You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

I often avoided A Bread Affair on Granville Island due to the perpetual pan flute didgeridoo jam going on directly outside its doors, but hungry and not feeling like heading into the market, I slipped in during a musical break to see what was on offer. As a go to bakery first introduced to me over a decade ago, I have never taken note of their sandwich display. It makes perfect sense to offer sandwiches as the freshest market ingredients are right across the way and they are already home to some of the best bread in the city. Going for the pickles and porchetta option, I was extremely pleased to find generous spreads of fine butter visible on the bread, pairing well with the tartness of the pickles and the salty and not at all too fatty porchetta inside a perfect torpedo bun. The real winner was the mix of spicy fresh greens, whose leaves I could not all identify, but had the body texture of baby kale and the after burn of Japanese mustard leaves. I was unfortunately in a...

Rushing there before noon, a colleague and I each ordered a slab of sandwich from Roast , inside Victoria's downtown farmer's market. Bridging that whole farm to table mentality, I didn't need to know about any of that before ordering the porchetta, extra skin, and rushing back to my afternoon meeting. With some heft to it, the slab of provolone and several sprigs of broccoli rabe smothered in fresh pesto really gave that extra zing to the crispy, fatty porchetta. Having a rough morning, I felt alive again after downing this sandwich, and if I had to pick, I would choose Roast over Vancouver's Meat & Bread , I would. 

Meat and Bread opened up right around the time I started having health problems. One doesn't consistently blog about sandwiches without paying a price. I had to stop eating meat for a while, which was pretty shocking to my closest friends. I remember at the time a friend was taking a picture of the new window lettering when one of the owners came out and asked him what he was doing. My friend said he was taking a photo for his friend (me), who loved meat and bread. The owner smiled, but then my friend added that he was taking the photo because I couldn't eat meat and bread anymore. My health has improved since, but the association of Meat and Bread with health complications have been intertwined in my mind since. I have tried to go, but they also close at 5 and are usually lined up out the door. Today, at around 3 p.m., I finished a coffee meeting across the street and knew today was the day. The porchetta with salsa verde is the first choice, though I stood at the till watch...