This week we witnessed the dramatic end of a difficult and potentially dangerous situation that unfolded in North Korea, where two American journalists were imprisoned, sentenced to hard labor and then freed with the personal intervention of President Bill Clinton.  Congratulations and best wishes to the families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.  But we’ve been following the deeper subtext that Philadelphia City Paper’s MealTicket blog broke on Tuesday, and that Comedy Central’s Colbert Report broadcast nationally a day later.

A photo of a pre-imprisonment Ling was aired by CNN that showed her posing with a delicious-looking sandwich, flashing that 1000-watt smile.  We at Unbreaded know that nothing brings a bigger smile to your face than a hoagie, and we are waiting, watching, wondering when the specific hoagie will be revealed and the marketing bonanza will begin.  The national spotlight is ready, oh mysterious hoagie.  Surely you can get some mileage out of this PR opportunity that fell from the Heavens.

So if Laura Ling is reading this, do yourself a favor and contact that hoagie shop ASAP.  Jared Fogle might have some really big pants to help Subway sell sandwiches, but four months in a North Korean prison and a private flight with Bill Clinton is the stuff that sandwich marketing is made of.

Emancipated American journalist Laura Ling loves FREEDOM! And … hoagies? [Meal Ticket]
Bill Clinton’s Personal Appearance [Colbert Nation]

According to a recent article in the New York Times Magazine, the sandwich is the most popular meal in America, at both lunch and dinner. (Just one of the reasons why America is awesome.)

There’s no doubt that Philadelphia has a deeply rooted sandwich history. The Philadelphia Inquirer highlights two of the reasons for that trend: the cheesesteak and the hoagie.  Hoagies, Hoagies, Hoagies and Steaks & Cheesesteaks are featured collections of the Inquirer’s sandwich reporting over the years. Some interesting tidbits include an investigation into the history of the hoagie, a look at the ever growing popularity of seeded rolls, and Craig LaBan’s cheesesteak project, where he recruited four high school students to find the perfect sandwich (they crowned John’s Roast Pork the victor).

We’re glad to see that Philly.com has offered the growing number of sandwich enthusiasts a look inside their archives of hoagie and cheesesteak reporting.

Hoagies, Hoagies, Hoagies [Philly.com]
Steaks & Cheesesteaks [Philly.com]

Lou Sarcone Jr., the fourth-generation baker on 9th Street in South Philadelphia, is known among his family simply as Junior.  His father, also Lou, and his son, Louis, share more than a name – they share a commitment to keeping a very old business operating the way it did a very long time ago.  That is not to say that they haven’t modernized Sarcone’s Bakery – which they have – but they have done so while maintaining their focus on delivering the exact same product, time after time after time.  Using premium Pillsbury flour; giving the dough a full 2 hours to rise; baking the bread in the old brick ovens to bring out the flavor.  “It’s just like making a gravy,” said Sarcone, “Slow cooked food tastes better.”

So the food you put on that bread better be good.

For Lou’s cousin, Anthony Bucci, food is a passion.  A former executive chef at the Wyndam Franklin Plaza hotel and a longtime veteran of the family bakery, he now runs Sarcone’s Deli.  The deli is not a typical hoagie and sandwich shop.  They serve food that you’d expect to find cooked in a restaurant or your own home, but on that crusty, chewy, flavorful bread.  It’s the preparation and ingredients that differentiates them from traditional “lettuce and tomato” hoagie shops.  House-prepared roast beef, roast pork, meatballs, chicken cutlets, and eggplant are just some of the restaurant style cooked dishes that find their home on a Sarcone’s roll.  Juicy ripe roma tomatoes and bits of prosciutto, sopressata and cappicola that don’t make it onto sandwiches become the starter for the gravy for the hot sandwiches.  If you like marinated fresh asparagus and a balsamic drizzle, you can get it on the roast beef sandwich.  If you like house-roasted peppers and roasted garlic with fresh herbs, spread it on your veggie sandwich.  And if you like DiBruno Bros cheeses, gourmet cured meats and imported parma prosciutto, why not get them on an Old Fashioned Italian sandwich?

