Post: #1

So, my wife and I are toying with the idea of starting up a take-away sandwich shop in the tourist area of Valencia here. It's early days, research phase really.

That said, the idea is to have good sandwiches (not Spanish ones), a small menu of the worlds best.

Current candidates:

Club (ham and/or chicken)
BLT
Cubano
Reuben
Ham and cheese

So, I want some forum input - what's your favorite sandwich and where did you have it/how was it made?

I've never lived in the US, but I seem to recall a good, high end sandwich shop or two in places like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Anyone have some favorites I can check out online?

Post: #2

Here in Brussels my go-to sandwich is Prosciutto, Mozzarella and tomatoes.

Post: #3

Try Primanti Bros style sandwiches. Tons of different ways to make them, just top them with slaw and fries, and you're golden.

They taste incredible. Might be a different spin on sandwiches in Spain that could make them more attractive to people.

Post: #4

Recently had this 'Jambon Beurre' baguette [Which is apparently ham and butter in French]. Easily the best sandwich I've had bar none. Crunchy baguette, lightly salted butter and Virginia leg ham. That's it. Amazing taste. Super simple but I could have eaten ten.

Post: #5

Post: #6

Nice place called Simon's in the Bronx has "Chubby Subbys."

It's basically a sub sandwich with your side stuffed in.

Post: #7

Montreal/New York style smoked meat or pastrami sandwiches are easily my favorite. Rye bread, smoked brisket and mustard with a pickle on the side.

Post: #8

Copy the "Vito" from Jimmy John's

Formula:

Italian club bread
genoa salami
capocollo
lettuce
tomato
onions
bacon bits
avocado spread
mayo (optional)

Post: #9

I'll always choose a Choripan or a Cubano over anything else.

Post: #10

I see Cr33pin is going avant-garde with puréed nut spread and grape relish reduction paired with a brioche bun.

Post: #11

Honestly the first thing I'd look at is what local produce is available to you.

No point someone recommended New York style this or that if you are in Valencia Spain and all that is available is local spanish meats.

I have a place south of you on the Costa Blanca and from what I can see the fresh local produce is incredible, especially at the markets.

So if I were you I'd hit up the market in Valencia that is nearest to you and see what fare is on offer. Are there any local breads that are popular for example. If so then it would make sense to use it as the bread for your sandwiches, at least some of them.

Then look at who you are targeting - locals or tourists, bit of both?

As an Irishman, I love my toasted sandwiches, but no way in hell I'd eat one in Spain in that heat.

So you need to do a lot of research and talk to a lot of locals in my opinion.

Best of luck.

Post: #12

Most underrated sandwich ever.

The burger. So many people forget it's a sandwich. Can do a million things with it.

Post: #13

Instead of a fixed sandwich menu (or maybe on top of it), consider making your sandwich shop a custom one - i.e. customers select their ingredients themselves, and the price is determined by a combination of the sandwich size and the most expensive ingredient. It could be a big hit among the customers.

Post: #14

There was a sandwich shop near where I used to live that did a variation on the reuben called the turkey reuben.

They replaced the corned beef with turkey and it went over big. Turkey and sauerkraut work well together -- sort of like a German Thanksgiving. Anyway, a lot of people dislike corned beef -- myself included -- so this alternative reuben was a big seller.

Good luck with your sandwich venue. Do RVF members get discounts if we're in the area?

Post: #15

Some good points here, thanks. The locals tend to like Spanish style sandwiches, which are (imo) inedible. So this shop would be targeting tourists/expats and the adventurous Spaniards.

(11-26-2017 08:54 AM)Cr33pin Wrote:  

Peanut butter too thin. Strawberry jelly, too sweet. 2/10 WNE.

(11-26-2017 10:05 AM)DickDastardly Wrote:  Honestly the first thing I'd look at is what local produce is available to you.

No point someone recommended New York style this or that if you are in Valencia Spain and all that is available is local spanish meats.

Thanks, ya. I spend a lot of time in the markets. The funny thing about the Spanish is that they have fantastic local meat and produce, but they make such terrible food with it. Their sandwiches are a good example - dry, boring, terrible.

