You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

Never until now had I experienced a real muffaleta sandwich. Made by my host Andrea's boyfriend, Erik, who I didn't get to meet, but who I will hold in high esteem for quite sometime, this rotund stacker had me salivating even after eating a Kokum bannock burger (which was awesome btw). I took a wedge back to the hotel with me, even if I was leaving the next morning and still had a box of salt and vinegar fried chicken wings from Kokum's. I ended staying up quite late, watching Die Hard as it repeated itself on cable tv, and by the middle of the second late night viewing, I was finishing up this beautiful monster. I dreamt about mortadella for weeks afterwards! At 2AM, the pickled vegetables were starting to sog through, and I am glad I did not take an extra wedge for the road as it would not have lasted, but the fine layers of meat, cheese, and veg on a whole loaf was truly inspirational. I will attempt to make my own muffaleta of this calibre when I regain my strength...

I tried t his place when I first moved into the neighborhood and I found it a bit lacking. Here is the post on that. However, as I had predicted, I stopped in again to pick up some essentials and decided to try their Muffuletta. This is by far a more superior sandwich and judging from the options, probably their best. The olive spread is what really kicks this one up a notch, as the deli meats and cheese are all pretty standard and the bread is good, but basic. No, it's the olive spread that ties it all together, a possibly made in house concoction that distinguishes this place from the rest. Well, they don't have much competition, there's a deli two blocks over that doesn't offer sandwiches (but better meat choices) and there's really nothing of its kind in the neighborhood, surprisingly, and yet, there's no real reason to go here when everything is so close. I hope they succeed though, and maybe a few more items like this one will make it more of a dest...

Driving west into Regina on Victoria Avenue, I was heartbroken to see Italian Star Deli closed for the afternoon. All I wanted was this sandwich. All was right in the world again two days later when I had to drive through again eastward, and this delicious muffuletta was mine. Like most Italian sandwiches, there was an array of freshly sliced deli meats, provolone, an oil and herb dressing lightly brushed on one side, but the real kicker of this sandwich was a layer of feta cheese mixed with banana peppers. Sounds demure, but together between the perfectly soft and fragrant round foccacia, interspliced with a mix of hard salami and soft hams, this was one fine sandwich. Comes in mild (no banana peppers), medium (what I got), and extra hot (sold out!). I also saw one "double meat" half loaf, but I wasn't up for it.  Thumbs up for the extra pepperoni snack wrapped on top of each loaf. Yeah.