Law-Wiches Volume 1

Roughly one year ago I had a discussion with the then Director of Career Services at Osgoode.  I had recently sent her a copy of my Curriculum Vitae and was meeting her for a mock-interview for the O.C.I (On-Campus Interviews) recruitment process. When I got there, the first thing she remarked was:

"I noticed you referenced creator of  'The Great Canadian Sandwich Blog' in your interests section. Is this something you REALLY want to convey to corporate law firms"

I responded
"Well, I'm pretty sure I couldn't work for a law-firm that exhibits an inherent anti-Sandwich bias".

Throughout the recruiting process, my conversations with lawyers were EXTREMELY Sandwich-oriented. One of the most frequent questions was: What's the Best Sandwich near Bay Street. Luckily for me, I managed to snag a job at a terrific firm on Bay Steet. Over the course of the summer I challenged my Sandwich Taste Buds and I now present to you:

LAW-WICHES - A Survey of the Financial District's Tastiest Sandwiches:

Entry #1 - Osgoode Hall Dining Room

Within my first week as a summer student, I was taken on the obligatory tour of Osgoode Hall.

In addition to creating a great deal of location as to the location of the Law School I attend, Osgoode Hall also houses: The Ontario Court of Appeal, the divisional division of the Superiour Court of Justice, the Law Society of Upper Canada and what will be focused on for the purposes of this blog, the Osgoode Hall Dining Room. 

The dining room is run by the Law Society and feels sufficiently lawyerly. Unfortunately, its Sandwiches are more  1st-year associate rather than equity partner.

I ordered a Club Sandwich and was woefully underwhelmed with the result. 

Although the Sandwich was visually appealing, this only contributed to my later disappointment.  The Turkey was dry. The Cheese was underwhelming. The Bread was overly-toasted which gave an extremely unpleasant mouth-scraping sensation. The Bacon was sufficiently smoky but felt overcooked.  The only thing I actually enjoyed about this was the fresh tomatoes.

Also at $16 bucks, I'm pretty sure one needs to bring their Sandwich A-Game to a much higher level than this tepid, uninspired Club. While several of my dining companions thoroughly enjoyed their sweet potato ravioli, clearly the Sandwich did not, on a balance of probabilities, satisfy this court of Sandwich Jurisdiction I feel that this Sandwich could/should be the subject of a complaint under s.23.04 of the L.S.U.C Guidelines - "the prohibition against Sharp Sandwich (bread) Practice".

Overall Judgment: 4/10 Opas.

Entry #2: Petite Thuet 

Petite Thuet is Celebrity Chef Marc Thuet's attempt to bring the patisserie concept to Downtown Toronto. Featuring delicious baked goods such as classic Macrons  (fancy french desert or colourful mini-hamburger... discuss), tasty shots of espresso and of course

SANDWICHES:

The Sandwiches, as seen above, are prepared in a centralized locations, briefly thawed in the microwaved (to bring it to room temperature) and then perfectly grilled on the Panini Press resulting in a criss-crossed of Sandwich near perfect symmetry.

Over the course of the summer I visited Petite Thuet and enjoyed many of their Sandwiches.

My summer selection included but was not limited to

Chicken w/ Provolone, Speck and Pesto (also seen above)




Roast Beef w/ Saurkraut and Swiss on Pretzel Bread:

Comments:

• Although pre-packed, these Sandwiches taste INCREDIBLY fresh
• Fantastic bread
• Great Content/Topping pairings
• Very reasonable price for locale (10 bucks gets you a Sandwich and salad) 
• No ability to customize, for those Sandwich connoisseurs who NEED to have some element of control 

Overall Judgment:
9/10 Opas

I think this place was probably my favorite Sandwich destination within the Financial District. Also there are more locations in Rosedale, Bath & Eg and the St. Lawrence Market District, so you don't need to be on Bay St to eat like you are.

Entry #3 - Pumpernickel's 

Pumpernickel's is primarily known for their deli-ish offerings as well as some decent catering.