(11-26-2017 11:01 AM)realologist Wrote:  Most underrated sandwich ever.

The burger. So many people forget it's a sandwich. Can do a million things with it.

Funnily enough, the Spanish do great burgers. No market gap there.

(11-26-2017 11:06 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  Instead of a fixed sandwich menu (or maybe on top of it), consider making your sandwich shop a custom one - i.e. customers select their ingredients themselves, and the price is determined by a combination of the sandwich size and the most expensive ingredient. It could be a big hit among the customers.

Yes, I was thinking about that as well. I think it's a good idea, maybe a value add rather than the main feature.

(11-26-2017 11:26 AM)Days of Broken Arrows Wrote:  There was a sandwich shop near where I used to live that did a variation on the reuben called the turkey reuben.

They replaced the corned beef with turkey and it went over big. Turkey and sauerkraut work well together -- sort of like a German Thanksgiving. Anyway, a lot of people dislike corned beef -- myself included -- so this alternative reuben was a big seller.

Good luck with your sandwich venue. Do RVF members get discounts if we're in the area?

Hell ya. That's assuming we get it off the ground. Looking at rents now, they're steep in the heart of tourist-ville.

Post: #16

Sandwiches?

Weak.

Give me a fucking steak.

Post: #17

Philly boy here...

- Roast pork. Add broccoli raab and cheese. Not shit cheese, good cheese. Provolone.
- Cheesesteak. Don't use ground meat ever. Use, good cheese -- none of this "wiz" shit. Again, provolone.
- Hoagie. Salami, capicola, genona, mild provolone. Olive oil, not mayo. Lettuce, onion, tomato, oregano, salt, and pepper.

The key is good meat, good bread, and not too much shit. The best sandwiches have like 5 ingredients.

Someday when I'm done with practicing law, I'm going to open a sandwich shop in the Caribbean.

Post: #18

First, I would suggest Gyros. However, there might already be Swarma or Doner shops on every corner there.

I recently had a chicken cordon bleu sandwich, with breaded chicken patty, ham, and swiss cheese. What was distinctive was that the chicken had clearly been breaded or battered and deep fried at this restaurant, not a premade frozen one. It was an absolutely superior chicken patty.

I think this kind of premium, made from scratch fare is the way to go. Also, make homemade sauces to put on the sandwiches, use homemade bread, and use spices, peppers, pimentos, onions, etc, to acheive maximum flavor in every part of the sandwich.

Finally, don't make the sandwiches too thick to eat. In the US, there are lots of restaurants that have 15cm tall sandwiches, and when you try to take a bite, the bread fractures and the toppings goop out.

Post: #19

If you want some clues on how to run a top sandwich place, visit some of the top sandwich places in the world.

In America, those places will either be traditional regional establishments that have stuck with the same menus and specialties (often for generations), like Pat's/Geno's in Philly or Schwartz' in Montreal.

The PBS documentary by Rick Sebag called "Sandwiches That You Will Like" from about 20 years ago is about those mom and pop landmarks across the US, he's done a great job covering several such great American sandwich institutions. I'd recommend watching the whole thing for inspiration:






Then you have the foodie places that took their inspiration there, and added fresh ingredients and interesting twists. This all started in Berkeley, CA, back in the early 70s when Boomer hippy Berkeley grads like Alice Waters trecked through the French and Italian countrysides and understood what made their food cultures the best in the world, and brought back to the Bay Area the concept of fresh market cuisine . That movement spawned the modern food culture in the Anglosphere, spreading everywhere in the 1990s and 00s.


Some of the best sandwiches you will have in America are at the Oakville Grocery, a roadside stand in Napa Valley. It's from that same school, with a California Cuisine take on the classics, fresh ingredients, small twists but not overly fancy.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5...082017.pdf



http://www.oakvillegrocery.com/

In Paris, Cosi does great sandwiches, catering to expats, tourists and locals alike, it's very successful. They lean heavily on the panini, but with a French and international accent. My favorite there is the proscuitto, ricotta and walnut panini.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/cosi-paris

They've spawned a multinational chain, but I'm not sure if it's as good as the original Parisian flagship, or if that place is as good as it used to be, my local mates tell me it's gone downhill, but nevertheless it would be worthwhile to look into their formula.

