ILLUSTRATION BY JOEL KIMMEL
St. Louis is steeped in sandwich lore.
We’re the birthplace of the Gerber, the St. Paul, the fried brain sandwich. We’re where Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern marveled at the wonders of pig heart pastrami (on a sandwich at Farmhaus) and Man v. Food’s Adam Richman touted a BLT “bigger and better than just about anybody else’s” (at Crown Candy Kitchen). We’re home to a James Beard Award–winning deli that still makes hot salami sandwiches in the same way—and in the same room—that it has for 100 years (Gioia’s).
That’s to say nothing of a certain St. Louis–based chain (Panera) that pioneered the concept of fast-casual dining.
You can now grab a sandwich anywhere from a corner convenience store to a three–Michelin star restaurant. “The sandwich is the most universal of all fast food, the archetypal hand-held snack,” Bee Wilson observed in Sandwich: A Global History. “They are eaten by school children and High Court judges, by soldiers and pacifists, by busy call-centre workers and leisurely picnickers.”
In a time of bitter divisiveness and endless options, sandwiches are one of the few pleasures left that are universally embraced. “What makes the sandwich so appealing?” Wilson asked. “It is deeply convenient, infinitely variable, cheap, and filling. It can be eaten anywhere, with as much or as little ceremony as you like.”
The sandwich has come a long way since John Montagu slapped some salted beef between two slices in the 1700s. It’s come a long way here in just the past few decades.
Companion, Juniper, and Charlie Gitto’s raised the bread bar years ago, and such recent additions as Union Loafers and KNEAD Bakehouse + Provisions have followed. Chefs are paying close attention to sourcing and fresh ingredients. Baileys’ Range and J. Devoti Trattoria & Grocery go far beyond Heinz and Hellmann’s, creating their own scratch-made condiments. And there are all sorts of inventive takes on the classics, from po’ boys to BLTs.
Take the humble grilled cheese. Deputy editor Amanda Woytus set out in search of St. Louis’ tastiest version, her first food writing assignment since leaving Food & Wine magazine. One of her favorite memories from F&W was when a winner of a World’s 50 Best Restaurants award, Jordi Roca from El Celler de Can Roca in Spain, “came to our test kitchen in Midtown Manhattan to create gastronomic feats equal parts science and cuisine,” she recalls.
Asked to sample five grilled cheeses, Amanda “ended up having six, because I’m an intrepid journalist and also a glutton,” she says. “Stuffing myself with grilled cheese was not quite a gastronomic feat, but it was supremely fun.”
And that was just a small taste of the sammies St. Louis has to offer.
See the full Best Soups and Sandwiches feature included in the December 2018 issue.