While there was a bustling Pumpernickel's in First Canadian Place where my office was located, I preferred the more relaxed location in the TD Centre.

I only went for a Sandwich of theirs once, a VERY serviceable Philly Cheesesteak:

Comments: 

• I was extremely impressed with the crusty roll. It held up PERFECTLY to the cheese-steak. Definetly a better roll than the ones' offered at previously reviewed Reggie's and my cheese-steak goto Great Steak and Potato. 
• The beef was clearly the same beef that was used in the roast beef feature. As a result it was tender but far too thick and chewy for an authentic cheese-steak experience. This was the biggest 
• The cheese, stringy mozzarella, melted perfectly but didn't A) add the flavor of provolone or  B) The Gooey creaminess of Whiz 

Overall Judgment: 7.5/10 Opas 

Canwiches' New York Trip Vol 4(1) - Cleaning out my Sandwich Closet

Sometimes writers block, even for a only quasi-serious Sandwich blogger, requires extreme forces in order to break through.

In this case it took a bad cold, 2 doses of cough syrup and an urge to move on before my memories fade.

So without further delay, I present to you the rest of my NY Sandwich Trip


1) Entry #1 - Second Ave Deli:

The recently re-opening of the 2nd Ave Deli, no longer famously located just off "3rd avenue", led to a major sigh of relief for NYC Deli lovers. While lacking the international clout of Katz's,2nd Ave Deli throws down classic NYC deli meats along with the rest of the Ashkenaz classics that frequent readers will now occupy a special place in my heart (namely one of the already partially clogged arteries).  2nd Ave opened in 54, but closed in 2006 following the tragic murder of Deliman Abe Lebewohl and an unfortunate rent dispute by new proprietor Jack Lebewohl.

2nd Ave Deli represents everything great and classic about NYC deli. Tradition, tasty smoked meats, and all the right fixins, toppings and noshes.










I was joined on this mission by noted Fressers' Lindsay and her surname-as-first-name BF.

We started off with the Chopped Liver as modeled by Barnett above. It was creamy and rich, with a prominent tastes of schmaltz and onions throughout.  They were served with plates of Pickled Peppers, Full Dills, Half-Sours to round the forspeis  selection
















A powerful start indeed.

Next up was the Main Event for me. The Pastrami Sandwich:

The meat featured a nice mild smokiness, fantastic notes of pepper, garlic, salt and even a mild sweetness. The marbling was absolutely fantastic. The rye bread held up very well with very little content push-through.

As well I even enjoyed the portioning of this Pastrami compared to the Herculean offerings at Stage, Carnegies.

As expected, fantastic selections of mustard.

Barnett ordered the Corned Beef, which looked just as tasty. While I only had a small piece it seemed like it had a whole other range of subtle and delightful tastes to pick up on:

Overall Judgment: 9.25/10 Opas

Entry # 2 - The Smile 

At my sister's urging, I visited the coffee shop she works at, the Smile. In what I can only reluctantly describe as a exuding breathlessly Manhattan charm, the Smile serves excellent coffee, formerly housed a Tattoo Parlour, and serves up some extremely tasty food. 

I tried two Sandwiches there:

Thinking outside the usual Sammy template, the Smile's iteration features  Harissa Honey Roasted Breast, Red Peppers, Manchego and is served with Presererved Lemon-Mayo on a fresh Baguette. 

The result is a nice, somewhat gooey, fresh tasting Chicken Sandwich. The flavours worked well, if not mindbogglingly well together and the bread held up well to the condiment. Perhaps it was the Manchego and lemon-mayo but it felt like a very springtime appropriate Sandwich, and one that would be equally good on go. 

The Sandwich I was most interested in at the Smile was their Manouri Cheese & Fig Sandwich. Featuring Manouri, a semi-soft Greek Cheese (think of it as Feta's creamier, less salty cousin), a delicious fig preserve, always deliciously decadent truffle oil, pear & arugla served on toasted Sour Dough. 

