You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

The last time I visited Vancouver, I made sure to include a stop into La Grotta del Formaggio , an Italian grocery store on Commercial drive that does this monster sandwiches. It's hard to find a good sandwich in that town, but this place kept me satiated, which is no easy task. Pictured above is a mountain of capicola with roasted red peppers, eggplant, red onion, and provolone on whole wheat. Expect long line-ups, but that time is best used to think about which meat and cheese and toppings you want. Do you really want a whole focaccia, or just half? (I got a whole loaf). I was happy to see they even offer whole wheat focaccia bread that is as tasty and fluffy as white bread, as it's a slightly healthier option, because it's still Vancouver.

Artisan bakeries take themselves seriously, right? I am always a little surprised when I see premade sandwiches at these places, as don't they know what happens to their bread once they wrap it in plastic and throw it in the fridge display? I had this frittata sandwich with a bowl of lentil soup, and it was good, but you could tell it would have been great if it had been freshly made. For starts, the homemade focaccia left the plastic wrap so oily that no amount of paper napkins could render the situation better. The cheese had been put on the other side of the frittata, which in theory, should work for a cold sandwich, but somehow, it just didn't. The layer of frittata itself was also incredibly sparse and filled with almost entirely asparagus, which left me sort of sad. Next time, I would buy their bread and make a sandwich elsewhere.