Posts Tagged “sandwich”

Blue Shirt Cafe recently expanded Eastward into the space between them and Snappy Sushi, probably doubling their total square footage while increasing the dining seating perhaps fivefold. But there’s still not that much cheese in their cheese sandwiches.

I had the Little Italy, with tomatoes, roasted red peppers, pesto, provolone and balsamic on focaccia. I know, it’s not actually billed as a cheese sandwich, but a single slice of provolone isn’t much, and it’s one of the mildest cheeses out there. The tomatoes and peppers were plentiful, maybe even overly generous, and the pesto was mild.  The focaccia was well-grilled but could have been oiled a little more.  An all-around nice sandwich, but nothing super-special, and certainly not the cheese sandwich experience I’ve been seeking.

On the plus side, Blue Shirt is now offering free wifi. Until a worthier cheese sandwich makes itself known, this is a afwully good lunchtime blogging hideaway. And they have their own private label orange soda.  How cool is that?

---

PS, In other insufficiently cheesy news, I’ve just become aware of Jeff Cutler’s blog and podcast Bowl of Cheese which I’m sorry to report is not hardly about cheese at all.  But it’s still worth a look and a listen.  And I’m not just saying that because Jeff gave me a USB coffee warmer from the cyberposeurs at the Cyberposium.

The great Davis Square Cheese Sandwich battle got a little more interesting this week as second-place finisher Blue Shirt Cafe struck back at weakened champion Diesel Cafe.  Diesel had won handily with the Branch Trio, but then took it off their menu, retiring undefeated as it were.  But if you were persistent and lucky, you could still get a Branch Duo.  Now, at Blue Shirt, which by the way is about to expand and double their space, I have discovered a new contender:  Lili’s Lunch.

Officially, Lili’s Lunch is avocado, swiss, cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, and sundried tomato spread
grilled on your choice of bread.  I chose whole wheat and substituted cheddar.  I give Lili high marks for grilling the sandwich and for tomatoes and the salty sundried spread.  In the minus column goes the feeble bright orange cheddar (maybe I should have stuck with the swiss) and as with Granny & Jack, the too-thick sliced cucumbers, which make the whole sandwich difficult to eat.  Blue Shirt also wins on price, with Lili’s Lunch weighing in at under $6 compared to $7.50 or more at Diesel.

Given the difficult circumstances of comparing a sandwich you can get with one that you can’t, I have to call this one a tie for now.  Clearly, more research is required.

“Muffaletta FTW” summed up lunch well enough for a tweet, but I wanted to take a moment to expound and illustrate the deliciousness that is Dave’s Fresh Pasta in Davis Square.  On a near-perfect early autumn day, I met J for lunch at Dave’s.  I had recently visited with agile marketer tangyslice and we kvelled about the cuban there, so this time, with J, we decided to change it up a bit.

We spotted a muffaletta in the specials case, near the cubanos.  How often do you get something like that around here?  Muffaletta is a sandwich (actually, strictly speaking it’s a bread, but the name has come to stand for the sandwich in yet another example of culinary synecdoche) identified with New Orleans and apparently created by some Sicilian immigrants there.  It’s a foccacia-like bread (the actual muffaletta) filled with an olive salad and layers of salami, mortadella, capicola (fill in as many cold cuts as you can handle) and cheese(s).  Like most sandwiches, it’s best grilled.  Plus, that flattens it out to size more likely to fit in your mouth.  Dave sells muffaletta by the pound rather than by the sandwich or the slice, which seems like a pretty good idea to me for most sandwiches.  Too often you get stuck with a lunch the size of your head and spend the afternoon fighting off a sleep coma.  Anyway, here’s the delicious Dave’s fresh muffaletta:

Not to be upstaged by its spicier meatier neighbor, the artichoke sandwich with lemon basil pesto and fresh mozzarella was also on special.  Priced and sized more traditionally, this sandwich felt healthier than the muffaletta but was no less enjoyable. The mushrooms and greens stole the show from the artichoke.

The cafe tables outside of Dave’s fill up quickly at lunchtime and are especially coveted in this gorgeous season.

I visited Sherman Cafe (257 Washington Street) in Somerville’s second square, Union Square, this weekend and had an excellent BLT.  I’ve been an occasional Sherman customer since they opened, and I’ve seen them at their best and not so best, but over the past few months, the place has really pulled it together, especially in the sandwich department.  I was a little worried when Bloc 11 hit the scene that Sherman might suffer, but they’re still a serious contender in the neighborhood.  And an hour of free wifi doesn’t hurt.

The BLT features thick bacon, heirloomy summer tomatoes, and some creamy avocado.  I sampled it with and without the mayo.  Bread was some kind of multigrain.  A light toasting of the bread might be the only thing holding this sandwich back from perfection.

To quote the back of the menu, “Sherman Cafe uses all fresh ingredients, makes most of our menu from scratch, buys local when possible, and tries to keep chemicals off of your plate. We use all natural meats from McKenzie’s of Vermont, milk with no BGH, and our bread is delivered fresh from Clear Flour Bakery every day.”

Other interesting sandwiches on Sherman’s menu include bacon cheedar and green apple (grilled on sourdough) and vermont cheddar with greens, housemade pickles and tomatoes.  And their baked goods are far more kick-ass than those fancy cupcakes you can get not far away.  During the Union Square Fluff Festival, Sherman served up some fluff-enhanced sandwiches, too.  The 2008 Fluff-Off is coming up on September 27th.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Seeking to avoid getting chugged in Davis Square and looking for a new lunch spot, @tangyslice and I stopped at Dave’s Fresh Pasta for lunch yesterday.  Dave’s is a great source for all kinds of gourmet goodies, from wine and cheese to as you might expect, fresh pasta.  They also carry fresh bread, olive oils, sauces and all manner of imported and artisanal goodies.  And they make pretty impressive sandwiches, including rustic sandwiches, panini, wraps and, our choice, the Cubano.

The Cubano is a classic sandwich with many local incarnations, including those from Chez Henri, Sam Lagrassa, Izzy’s Sub Shop, and Lexx.  Julia found a Cubano at Bukowski’s and also offers up a recipe for Chez Henri’s version.

Dave’s fresh Cubano was delicious and generous in size.  We shared one and were pretty satisfied.  The pickles were large and crunchy, possibly house-made.  The meats were tender, and the cheese engaging without being overpowering.  The sauce, wasn’t tangy enough for Sir Slice but suited me just fine, even though a big glob of it oozed through a large air bubble in the excellent bread.

Tangy opines that Sam Lagrassa’s example is the pinnacle of the art, and that if Sam’s is a 10, Dave served up an 8.5.  I haven’t tried Sam’s but am very willing to do the necessary primary research.