Friday afternoon was a super sunny day. Being the rare occasion that it was, I knew I had to venture a bit further than the usual lunch haunts across the street. I had salads maybe twice that week already and I was feeling like the Friday before the long weekend deserved a treat.
For the longest time, I mainly stayed in the downtown core where people are in suits. If I head East for about ten minutes, I enter the shady area where panhandlers and drug addicts are in abundance. However the sun and the promise of a yummy lunch made me brave. As you can see, the blue skies make everything look nice, and since i'm here writing this, I'm still alive (okay maybe I'm slightly paranoid....slightly).
A few months ago I was reading the Food section in the newspaper and I discovered this little delicatessen located adjacent to a cooking school. It is run by the owners of a popular Belgian restaurant, Chambar. I can't remember exactly why but my interest was peaked and I've been wanting to go for a while. I guess the only thing deterring me was the 15 minute walk towards the "bad" area of downtown.
I'm so glad I sucked it up and went. They have a very lovely storefront with very rustic looking ornaments within. I wanted to take some pictures of the delicatessen area and the menu board hanging overhead but the two chefs were sitting out in the store and I felt self-conscious....
However, I most certainly did take a photo of my lunch! Albacore tuna hot sandwich $8.99.
The sandwich was fantastic! The bread was perfectly toasted with the perfect amount of chewy to toasted ratio. Spread with a light citrus mayo and lined with a few well placed basil leaves and a generous sliver of parmesan cheese, the chunky albacore tuna was freckled with capers and fennel and topped with nuggets of sundried tomato. All this was tied together with the surprising texture of crisp pickled cabbage sprinkled in the middle. The flavors aren't your typical tuna sandwich and each bite had me savoring the surprising harmony of flavors.
nomnomnom....
Don't worry, I do.
Here is a line up of condiments and sauces on sale. Made by the cooking school perhaps. They also sell interesting spices, special cookware and a assortment of odds and ends. The deli is actually not a very big space but there is plenty of sit down room for diners.
If you're in the area, have a visit. Your taste buds will thank you.
9am -8pm 7 days a week
Okay, I was wrong. I thought I had been here before! It was Cafe Medina that I've been to! LOL
ReplyDeleteVincy, really good blog..love that you are just limiting it to food. I wanna go to Dirty Apron too, they have some good cooking classes.
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