It has been said that life is a sandwich – what happens between slices of the past and future. We say sandwiches are life. The great ones are pinnacles of their genre, the only ones in their genre or ones with surpassing texture, flavor or both. Here are five for your future.
HABANA
Irvine Spectrum Center
You won’t find a classic Cubano sandwich at Habana. You will find the medianoche, its “midnight” counterpart, known for its rejuvenating melty-hot goodness after a night out. The ingredients are identical: slow-roasted pork, jamón, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, roasted garlic and yellow mustard. The difference? Cubanos come on crusty bread; the medianoche is pressed between soft, slightly sweet egg bread slices. Here it arrives atop the front page of the Heraldo de La Habana newspaper alongside Caribbean fries. Enjoy it amid tropical foliage in Habana’s new Hemingway sports and rum bar.
Rey Abreu with the medianoche
SESSIONS WEST COAST DELI
Woodbridge Village Center
The Spicy Crispy Crunchy Chicken tops chef Max Schlutz’s list of favorites – and ours. The colorful construct adds a chile-garlic slaw bright with lime and mint, pickled seasonal chiles such as Fresnos or serranos and a house-made sriracha aioli to the namesake ingredient. It’s all presented atop a layer of crispy cucumbers on a sesame-potato brioche bun by celebrated local baker Dean Kim.
BURNT CRUMBS
Los Olivos Marketplace
Owner-chef Paul Cao’s iconic top-of-the-menu mashup Spaghetti Grilled Cheese is the stuff of lore, providing the eatery’s origin story. As a broke college student, Cao only knew how to make one dish: spaghetti. To make it more appealingly crunchy, he would fry the pasta until the bottom was crispy – hence the restaurant’s name. Today, pressed spaghetti and fresh mozzarella are barely contained by thick slices of toasted sourdough garlic bread, and there’s marinara for dipping. A decade after it went viral on Instagram, it remains the restaurant’s top seller.
DÖNERG
The Market Place, Crossroads
Fladenbrot is a soft and fluffy soda bread. You can enjoy it on the Bosphorus Bridge connecting Europe and Asia in Istanbul – or closer to home at DönerG Turkish & Mediterranean Grill, new at The Market Place. Under the menu heading “Unforgettable,” DönerG’s grilled Original Fladenbrot overflows with beef doner kebab (or rotisserie chicken or falafel on request) plus french fries, tomato, parsley-onion mix, pickles and red cabbage. It’s dressed with red chile-garlic sauce and a Turkish-style house sauce. You can also add cucumber-yogurt jajik or traditional Iskender tomato-butter sauce.
WOOD RANCH BBQ & GRILL
Irvine Spectrum Center
Wood Ranch offers several styles of American barbecue; continent-spanning ingredients on The Ultimate range from Carolina pulled pork and slaw to choice Double R Ranch brisket from the Pacific Northwest. The sandwich then adds grilled kielbasa (smoked sausage), Tillamook Swiss cheese, Famous Shredded Onions and charred jalapeño. Think of it as the menu’s greatest hits on toasted brioche. Possible sides include Original Peanut Coleslaw and Lauren’s Favorite Mac & Cheese. If you like beer, the fruity, golden-orange Tarantula Hill Liquid Candy hazy IPA might be its ideal companion.