The textures of the Fig preserve and the pears matched perfectly with the softness of the Manouri. The cheese velvety texture seemed to push the preserve to every piece of the Sandwiches' surface area (SSA for short).  The whole Sandwich had a very delicate, exquiste taste to it and makes for a perfect lunch IMO. My only complaint was that I found the crust on the sourdough a little tough for my tastes

Overall Judgment: 8/10 Opas

Canwiches' New York Trip Vol 3 - SCHTICKWICHES!

One of the amazing things about New York is its ability to support the one off, flavour-of-the-mouth, sometimes plain cooky restaurants that focus sometimes on only a single menu item:

• S'MAC - A lactaidy tribute to Mac & Cheese in the East Village
• PB&CO - a loving ode to the PB&J 
• Doughnut Plant - a paean to my favorite fried sweet treat, the Donut.

During my pinguefy-ing trip, I decided to visit the latest (at the time of Sandwich consumption) of these offerings.

This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef: 

The owners of This Little Piggy are experienced Schtick-Restaurant proprietors, having previously raised Led Zeppole.

This Little Piggy has but 3 items (they seem to have since added a 4th). Although the Pastrami got some shine, the clear focus on is on that Union Jack Stereotype, the  Roast Beef:

They offer:
This Way (Roast Beef, Cheez Whiz served on a roll),
That Way (Beef, Mozzarella, Dipped in Au Jus - Chicago Style - served on a Hero)
&
The Other Thing (Pastrami and Cole Slaw on Rye)

I decided on This Way for a couple of reasons.
1) I've never eaten Cheez Whiz before and figured when in Processed Cheese Sauce Rome. Also I figured I should prepare myself in case I ever make Cheesesteak Aliyah to Philadelphia.
2) It seemed like an upmarket version of a gross Arby's Beef n Cheddar and I'd figure it would really stick it to those smug Raffell Brothers

The Whiz Worked Wonderfully.  It added a guilty, velvety(or maybe its Velveeta)  texture. The moist, slow roasted beef, the Au Jus and the Cheez Whiz led to a bun that was bursting with flavour. 

The Meat was tender and with strong peppery flavours. The Angus Top Round after hours of slow roasting is kept warm in its juices, is extremely tender.  

And did I mention greasy?!? As Nick Riviera Said  

"And remember, if you're not sure about something, rub it against a piece of paper. If the paper turns clear, it''s your window to weight gain."

Notice the transparency throughout the wrapper.

This is the kind of Sandwich that I could see myself to propose to after a night of libations and instantly seeking an annulment when I woke up the next morning. 

Overall Judgment: 7.75 Opas/10 

Canwiches' New York Trip Vol 2 - Putting the Sang in Italian Sang-wiches

Entry #1: Sal, Kris & Charlie's Deli.

As I have mentioned before, the genesis of this blog consisted of me searching for "giant sandwich pics" on google images during 'downtime' in Law School. A part of me has always yearned for the kind of Sandwich that would simply dominate me (Sandwich Masochism?), where I would be left a smiling, drooling fool left in the mist of Sandwich run-of. 

This was that Sandwich. 

I hit up the self-proclaimed "Sandwich Kings of Astoria" during a visit to my good friend Brian "Wonder Bread" Schwartz's new apartment:

The Sandwich Kings, located in a fairly nondescript deli, are known for their monstrosity known as "The Bomb". 

Containing:  ham, turkey, salami, pepperoni, mortadella, american cheese,swiss, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, roasted peppers, pickles, oil, vinegar, mustard, and mayo, served on an enormous 14" Italian Roll. 

To give you a perspective on the enormity of this Sandwich, here's a 500 ML water bottle comparison shot

Roughly the size of a Rugby Ball, the Bomb is a local legend to Astoria like Christopher Walken or Whitey Ford. 

Unassembled Bomb: 

The Meats and Cheese were similar to what you'd find in any NY neighborhood deli. The signs loudly celebrated their Boar's Head Meats:

But this Sandwich is not about rare imported Iberico Ham,Truffle Oil or Northern Luxembourg Cave Cheese. This Sandwich was all about taking the perfect selection of Sandwich elements, artfully stacking them, balancing the flavours, and cramming as much as into this Hero as that made this Hero stand out.

