Dear reader,
In this week’s newsletter, you’ll read about a Toronto chef who travelled across North America eating hamburgers in the name of research. Joe Friday ate 250-plus different patties before perfecting his own and opening Friday Burger Co., now with locations on Danforth and inside CIBC Square’s fancy new food hall.
I like to think I’m on the same kind of mission, though slightly less ambitious, for submarine sandwiches. Whenever I travel to a different city, one of my first Google searches is “sub sandwiches near me.” Now, there’s a time and a place for an artisanal hoagie—for example, the Italian Trio from Lambo’s Deli—but nothing beats the classic cold-cut combo, with that tangy sub sauce, on a soft white bun. Assorted subs were my dad’s weakness, and it turns out that it’s genetic.
I prefer mine with a side of nostalgia, and that’s found only on the menus of places that opened long before the term “sandwich artist” was coined, places that smell like white onions and have checkered flooring, maybe a semi-functioning table-top arcade game and owners of a certain age. My current favourites include Lakeshore Super Submarine in Mimico, Imperial Subs in Picton and the Grillway in the Junction, which—after closing in the spring of 2019—reopened last December right across the street from its original location. It was a holiday miracle.
Also in today’s Table Talk: what’s on the menu at Bar Prima, a new (but old-school) Italian kitchen on Queen West, and inside the home kitchen of Ryusuke Nakagawa, chef of Michelin-star kaiseki restaurant Aburi Hana.
