Wildly popular, 'the sandwich' is perfect. Why I mess with it

"The sandwich" from Roma Deli in Pasadena, doctored with fresh mozzarella, basil and cherry peppers.

Oct. 5, 2024 7 AM PT

Dodgertown gets a new fan-friendly pizza joint. The ultimate English Premier League bar guide. Brian Dunsmoor’s Lowcountry risotto. I’m Laurie Ochoa, general manager of L.A. Times Food, with this week’s Tasting Notes.

Messing with perfection

Roma Market owner Rosario Mazzeo sits in a chair

I don’t know if Rosario Mazzeo — “Ross” to some but not all of his Roma Market customers — would approve. I’m kind of afraid to ask him. But I’ve acquired a habit of taking his wildly popular deli creation known simply as “the sandwich” (always with quotes) and adding fresh mozzarella, sweet red cherry peppers, some strategically placed basil leaves and an extra drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Sometimes I also sprinkle a few flakes of Maldon salt over the cheese.

To be clear, I am not saying that I’ve improved what many — including my late husband and restaurant critic Jonathan Gold — have long considered “a perfect sandwich.” Let’s just say I’ve enhanced it a bit.

Of course, “the sandwich,” it must be acknowledged, doesn’t actually need enhancing.

Here’s how food columnist Jenn Harris described “the sandwich” in her 2020 profile of Mazzeo: “Wrapped in cotton candy-colored butcher paper, its contents are simple and never change: crusty bread made by a Sicilian baker, a drizzle of good olive oil, a couple slices each of capicola, mortadella, salami and provolone. It has taken on legendary status over the years; a necessary stop for anyone who claims to know or love Italian sub sandwiches.”

Back when Jonathan wrote about the Pasadena market in 2012, Mazzeo or one of his deli men often made “the sandwich” to order. Within a few years, however — after Mazzeo changed his outdoor sign to include the phrase “Home of ‘The Sandwich’ “— demand increased so much that you couldn’t always count on getting “the sandwich” unless you had the time to wait 20 minutes for a new batch to emerge from the back. Even then, there were times when Mazzeo’s team ran out of cold cuts.

These days, there’s a system and you’ll almost always find sandwiches stacked like pink butcher-paper-wrapped logs in repurposed wine crates near the cash register. Note that the sandwiches you see at the deli case are vegetarian versions of “the sandwich” made with marinated artichokes plus Swiss and Provolone cheese.

The make-ahead nature of “the sandwich” actually enhances the taste. As Jonathan wrote: “The undistinguished cold cuts ... mingle into something pretty grand ... a shimmering minor chord in the key of pork; the bitterness of the oil turns out to be all the sauce you need. The bread has maintained its thin, crisp crust, and the bland softness supports the richness of the meats in a way that an exquisitely crafted sourdough probably would not.”

So why mess with perfection?

At least twice a month I find myself at Roma’s deli counter where I usually buy prosciutto and two or three balls of fresh mozzarella, along with a small container of sweet red cherry peppers in oil and sometimes a few of Mazzeo’s excellent sausages. I always have Roma’s frozen cheese ravioli in my freezer — an easy lunch or dinner with butter and Parmesan. Our house olive oil is Mazzeo’s favored bottled Asaro “hand-picked,” “estate-grown” extra-virgin olive oil from Sicily. And often, when I go to pay, along with two or three sandwiches, depending on who is home, I’ll get a handful of super-fragrant basil from the always-helpful woman behind the counter.

Several years back, most likely on a day when we didn’t bother to put away the groceries before unwrapping “the sandwich,” I opened the container holding the fresh mozzarella, sliced one of the rounds and spontaneously put some pieces over the cold cuts. Then I added some of the peppers, a few leaves of basil and opened the Asaro olive oil and added a drizzle across the new toppings. Delicious. “The sandwich” was enhanced.

Is it really such a sacrilege if everything I add to “the sandwich” comes from Mazzeo’s own shelves at Roma? I guess I’ll find out next time I’m in the market.

More on sandwiches: If you missed last week’s stacked sandwich package of stories, here’s where you can find our guide to our 37 favorite sandwiches, plus recipes, features and a Langer’s pastrami debate.

A slice of Dodger fandom

A stack of blue-and-white pizza boxes that say "WE LOVE IT!" at LaSorted's pizzeria in Chinatown

Tommy Brockert’s La Sorted’s, the newest place for Dodger fans to watch the playoffs over a pizza and beer — or well-chosen wine — opens this weekend. But it already feels like it’s been around for years, according to reporter Stephanie Breijo.