After 9 bites, the Turkey and Roast Beef make surprise reappearances:

The Sandwich was so delicious and brobdingnagian in proportion that Brian and I were stopped during our Epicurean Sandwich Feast in Ditmars Park to ask what the heck that Sandwich was and were the passerby could get one.

I got through the first half no problem but was able to only polish about 1/3 of the second before throwing in the proverbial Sandwich towel. Brian sped his way though the first half and kept pushing till halfway on the 2nd half before turning green. I hadn't seen Brian eat like this since the Great-Bacon-Egg-Cheese-Sandwich
Triathalon of February 05'.

Impressions:

• Fantastic balancing. Different nuanced tastes at every bite. Felt like three different Sandwiches at once.  
• Possible solution to the elimination of the special food allowance in Ontario by allotting one Bomb per family per week
• Great zingy deli peppers and fresh tomato 
• Bread was  crusty on outside while soft and nurturing on the inside. Surprisingly little Sandwich push- through/under-biting
• Could have used more Mustard

Overall 8.5/10 Opas. 

Notice how the Sandwich has maintained structural integrity.

Entry #2: Torrisi Italian Specialities

Torrisi is a walk-in  kitchen style joint that elevates the Italian deli formula to its most gourmand extreme.  Featuring an extremely casual setting, the restaurant surrounds the customers with cans of pickled peppers .

The menu is simple: a rotating roster of 5 fantastic antipasti, 4 different rolls & heros, and either lasagna or eggplant parm depending on the season.

My sister and I first tucked into the Italian Hero:

Simply put, every single aspect of this hero was perfection. Fantastic assorted meats (Mortadella, Pepperoni, Sopresetta Ham, Genoa Salami) go way beyond your typical NY Boar's Head selection (sorry Sals) and are skillfully balanced with extremely juicy tomatoes, fragrant provolone, the best deli peppers I  have ever eaten, Oil, Vinegar and house made spicy paste (I pried but they wouldn't reveal their secrets)

Even the role served as a perfect Sandwich conduit as the Sandwich maintained form brilliantly and had a nice crust and softy chewy interior.

Overall Impressions:

• Fantastic Meat!
• Perfect balance (lettuce:meat:sauce:pepper ratio was off the charts)
• Could have used a bit more provolone as some bites were absent 
• Excellent Hero bread

Since there was a bit of a holdup with the Sandwiches (which was maybe 10 minutes MAX) , the owners comped us 1) a fantastic Eggplant mix with Raisins, and Artichokes and  2) A Spicy Rabe with a beautiful spiciness to it that paired well with the slight alkaline tastes in Rabe and 3) Extra vinegar Peppers

Next up was another slightly upmarket version of an Italian American classic, the Chicken Parm.

Served on a fresh roll, the Chicken Parm was dressed in its Sunday best with home-rolled and pillowy-soft fresh Mozzarella, crispy breaded white meat stacked two-high, a very zippy homemade Marinara   with Basil leaves arranged delicately throughout:

The Sandwich was perfectly arranged, mouth-sized, and managed to avoid the messiness that I tend to associate with this generally unfastidious Sandwich:

Overall Impressions:

• Juicy and crispy Chicken cutlet
• Fantastic home made Mozzarella 
• Whole basil leaves a great choice
• Marinara was good enough to eat on its own

Overall Judgment: 

9.75/10 Opas

Our next NYC Sandwich trip post will survey the kooky, one-off Sandwich offerings that only NYC can seem to get away with, in an entry entitled Schtickwiches. 

Happy Sandwiching!

The Sandwich Times - Volume 8

It's been a while so let's just cut to the gooey Sandwich middle:

1. Recently the internet has been going nuts for Candwiches. You read me. Candwiches. Very close to the name of the site Canwiches. As a result of this little news item about gross canned Sandwiches, financial scandal  and people tending to spell words phonetically, my little website has been recipient of lots of random U.S. traffic in the last few days.

