Eight Great Sandwiches in Northern Utah
My story on great sandwiches was recently published in the Standard-Examiner’s Dining Guide. I scanned online menus and reviews, called a number of restaurants, and stopped in and ordered some that sounded really creative. I tried to get a good representation geographically from Davis County to Logan, and a variety of great sandwiches from traditional to trendy. Here are eight that were featured. I’d like to hear from readers about some of the sandwiches I missed. What’s your favorite?
Above is the Turkey-Apple Panini at Plates & Palates in Bountiful. Chef Nina Christensen came up with the idea when their cheese purveyor brought in a five-pound log of Gouda cheese. She layered the gouda with turkey, thin-sliced Granny Smith apple, arugula, and maple-Dijon mayo. The panini press melds it all together, giving the bread a nice crispness. So confident of how good it would be, she never taste-tested it before the restaurant began serving it.
“She’s like Mozart, who would write symphonies in his head without ever playing a note,” observed Nina’s husband, Justin Christensen. “She’s like that with food, she can create it in her head without ever tasting it.”
Idle Isle’s Hot Turkey Sandwich is an old-fashioned classic that attracts regulars from Salt Lake City and Idaho on Mondays, the only day of the week that it’s served. This restaurant, first opened in 1921, has old-school charm, it feels and smells as if you’ve walked into Sunday dinner at your grandma’s. The slow-roasted turkey is piled high on thick-sliced bread, and served with mashed potatoes, house-made gravy, a side vegetable and cranberry sauce.
Here’s the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich at Eats of Eden. Owner Tanya McFarland said that anything with buffalo chicken is pretty hot right now (in more than one sense of the word, I’m guessing.) The fried chicken is smothered in the buffalo sauce, and topped with blue cheese, and the bread is house-baked. McFarland also does a popular Buffalo Chicken Pizza.
The top-selling sandwich for the Utah-based Kneaders chain is Turkey Bacon Avocado. How can you go wrong when you combine three great ingredients like that? Emma Conger, Kneaders’ spokesperson, said about 200 pounds of turkey is slow-roasted each night at each Kneaders restaurant. It’s served on house-baked foccacia, with provolone, lettuce, tomatoes and red onions.
Conger said a Kneaders’ sandwich that’s not quite as popular, but equally good, is the Chicken Cheese & Ham sandwich. It’s a combo of house-baked ciabatta, grilled chicken breast, ham, mayo, honey mustard, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and red onions.
Sea Bears in downtown Ogden has been getting a lot of press lately about the staff wearing guns — when customers talk about “packing heat,” I don’t think they’re just referring to the food. But when I visited in February to talk about the Seafood Po’ Boy Sandwich, the only weapons I saw were Scottish swords decorating the walls. Waiter Austin Siebers was wearing a kilt, but no gun.
Po’ Boys are a New Orleans thing, but the Siebers family has made it their own.
The Hummus Pita Sandwich at The Elements in Logan is a hearty vegetarian option. Greek flatbread is stuffed with white bean hummus, roasted veggies, tomato and butter lettuce. It’s held together with toothpicks and willpower; I’d suggest using a knife and fork unless you don’t mind getting a little messy.
One of the most creative sandwiches I’ve seen is the Inside-Out Grilled Cheese Sandwich at Herm’s Inn in Logan. The cheddar is cooked on the outside of the bread, so it’s crunchy and crispy. It’s filled with guacamole and black beans. It’s a tasty vegetarian option; but you can add chicken or steak for $2.