“The walls are coated in memorabilia: ticket stubs, childhood photos at the baseball stadium, trading cards, the framed sheet music to Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” ... Brockert knew he wanted to build not only a space where diners could sit down to enjoy his hybrid-sourdough pies but a place to bask in Dodgers history, especially considering the location mere blocks from the stadium. It’s equal parts ode to the city, the Dodgers and pizza.” Breijo talked with Brockert about his “hybrid sourdough” and Dodger love.

She also has opening notes on the new Rokusho and more exclusive eight-seat Udatsu Sushi both located in a part of the historic Hollywood recording studio Sunset Sound; Sonoratown Long Beach; Tacos a Cabron’s move from street vendor to East L.A. restaurant Tacos el Más Cabron; Redondo Beach’s kushiyaki-focused Zoku, the first U.S. offshoot of Japanese yakitori chain Torikizok; and Luv2eat Express, a “street-food-inspired sibling” to Noree “Chef Pla” Burapapituk and Somruthai “Chef Fern” Kaewtathip’s celebrated Luv2eat Thai Bistro.

Bonus guide: Sport’s Kevin Baxter put together a pretty awesome guide on the best bars to watch your favorite English Premier League team.

Low and gold

Dunsmoor executive chef Brian Dunsmoor prepares Carolina Gold Rice with Lowcountry shrimp paste, L.A. Times Test Kitchen

I’ve been lucky enough to have Brian Dunsmoor’s Carolina Gold rice with shrimp butter, Parmesan and chives at his Glassell Park restaurant and in the L.A. Times Test Kitchen, where he and chef de cuisine Manuel Mendoza showed some of us in the food section how they make Lowcountry risotto for the latest episode of our L.A. Times Food video series Chef That! I urge you to try the recipe — the intensity of flavor from the fresh shrimp paste and stock is worth the time it takes to make. He also shared a few chef tricks, including using a microplane grater as a strainer.

‘I’m the one who made the call’

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 08: Portrait of owner Ivan Vasquez at Madre on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021 in West Hollywood, CA.

With an estimated 44 customers sickened by a salmonella outbreak at the Santa Clarita branch of Madre Oaxacan Restaurant, plus a lawsuit filed last week against the restaurant, owner Ivan Vásquez talked with reporter Cindy Carcamo about the incident that threatens to put the restaurant out of business. “I didn’t want to hide anything,” he told Carcamo. “I’m the one who made the call” to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health after customers contacted the restaurant about their illnesses. Madre’s Santa Clarita branch was temporarily closed after Vásquez alerted the authorities on Sept. 18. A thorough cleaning plus staff retraining followed; the health department reopened the restaurant with an A grade last week. But Vásquez, who also runs Madre locations in Torrance, Culver City and West Hollywood says that business is down 90% in Santa Clarita. “We feel sorry for the people who got sick. We didn’t do this with intent,” he said. “We take responsibility for what happened with the outbreak.”

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Also, following up on her story last week about the worker protest over unpaid wages at the now-shuttered Otium restaurant in the downtown L.A. Broad museum complex, Carcamo reports that checks were distributed to staff members over the weekend. A note of apology was posted to Instagram with an acknowledgment that “the provided checks do not include waiting pay.” Indeed, many workers were upset to find that the checks they received were short — in one case by $2,000. The Instagram note promised that the management would “ensure follow up” on the “outstanding payment,” much of which is so-called “wait-time penalties.” Carcamo said co-owner Carl Schuster told her that management had “yet to calculate the wait-time penalties and that they will distribute those checks at a later date but could not say when.”

101 Reveal

101 Best Restaurants In LA - Reveal party. Get tickets

The ticket site for this year’s 101 Best Restaurants in L.A. reveal party, taking place Dec. 3 at the Hollywood Palladium, went up late this week, and already the early bird VIP tickets and “first bite” general admission tickets have sold out. If you act soon, there are still some early bird reduced-price general admission tickets left as well as full-price VIP tickets, which usually go fast since they allow you to start eating and drinking 45 minutes ahead of general admission ticket holders from more than 40 food and beverage stations.

‘Food and Country’

“Go to any financial adviser and say all right, I’m going to risk $8 million this year and I’m going to work 100 hours a week for a $50,000 return, they’re going to tell you you’re an idiot.” That’s the voice of Kansas rancher Steve Stratford, one of the many farmers, chefs and other food providers that restaurant critic, editor and novelist Ruth Reichl interviewed for the documentary “Food and Country” directed by “City of Gold” director Laura Gabbert. The film, about how the shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the many ways our food system is broken, is now in limited release in theaters. Here in the L.A. area, Gabbert is appearing Oct. 9 following the 7 p.m. Monica Film Center screening and Oct. 10 after the 7 p.m. Laemmle Glendale screening. I’ll be interviewing Gabbert and guests chef Minh Phan, who is featured in the film, and Food Forward’s Rich Nahmias.