with thoroughly drained tuna, heavy mayonnaise, and the non-negotiable blanket of cheese, it relies on this exact sequence so the Swiss cheese blisters while the center stays cold.
Before you start
Extract the moisture.
Open the tuna cans, leave the lids on, and press down over the sink with maximum force to extract every drop of water before breaking the dry fish down with a fork in a mixing bowl.
Mix and rest the dry salad.
Toss the tuna aggressively with the minced celery, white onion, sweet relish, celery salt, and soy sauce, then cover tightly and refrigerate overnight to draw out residual vegetable moisture.
Bind the emulsion.
The next morning, drain any pooled water from the bowl, then fold in the mayonnaise and black pepper until the mixture is cohesive, glossy, and holds its shape on a spoon.
Drain the tomatoes.
Lay the tomato slices on a double layer of paper towels, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt, and let them sit for 10 minutes to drain—a wet tomato is the enemy of a chewy bagel.
Ingredients
- solid white albacore tuna15 oz
- extra-heavy mayonnaise1/2 cup
- celery1/2 cup
- white onion1/3 cup
- sweet relish1 tbsp
- celery salt1/2 tsp
- soy sauce1 tsp
- everything bagels2 large
- unsalted butter2 tbsp
- beefsteak tomato1 large
- American cheese4 large
- kosher salt1/4 tsp
- black pepper1/2 tsp
Method
- 01
Griddle the inverted bagels.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat, butter the cut crumb of the bagel halves, and toast them butter-side-down for 2 to 3 minutes until they develop a deeply golden, crispy crust.
- 02
Assemble for the broiler.
Preheat the broiler to high. Place the griddled bagel halves crumb-side down on a foil-lined baking sheet so the seeded side faces up, and layer each with a salted tomato slice and a tight mound of the chilled tuna salad.
- 03
Drape and melt.
Cover each mound squarely with a slice of American cheese, ensuring it drapes over the edges to lock the salad in place. Broil for 60 to 90 seconds, watching obsessively, and pull the tray the exact moment the cheese collapses into a glossy, bubbling, edge-to-edge blanket.
Notes
The American cheese mandate.
Do not substitute artisanal cheeses here; the high sodium citrate content in processed American cheese lowers the melting point and creates a homogeneous, highly viscous blanket that seals the tuna salad without breaking under the intense heat.
The oven broiler adjustment.
Commercial bagel shops use overhead gas salamanders that blast intense heat, melting the cheese before warming the tuna through. To replicate this at home, ensure your tuna salad is aggressively chilled straight from the fridge and set your oven rack to the highest possible position.