5 Things That What Makes A Remarkable Sandwich

A remarkable sandwich has nothing to do with food snobbery or price. What I mean is that, it is not about putting pricey gourmet ingredients such as white truffle, wagyu beef, foie gras, or Bresse (Poulet de Bresse) chicken in a sandwich and charging over a $100. (Although I think that France would attack us if the US used their prized chicken and made it into McNuggets) A great sandwich doesn't even have to cost $20 and come from a restaurant who name their sandwiches after celebrities. I have eaten high priced sandwiches that left me feeling cheated and have had simple BLTs with avocado that were extraordinary.

Here are 5 of my sandwich making tips.

1. Make sandwiches with care - the same care and respect that is used to cook a steak or a stew should be given to making a sandwich. Sandwiches can be made quickly, but it still requires thought, passion and preparation. Cut the vegetables with care, lay out the meat gently, toast the bread just right, put thought in its presentation, etc. It may be a simple meal, but it is still a masterpiece.

2. Don't cheat to make the sandwich look big and skimp on meat - I've been to places that use long bread slices, tons of sauce, lots of shredded lettuce to add height to give the illusion of a big sandwich. When you bite into it, there is little meat. Very disappointing.

3. Vegetables should be bountiful - don't cheat with thinly sliced tomatoes. If you put avocado, be generous. I've ordered sandwiches where the avocado was sliced so thin that you could not taste it..I mean, why bother even offering it?

4. Spread the fillings ...I have seen sandwiches where all the filling was in the middle to make it look thick, then when you opened it, there is nothing on the sides. A sandwich doesn't have to be thick, (in some countries such as the UK, people like their sandwiches thin)but the filling has to be evenly spread. If you use mayo or mustard, spread it on both bread slices.

5. Fresh matters - As I wrote earlier, to make a great sandwich, the meats don't have to be luxury, the cheeses don't have to be exotic, the breads don't have to be fancy or the sauces trendy, but they have to be fresh. If the ingredients are not fresh, the sandwich is no good...period.

Sandwich Emporium Escondido

The Spicy Julio has travelled north. We opened our second shop on September 7. Sandwich Emporium is now also open at 2750 Auto Park Way Ste 18, Escondido, CA 92029. Tel 760-480-8563.
The area is a business area and has many construction, auto, and architectural firms. John and I will be alternating managers between Clairemont and Escondido. So far, the most popular sandwiches have been the Triple Decker and the Clubhouse Melt.
We also specialize in catering platters.
The hours are from Monday to Friday at 8am – 3 pm.

Our New Special: The Hummus Crunch

 

Rich hummus, ripe avocado, crispy bacon, sprouts, newly sliced tomato on freshly baked whole wheat bread

Health tip: Hummus is made of chickpeas which is an excellent source of fiber. It contains iron and manganese which is essential for healthy blood and high energy.

Recession Lessons

Sandwich Emporium has been open for over 25 years. In 2003, my twin brother and I purchased the shop. At that time, housing prices were up, people felt prosperous, and the economy looked unstoppable. Our sales were growing at a steady pace.
Then in 2008 housing prices collapsed, banks closed down and companies laid of thousands of workers. Credit was decreased, frozen or eliminated. We were officially in a recession. Not just a small local recession, but a worldwide global panic.
As a result, people were eating out less. Fast food places were slashing prices, Subway released their $5 foot long, McDonalds had $1 burgers, Quizno's had $2 subs. Smaller restaurants were going out of business. Frankly, I was scared.
It's 2009 and Sandwich Emporium is still in business. We managed to open a second location in Escondido. We know that there are still many challenges ahead, but this recession has taught us some valuable lessons.

1. Keep calm and focus on your goal...It's easy to give into the fear, call it quits and drown ones sorrows in front of the TV. When a wave of fear enters my head, I focus on my goal of having a remarkable business. My mantra is "Everything will fall into place".

2. Don't sacrifice quality for price...We did not slash prices as doing so would have compromised the quality of our product. Instead of cutting back, we marketed more, but looked for inexpensive ways. The up side was that we were forced to utilize the internet more. We found Ted.com, alltop.com, twitter.com, and other websites which have provided us with really valuable tips.

3. Always have time to give back to something important to you. In our case, it is to the American cancer society. My father in law died in 2008 of cancer so we participated in the Clairemont Relay for Life to honor his memory.

4. Give the best customer service, even when people are irritable.....I get so shocked how some companies treat their customers. Not just restaurants, but phone companies, banks, credit card companies, etc. Businesses need to remember that great customer service makes a great company. In a recession, people are more sensitive and want to be treated with respect. Give it to them; it's good for your business and good for your soul.

5. Have faith ...So you won't be afraid…And you stay positive....A spiritual connection and prayer has really given me and my wife strength. In the beginning of the recession, a business line that we had was cut and the price of our apartment crashed (My wife and I bought at the peak). We panicked, we prayed, we focused on the business (not the apartment) and moved on.
Eventually sales at the shop went up and an investment that we made a few years ago turned out to be a blessing.

6. Be grateful for the things that you have....Don't acquire things because you want to impress your neighbors. Life is short; don't waste it trying to keep up with the Joneses.

7. Improve Your Business, stay creative and have new ideas...Instead of focusing on the recession, we decided to improve the business. We bought better furniture, we launched better beverages, we improved the music at the shop, we improved our sandwich making system, and we improved our menu and our catering services. The improvements made the dining experience better for our customers and gave us a lot of personal satisfaction.

8. Network more...Social capital leads to more opportunities. My father in law had a saying, "My wealth are my friends."

9. Take some time to be silly....A few moments of silliness helps me recharge.


I am still learning as everyday comes with its own surprises. Having a business continues to be a constant challenge. I wouldn't call a recession a blessing, but we are trying to learn from it. I call it the mean (sadistic) college professor, but if we can survive it, the experience will be absolutely exhilarating and we will be prepared for future opportunities.

Sandwich Shots

Healthy Food is Comfort Food

In May our good friend Joe was at work in a bank and had a stroke. He was rushed to the hospital and had surgery to unblock his arteries. Had he been brought in 15 minutes later, he would be dead. Joe is only 33 years old. We visited him in the hospital and he was the youngest patient in the ICU. His surgeon said that he had to quit smoking and to drastically alter his diet - cut down the sodium rich, fatty fried foods. His love of stir fry was killing him.

This made us look at our diet and make a conscious effort to eat healthier. Like Joe, we love bad fried food. Our guilty comfort food was (is) burgers, carne asada fries, stir fry Chinese food, fried fish burritoes . Now we want our mantra to be healthy food is comfort food. We have a way to go, but we are trying. We have not given up “bad stuff” (it’s a struggle) but are adding healthier items to our diet. More salads with light dressing, turkey, grilled chicken, and avocadoes. Turkey and sprouts on wheat is now a regular meal for

us. It’s about balance. Yes, we will eat that BLT, but we will now also eat more Garden Delites. The deadliest thing that we are trying to cut down on is deep fried foods (goodbye tempura). Thankfully, Sandwich Emporium doesn’t fry.

Health Tip: Add avocado to your salad or sandwich. It is a good anti oxidant source which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and it has a toxin that kills cancer cells.