The Sandwich Generation
How the recession helped the lowly lunch box staple conquer Toronto By Josh Dehaas
As people downsized discretionary spending (and foie gras consumption), the city’s chefs embraced their new bread and butter, turning humble sammies into the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread (sorry, we’re, um, on a roll). Here, we chart the best of an ever-increasing bunch.
October 2008
Jamie Kennedy transforms his wine bar’s private room into a café called Hank’s. His meatloaf sammies offer respite from black Fridays.
November 2008
Marc Thuet opens the hole in the wall Petite Thuet at Yonge and Summerhill. His crab and lobster on a bun is a steal at $9 (the still-renovating Five Thieves take note).
March 2009
Reggie’s wins over the post-club crowd with a Philly cheese steak stacked higher than the national debt. Queues soon rival those at Pizzeria Libretto.
May 2009
The owners of Sidecar open Negroni, an ode to panini, and Grace starts weekly barbecue nights. There are soup kitchen–like lineups for the $10 pulled-pork sandwich and beer deal.
June 2009
Kennedy attempts to keep creditors at bay by trading tajines for roast beef at the renamed, newly affordable Gardiner Café.
July 2009
Thuet opens his second Petite Thuet at 1 King Street West (and starts selling turkey and stiltons by the dozen).
September
Like a Pied Piper of pastrami, Zane Caplansky lures deli devotees from the Monarch Tavern to a new and bigger location on College.
1 Comments
Comment on this story
Neither Josh Dehaas nor Toronto Life necessarily agree with the comments posted here. Editors will not correct spelling or grammar. Toronto Life reserves the right to edit or delete comments entirely. Read our full policy
Some articles on this site require that you have a Torontolife.com account in order to comment, and this is one of them. If you do not have an account, you can register now.
A discussion of great Toronto sandwiches wouldn't be complete without mentioning the Boxing Day Sandwich at the Brick Works Bakery in the Distillery district. For those of us that can't get enough Turkey...ever!
October 20, 2009 | by julied1