Post: #20

(11-26-2017 11:01 AM)realologist Wrote:  Most underrated sandwich ever.

The burger. So many people forget it's a sandwich. Can do a million things with it.

My favorite chubby subby was the hamburger one. Long ass hamburger with fries stuffed in it. Great stuff.

Another forgotten sandwich is the hot dog. A versatile and unique sandwich.

Post: #21

(11-26-2017 10:05 AM)DickDastardly Wrote:  Honestly the first thing I'd look at is what local produce is available to you.

No point someone recommended New York style this or that if you are in Valencia Spain and all that is available is local spanish meats.

I have a place south of you on the Costa Blanca and from what I can see the fresh local produce is incredible, especially at the markets.

So if I were you I'd hit up the market in Valencia that is nearest to you and see what fare is on offer. Are there any local breads that are popular for example. If so then it would make sense to use it as the bread for your sandwiches, at least some of them.

Then look at who you are targeting - locals or tourists, bit of both?

As an Irishman, I love my toasted sandwiches, but no way in hell I'd eat one in Spain in that heat.

So you need to do a lot of research and talk to a lot of locals in my opinion.

Best of luck.

Bingo.

OP. Don't make the mistake in thinking you can outsmart your market.

Learn what is popular and what the local pallette likes to eat. Also, do a market study and see who your target group is for customers.

Next, as mentioned, you go see what local product you have and then build a menu from there.

My guess is pork or fish will be local to Valencia.

Post: #22

Haven't seen the banh mi listed yet. It's a classic sandwich served at room (or street!) temperature on the streets of Vietnam. Basically its a french/SE asian fusion. Good fresh baguette, thick buttery mayo lathered on the bread, then some nice rich liver pate, pickled daikon radish and carrot, and usually some combination of sliced roasted pork and pork hams, topped with fresh chiles, cilantro, and usually a little fish or soy sauce. Would work well in that hot spanish climate.

Post: #23

The "Bifana". Just pork meat slowly cooked in a pan with olive oil, pork fat, white wine, beer, garlic and peppers. Served between two slices of bread with mustard at will of the customer. Served with a cold lager...heaven on earth.

   

Post: #24

(11-26-2017 11:33 AM)Suits Wrote:  Sandwiches?

Weak.

Give me a fucking steak.

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures, cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth." And it was so, and God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let him rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth.” And it was so and God saw that it was good.

Then Adam said unto the Lord, "Lo! I give thanks to thee O Lord for the flesh of the cattle which doth nourish body and soul, but alas, I find it not convenient to consume as thou hast still not created steak knives."

So God created the sandwich, two slices of leavened bread between which Adam could place the flesh of the cattle, along with condiments made from every tree which hath fruit yielding seed. And God saw that it was good.

But for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him to prepare the sandwich. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. Then he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place. And the Lord God fashioned a woman from the rib He hath taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

And Adam said unto Eve, "Fashion a sandwich for me O woman as the Lord hath seen fit." And it was so.

Post: #25

I am an avid sandwich eater ... specially hamburgers .... however, the two sandwiches that top my list are:

1) Chivito: filet steak, mozzarella, tomatoes, red or green peppers, black or green olives, bacon, fried eggs, and ham ... on pebete bread. I call this one the "Vegetarian's Nightmare". My all time favorite, used to get one after the gym on my way home .... there was this Argentinean bakery on my way home, home made pebete, and all fresh ingredients .... they closed down a few years ago ..... the size of this monster was unreal, not kidding you eating the whole sandwich and the accompanying fries would be enough to put you sleep for a couple of hours .... specially followed by a pint of Italian Gelato .... most people would eat half of it and take home the other half.

2) Ham and mash potatoes ... simple, fulfilling and mouth watering .... I call this one Thanksgiving Sandwich.

I am not sure of the viability of these sandwiches as money makers ... as I mentioned the store where I used to get the VN from went out of business.