Well here it is, it all its ridicolous glory:

(source: pocketlink.com)

2. Trying to capitalize on the KFC Double Down "Fast Food Porn as Advertising Performance Art and Internet Meme" theme, the always corpulent-minds at Carl's Jr. have finally managed to create merge the Sandwich with the Burger through the "Footlong Burger". 

Clearly not phased by Subway's attempts to acquire Trademark rights for the term Footlong, Carl's Jr. will now try to merge the Sub and the Cheeseburger in a way that only Carl's Jr.'s can: 

Voila - 

While I have spent a lot of time contemplating on the "is the Burger a Sandwich debate", this one surely comes pretty damn close to me (in an endearing gut-rotting way)

Trying to up the Sandwich-Burger hybrid ammo, Friendly's has also laid-out its very own mega-fat Sand-burger. The Burger Melt: 

(source friendlys.com)

This time, the burger is Sandwiched betwixt two Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. This thing is so utterly ridiculous that I don't even have a snappy zinger.

Frankly, I'll take the old-fashioned patty melt over either of these any day, like the version I recently had at Widgets' Bachelor Party at The Pilot  

3. In an instance of the those loveable rascals, the English seemingly following suit on American trends, U.K retailer Tesco has introduced the Lasagna Sandwich:

 (source: dailymailonline.co.uk

4.  Processed Cheese and Mayo Sandwich rated poorly by most G-20 protesters, activists, innocent bystanders, ttc train drivers, and people who accidentally wore black on Sunday

5. Amidst the Lebron James fallout, Carnegie Deli has pulled their 5 lb Lebron MVP Sandwich from the menu.     

6. Someone named Laurie Mustard wrote an article for the Winnipeg Sun entitled "Sandwiches are Beautiful". Next up Victor Von Mayo writes on the Life and Death of  Tuna Salad, Rupert Pumpernickel writes on Professional Slicing and Albert Pastrami-On-Rye (he's the child of  new aged, hyphenation-friendly parents)  writes about barrel-curing meats. 

7. Curious with what to do with your Vuvuelza now that the World Cup is over? KFC is offering a free Chicken Sandwich in exchange for your used Vuvuzela 

8. The Zellegabetsky from thisiswhyyourefat.com

8 Decker on special cut rye, corned beef, pastrami, turkey, roast beef, tongue, Swiss cheese w/cole slaw, Russian dressing and sweet peppers.

10. The Hand Baguette from Insanewiches.com

 That's all for today folks. Keep those Sandwich eyes open!

Canwiches' New York Trip: the Sandwich Shop that Never Sleeps. Vol 1

Through a 'perfect storm' of factors ranging from reduced-fare Porter Flights, the law of proprietary familial commons (I have a sister there w/ a winning attitude and trusty couch), and my completion of 2nd year law school, I managed to squeeze in a 6 day New York trip this summer.

Whenever I found myself at the bottom of the depths of writ of certiorari (they never taught me how to pluralize writ) spent a lot of errant time researching NY Sandwiches on the internet. After several conferences with my sister, her paramour and various NYC-Canwiches affiliates, I established a Sandwich plan the likes of which hasn't been seen since George Marshall, George Keenan and William Clayton  were told to decrease stipends of Veal Parm Heros in the revisions to their European recovery plan. I packed my bags, loaded up on statins and headed in search of NYC's Finest Sandwich.

#1: No 7 Sub

The first stop was at No. 7 Sub. I had first head of the original No. 7 in an Esquire Article which waxed eloquently on how manly it was in their rather uncomfortable "How to Eat Like A Man" feature in April 2010 (here's a smidgen: "You've been a bad guy before. Your wife knows it, your girlfriend knows it... You can start to reclaim it by taking your wife or girlfriend to no 7").

As such, I half-expected a pair of Flintstone Ribs sandwiched between a Homo Habilis Hero roll. Instead I found extremely creative, even daring Sandwich combos, assembled in factory form.

