From Fine Dining to NYC Sandwich Shop: A Day with Chef Antonio Barbieri

From Fine Dining to Sandwich Shop

• 👨‍🍳 Antonio Barbieri, formerly of Eleven Madison Park, left the fine dining world to open Brown Bag Sandwich Company, a neighborhood sandwich shop in NYC.
• 💡 The core philosophy behind their sandwiches is chopping all ingredients to ensure every bite contains a mix of everything.

Preparing for the Lunch Rush

• ⏰ The day starts early with prep work, including batching and marinating the Italian mixture to intensify flavor and ensure efficiency.
• ⚖️ Precise weighing of ingredients is crucial for consistency, ensuring customers receive the same product every time.
• 🍕 A pizza cutter is used for chopping ingredients in a bowl due to its rounded blade, making it quicker and easier than a knife or scissors.

Catering and Service Operations

• 📋 The team handles large catering orders, requiring problem-solving for presentation, such as standing sandwiches on platters.
• 🥪 A Henry Ford-style assembly line is used for sandwich production, separating hot and cold sandwich stations to distribute workload.
• 📝 Cheat sheets with ingredient weights and instructions are available in both Spanish and English to aid staff.

Crafting Signature Sandwiches

• ♨️ The hot roast beef and cheddar sandwich features seeded sesame hero bread toasted in clarified butter, seasoned beef broth, brown bag sauce, and house-made cheddar sauce.
• 🍔 For the chopped cheese, pre-batched ingredients and a specific chopping process allow for quick preparation, even during peak hours.
• 🌶️ The spicy cutlet sandwich involves chicken marinated in buttermilk and spices, then fried, chopped, and mixed with spicy vodka sauce, hot peppers, and fresh mozzarella.

Managing the Lunch Rush

• 📈 During peak hours, the focus shifts to efficiently executing orders, with a system for expediting and labeling sandwiches.
• 🚗 Delivery orders constitute a significant portion of business, especially in winter, requiring careful management to keep hot sandwiches warm.