You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

Not a single post was made last year. This wasn't done consciously, but looking back, I guess not a single author had it in them to share the joy we feel for the sandwich. It wasn't that sandwiches were not enjoyed, or eaten and critiqued with each mouthful. I know for myself, I ran out of mustard to share. Last year was full of lows and a handful of highs, and it took all the relish, ketchup, extra onions, and pickle out of me. I don't even think this post pictured above is from 2018, which if I am remembering correctly, was of a reuben, served automatically with sauerkraut on the side. It was more of a sloppy grilled cheese over buttered, and that quarter sliced pickle could barely cut through the fat of each mouthful, but its presentation was dramatic. Last year also saw my phone die and with it, many many photos of sandwiches long gone, but somehow this photo sums up a lot of last year, too. Eat well this year, my friends, and hopefully we can stay in touch bett...

Recently I ordered two grilled cheese sandwiches in the same week. I didn't take photos for either, because they were eaten and ordered so quickly that I forgot everything that led up to the last crumb consumed. But I will say that each sandwich determined something for me. Determined whether I would return to these establishments and how their kitchen was operating. As a happenstance run in catch up get together, I ran into a friend at one place and bicycled over to the Wallflower back patio on her recommendation to have a proper catch up and to get some food in me. Ordering a grilled cheese immediately before my friend even arrived, her deviled eggs still arrived before my sandwich was delivered. But the wait was worth it. A hot crispy buttery sandwich with a good cheesy stretch and a side of firm ruffage, I would definitely return to try more menu items from what I always thought was just a drinking hole. Later that week, hearing that Skyline diner had been bought up by ...

I'm usually such a purist when it comes to the grilled cheese. Melted cheese, butter, good bread, maybe a bit of onion. Maybe. Pickle on the side. Why deviate from what is solidly a delicious combination? The Melt Room looked like a mall kiosk with its shiny plastic decor, but I was brought there by a friend who was craving the lamb shoulder melt she read about in the paper, and I opted for the BBQ chicken, even though I hummed and hawed about the original. I should have just had the original. We shared half of each other's choices and I was put off by the romaine lettuce inside of her grilled cheese sandwich as well as the bland chicken in mine. The sourdough was rather good though and heavily buttered, but the fillings just really did not work. Located deep in Soho, I don't see how this place can last long, but then again, I have never understood British cuisine.

 As the new kid on the block in the perpetually dined out West End, Greenhorn has fast become a favorite for espresso lovers and geeks. While their brew is really good, my curiosity swayed towards the sandwiches, and so far, it's a hit and a miss. First up is this roast chicken sandwich I grabbed to go. At a heavy price, the sandwich fit cozily into the palm of my small hands, which was a disappointing and expensive lunch. The flavours of the chicken were overpowered by the balsamic and cherry tomato mix, and the bread was a skinny baguette that tasted a bit underdone to my taste. However, as it goes, I tried their grilled cheese sandwich for a sit in meeting shortly there after, and the experience was a far better one. Certainly not the best grilled cheese I've ever had, their use of a softer cheese yielded a more melt in your mouth experience than the stringy chewy bite one expects of a grilled cheese. Good bread crunch, and if in a bind, I would order it ...

A friend and I agreed the personality of the sandwich changes with each person who prepares it, and today we felt something was a little less than parfait with our Haloum Grille. Folks at Le Pick Up seemed stressed . The longest wait ever, and our lunches sat around too long. Temperature of the cheese is important to experiencing haloumi’s firm the texture and the release of its saltiness, and I prefer when it’s grilled directly before entering the sandwich.  Creamy spicy slaw of red cabbage, carrot, and kale soothes the major crust burn associated with the crispy multigrain toast. Ideally it’s the bread that should be soft and the haloumi that gets to shine as the crispy grilled champ that it is.   Nevertheless, we stayed for hours at the back picnic tables, chatted with the servers, overheard some drama about the evening closing procedure, broke a dish, and spilled a coffee. A good day. 

A friend and I bumped into each other one sunny afternoon and instead of going to get that raw vegan power shake we've been texting about, we headed for Meat &Bread , which I have been to a few times . We had both been getting over different forms of illnesses, and while a power shake would have been great, life is short. However, I abstained from their meaty meat goodness and tried their grilled cheese, which I've always eyed, but never made a priority. Using crumbled aged cheddar with freshly shaved purple onion, it could have used another 60 seconds under the press. With bits of cheese unmelted and the onion not doing its job of bringing that sweetness to the mix, I only blame myself for getting the vegetarian option at a place called Meat & Bread. On the side was some form of bacon pea soup with kale. It was good.

Advertised as the "Specialty Sandwich" on board the Oakland to Los Angeles Amtrak train, this $9.75 grilled cheese seems a safe vegetarian bet, just as a bagel and cream cheese does when faced with weird processed meat choices aboard the VIA Rail in Canada. The specialty allegedly features gruyere and smoked cheddar, however each cheese was tasteless, plastic, and greasy, cooling to reveal six slices of highly processed cheese product. The crisp, somewhat grainy bread absorbed cheese sweat from inside, completely obliterating any relief that the mustard or tomato could have provided, and was thoroughly saturated in a meaty residue from the grill on the outside. This sandwich leaves the kind of mouthfeel that a glass of water cannot wash away. Note: pack toothbrush in carry-on.

