Berkeley's Best Sandwiches
Top 8 favorites, a guest post by Graham Bradley
Hello, friends and sandwich lovers! We have a real treat for you this Recipe of the Month. I’ve asked my husband, Graham, who is a sandwich aficionado, to write a list of his all-time favorites in Berkeley. Well, this guest essay might more accurately be titled “Berkeley’s” Best Sandwiches, because a couple of these spots are barely outside city limits—in neighboring El Cerrito, Albany, and Oakland. However, this best-of list is in no way comprehensive of the entire Bay Area. That food guide is coming soon…
I love that Graham loves sandwiches so much. When I was a grad student in Italy, he came to visit me, and on his very first night, I overheard him talking with one of my classmates about sandwiches. The classmate had grown up in Switzerland and was saying something along the lines of, “the best thing about America is the sandwich.” Graham was nodding enthusiastically in agreement. Without further ado, I’ll let Graham take it away.
Bánh Mì Ba Lẹ – #8
No town is complete unless it has a good bánh mì place. I love Ba Lẹ on San Pablo Ave because it’s lightning-fast and reminds me of places I grew up going to in the San Gabriel Valley. I always get a number 8—grilled pork. Oh also, Ba Lẹ stocks potato chips with flavors that I’ve never seen anywhere else, like a spicy seaweed Lay’s potato chip. I’ve heard rumors from Maria’s assistant Maddie about a great bánh mì place on Solano Ave [editorial note: that would be Kim’s Café] but haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Maria is always trying to get them to put extra herbs on her sandwich, which is cute.
Standard Fare – rotating daily sandwich
Oh man, what a sandwich! The Standard Fare sandwich is simultaneously totally self-evident and very unique. It’s the kind of thing you can only get in Berkeley. They have a knack for rotating ingredients in and out so that the thing you’re getting is always different and somehow always the same. You know what it’s going to be, but it’s also kind of a surprise. They have two sandwich options: one vegetarian and one not. But both have tons of vegetables and are exactly what I want in a California sandwich.
Fava – Spicy Chicken Flatbread Sandwich
Every Friday, Maria and I go on a lunch date. We attempt to get ourselves to new places but eight times out of ten we end up at Fava. Like Standard Fare, this is the kind of sandwich that you can only find in Berkeley. You choose spicy chicken, falafel, or on the rare occasion braised lamb, but I almost always get the chicken. It’s piled high with purple cabbage slaw, yogurt sauce, and a bunch of herbs. The whole thing comes wrapped in a flatbread. Fava Team, if you’re reading this, you’ve already created perfection, but I have a wild idea for you: As an Angeleno, I wish that once every so often during summer, you would do your version of a Zankou sandwich with toum and tomato-cucumber salad.
Gregoire – Fried buttermilk chicken with spicy coleslaw on a French roll
Gregoire’s charming little takeout shop is a Berkeley classic. If I recall correctly, their fried chicken sandwich has a spicy aioli on it with a really good coleslaw. It’s like no frills NorCal - I like it. When we were in college, Maria introduced me to the potato puffs at Gregoire. If you’re eating lunch with someone else, they are a great thing to share.
Bartavelle – Toscana
My little brother James was in town from Chicago, had never been to Bartavelle before, and came back to our house with the most amazing looking sandwich. And the whole time he was eating it, all I could think was, “that looks incredible – I’ve got to get that.” It’s a salami sandwich on the pizza bianca bread from Acme Bakery with stacks of fennel, one of my favorite crunchy vegetables, which I wouldn’t necessarily think to put in a sandwich but in this instance it's delicious.
Summer Kitchen – Apple Smoked Bacon
We first went to Summer Kitchen because our son Arthur’s favorite bakery, Nabolom, is right down the block. I ordered a BLT-like sandwich for Maria once and brought it home. It has avocado, piquillo pepper, arugula, and both mustard and mayo. I’ve never been to Cape Cod, but I went to the North Fork once and Summer Kitchen reminds me a little bit of a place you might find out there.
The Local Butcher – rotating daily sandwich
This sandwich has helped me out in a pinch more than a few times. They have super high-quality meat here and it’s really easy to grab a pre-made sandwich at the counter when you’re out running errands with a couple of children in tow. Also, my friend Kel does all their chalk lettering!
Picnic – rotating daily sandwich
Picnic makes all kinds of sandwiches. You’ve got to check their menus to see what they’re doing each week. My two favorites are the fried chicken and the porchetta. One of my best memories of Picnic is taking our son Arthur there when he was about two. (It was a porchetta day.) We were trying to bring sandwiches home, where Maria was waiting for us, but he demanded to eat at the tables outside. And he loved this sandwich so much that we ended up eating the whole thing together.
Thank you so much to Graham! Handsome, funny, AND a brilliant writer. What a guy! I will see you next month with not one but two book announcements (!!)
xo,
Maria
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This is a great post, thanks Maria and Graham! Graham, I wonder if you've been to the Butcher's Son on University, and if so, if there is a favorite sandwich you've tried there?