The benefit of having an enabler/partner/sister with me is that I was able to order two different Sandwiches.

We started off with the Eggplant Parm.  The Sandwich consisted of Fontina, Fried Yellow Squash, Pickled Jalapenos.

This Eggplant Parm, which was far milder than many of the bonkrs but delicious sounding offerings (like the Imitation Lobster Roll w/ Candied Wasabi, Carrots, Watercress). Many of the Sandwiches also featured delicious Route II Chips inside.

***Getting off a Sandwich editorial aside, I am all for the occasional use of potato chips in Sandwiches, provided they are merely to provide a crispy punch of flavor. I also heartily support the use of Hickory Stix in North American Hot Dogs and Argentinian Supeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrr Panchos.***

Overall Impressions of the Sandwich were as follows:

• Smooth buttery Fontina added a lot of juicyness to the Sandwich. Melted properly without negatively effecting texture of the bread and rendering it 'crunchy'
• Probably could have used another Jalapeno for consistent Sandwich spiciness
• Great Bun (same bun for both Sandwiches tasted). Perfect soft hero bun consistency without feeling gluey. Toppings stayed in Sandwich, no push out effect
• Squash was tasty in a very conventional sense. Nothing fancy 

Sandwich No 2:

Their Turkey Cubano was a 21st century take on a 20th century product of Sandwich social history classic.
The Sandwich derogated from Sandwich norms by featuring Roast turkey Breast instead of  roast pork/ham, pickled daikon instead of pickled cucumber, Chinese Mustard instead of Gweilo/Laowai Mustard but managed to avoid blasphemy by sticking with Swiss

The Turkey was surprisingly juicy and well balanced against the condiments. I would have appreciated a little smokiness in the Turkey, but with a turnover as intense as this during off hours, I was surprised the Turkey even came pre-plucked.

Other Impressions:

• Could have used more Daikon 
• Bread remains fantastic 
• Overall a pretty flavorful re-imagining of a tasty, if occasionally bland, classic

Overall Impression of No 7 Sub:

What really struck me about this place is that it confirmed what that pigheaded Esquire article suggested about it's Brooklyn sister. This place has got serious balls. Some of the Fusions probably work fantastically, others not as much. But you gotta love em for trying

Judgment: 8.25/10 Opas.

The Sandwich Times - Volume 7

1. In a major coup for Subway Sandwich/math perfectionists (mathfectionists if you will) every where, Subway has finally started to tesselate its cheese distribution:

According to a leaked Aussie subway directive, the days of overlapping cheese at Subway are over:

 (source: theconsumerist.org) 


2. Here's an excellent treatise on proper sandwich construction:

http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/sandwiches/66297/

Great tips include:  even meat/cheese distribution,  keeping the tomato as far possible from the bread and keep any green in the middle.

If any of my readers should happen themselves to be the next great Sandwich designer, they ought to click profusely on this link and you could become $25,000 richer! It's even open to Canadian residents, but unfortunately is restricted to the two people from Portugal who have visited my blog (I'm got my eye on you Porto)

3.  In the quirky Sandwich news file, a robber was recently reported to have left the cash, but stolen the sandwich at, you guessed it, a Subway

4. For those into barely-legal Sandwich porn, Grub Street recently posted a top 101 NYC Sandwich list (and reviews of several locations are coming soon to a Sandwich visual box aka computer/smartphone/ipad/isandwich screen soon!)

And if a thoroughly biting move (see http://canwiches.blogspot.com/2010/03/great-canadian-sandwich-map-beta.html )  an enthusiastic reader seems to have created his own version of the Great American  Sandwich Map, NYC Style

5. Chick Fil-A recently began promoting the unveiling of its anticipated new spicy Chicken Sandwich in a rather unusual way:

MANDATORY SANDWICH RESERVATIONS

6. Attack of the Killer Sandwiches?

Until next time, I'll continue to keep my finger to the Sandwich pulse.