Nothing signals gentrification quite like a new cheese shop. Just off of Oakland's popular Telegraph Street on Shattuck Avenue is what appears to be the neighbourhood's first: the Sacred Wheel, established in 2011. Boasting many extremely pricey, locally sourced, and esoteric cheesy treats, the shop also carries all the things you'd want to see on a serious cheese tasting board, little pickles, chutneys, those little wheels of fig pate, olives, and such. I took note of the soft-ripened Bellwether Farms Crescenza, an almond, apricot and fig fruity thing, and a free sample. Just in case a 12-15 dollar hunk of fancy dairy goodness seems steep, thankfully they also have lunch, which is not too pricey at all. For 6 bucks I tried the 1/2 Grilled Cheese Trinity with Tomato and Pabst Blue Ribbon soup. The thinly sliced sourdough and three-cheese sandwich was pretty straight up, but the soup was a heavenly creation indeed. Tangy, lip stinging tomato goodness that balances the grea...

True to culinary fashion in queer circles, the grilled cheese sandwich at Montreal's Cagibi was accompanied by a mini salad with grated beet and pumpkin seeds. The soggy appearance of the side pickle, perhaps not so much, but a sign of things to come: from wholesome lesbionic salad to  crispy grilled  seedy bread, that bracketed an also soggy marriage of cheddar and mozza cheese, pesto and tomato. By soggy marriage don't mean to evoke anti-assimiliationist critiques of the institution, but I do mean complete integration into a unified and undistiguishable new flavour. This is probably satisfying, like porridge, or baby food, but not particularly refined or exciting. It does in a pinch, but other cooks, like my new fuck buddy, have revived this old standby far beyond the pleasure of easy and comforting.

These small prairie towns have always held a bright spot in my heart. These tiny hamlets, where main street is literally a museum and an ice cream shop, dot the many highways across the prairies, with a strong concentration in Saskatchewan. As it was an unusually mild afternoon and we were somewhat making good time, my driving companion and I pulled into the Hitching Post Cafe. We came upon a congregation of old men watching television, and being two ladies dressed sort of oddly and clearly interrupting something, we sat down and ordered two teas. The room was sort of a mixture of rumpus room meets Germanic cabin decor. I wasn't exactly hungry, but I felt we were the first customers they've had in a while, and it's not like we just popped our heads in as we were walking by. So I ordered a grilled cheese, sans fries, and it was your standard homemade grilled cheese. Nothing special, and yet, all together the total was about $10. More than expected, but in some ways, you kn...

Milk Truck is far too cute to take seriously, until you take a bite from their Jarlsberg grilled cheese and a sip of their fresh and soothing tomato soup and you know this is a real contender. I have personally favoured the Jarlsberg grilled cheese for years, but never have I seen a professional offer the choice. With its mozza-like stretch in a far more dense and chewy capacity, Jarlsberg offers grilled cheese lovers a savoury option to the sometimes too oily or runny options. I don't know what kind of bread they used that day, and if you look at their ever changing menu, they have a preference for gourmet Pullman bread, which makes me love them even more.

I think this is a grilled cheese sandwich from Lester's Deli at Trudeau in Montreal (YUL). Wanting something hot instead of another premade cold sandwich, I opted for a grilled cheese, a taste of homemade, after wading through customs on my way to the States. I sure watched the guy make the sandwich, and it was by far NOT one of the top cheese sandwiches I've ever tasted. Using processed sliced cheese and regular bread with lots of butter, it was like the kind of grilled cheese sandwich you used to have at your friend's house after school. It did the trick, but you still looked forward to a real supper when you went home. I personally cannot wait until Winnipeg (YWG) gets their new airport. Sure, the current Brutalist architecture is a sight to behold, but their amenities suck hard. This is the best I could do for breakfast, a Harvey's sausage and egg sandwich. Terrible bun, lame sausage, bad tomato, at least the egg was fresh, but c'mon, Harvey's, at least pret...

Home made grilled cheese sandwiches are the best. A meeting between J.D. and Young Elvis resulted in some gourmet grilled cheeses loaded with homemade sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, feta, gouda, and all sorts of other good things. Keeping some good sandwich buns, sort of a cross between a Portuguese water bread and a foccacia loaf, Young E cut it up vertically into crostini fingerlinks and fried them up good in butter before loading 'er up. Two different types of sandwiches were presented, and I personally liked the one with feta and sundried tomatoes the most, as the salty sharpness fried up is nothing short of brilliance and a fine substitute for haloumi, which makes the best cheese sandwiches ever and a favorite between us for sure. Served with a side of spicy olives and homemade pickles, and a cup of homemade carrot soup, it was the perfect meal after a long day of travel as the fog rolled in all around us.