Anthony and Lou admit, it always starts with the bread.  And at Sarcone’s Bakery, the business is all about tradition.  Listen to the previous generation, and do exactly what they do.  It’s like whisper down the lane; without all the context and subtext, something can get lost along the way.  Five generations of Sarcones have donned the baker’s whites and pledged to keep the bakery exactly the same.  As Lou’s grandfather said, “put too much food in your mouth, you can’t chew.”  It’s about staying in business.  It’s looking at 90 successful years of history and believing that the business could continue for another 90 years.  No wholesale, only retail.  They’ve seen lean times before and economic booms but the business has remained steady and focused.

A mainstay on the Italian Market if there ever was one, Sarcone’s has witnessed the sell-off of the generations-old businesses a few blocks away; but Lou Sarcone believes that history repeats itself and he welcomes a new generation of business owners coming back to the market.  Not just businesses, but Sarcone sees the influx of young professionals, students and young families into South Philadelphia as a good thing for everyone.

Sarcone’s Deli has plans to move into a newly renovated space next to its current location on 9th Street later this summer. (The current space will be put to good use but plans are still being developed.)  The bigger growth plan centers around 10-15 new franchise locations in the tri-state area over the next few years.  So how does a business so deeply ingrained in its environment extend outside of its location?  Sarcone’s has pledged to maintain tight control over the product and training new staff.  Keep it geographically limited, keep a handle on quality, and follow the Sarcone’s operator’s manual to the letter: serve up restaurant food on the very best bread.

Already one former franchisee has had the Sarcone’s brand pulled from his shop for cutting corners and cheating the customer.  But it was a valuable learning experience for Lou and Anthony, a lesson that will stay with them as they grow their vision beyond 9th Street and into the suburbs.

Gallery

Sarcone’s Deli
734 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147 (Google Map)

Ask any vegetarian or vegan living in Philadelphia for their favorite sandwich, and its a good bet that the answer will be the tofu hoagie from Fu-Wah Mini Market. Opened in 2003 by the Lai family, the same people behind the wildly popular and delicious Vietnam Restaurant, the small store has quickly become a West Philadelphia institution, selling a variety of groceries and Asian items. But it is the tofu hoagie that causes a small crowd of customers to hover around the register, and during nice weather on the sidewalk outside.

Based on the banh mi, a sandwich created during the French colonization of Vietnam, the tofu hoagie stuffs the same basic fillings (sans pork) into a fresh Amoroso’s roll rather than the traditional baguette. Warm, marinated tofu is topped with shreds of pickled carrot and daikon, cilantro and sliced jalapeño peppers, a sweet combination that finishes with a surprisingly spicy kick. A Vietnamese Chicken hoagie is also offered for the carnivores, but the chunks of dark meat chicken were incomparable to the light and fluffy taste of the tofu. It is interesting to note that customers who are normally wary of the taste of the soy-based product, have grown fond of the way it is prepared in Fu-Wah’s sandwich.

Although tofu hoagie veterans know the best way to obtain one without the wait is to call ahead, we found that watching the sandwich artist line up ten rolls on the counter and delicately prepare them one at a time was well worth it. Some find the 47th and Baltimore location to be a hike from Center City and beyond, but if you’re in West Philadelphia, we recommend giving the tofu hoagie a try.

Fu-Wah Mini Market
810 S 47th Street Philadelphia, PA 19143 (Google Map)

A great value is something to be celebrated.  And in University City, at the Fresh Grocer supermarket, we found an exceptional value in the form of a huge sandwich at a very reasonable price.

The Fresh Grocer at 40th & Walnut is generally considered a pricey place to shop.  But the sandwich and hoagie counter is serious about giving customers a bang for their buck.  For just $7, a hoagie comes with a full pound of meat, sliced fresh each day from the store’s deli counter.  Customers can choose from a large selection of meats and cheeses with all the usual fixings.  Served on a soft, fresh hoagie roll from the market’s own bakery, this sandwich fills the belly without emptying the wallet.

And if you’re lucky enough to be served by the ever-friendly Kenny behind the counter, well, I can guarantee you’ll get one heck of a sandwich.

Fresh Grocer
4001 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (Google Map)

The Jewish Hoagie at Lee’s Hoagie House was *the* iconic sandwich for me in the 80s and early 90s, having cut my teeth at both the Lee’s Cheltenham and Lee’s Abington locations.  It was the sandwich of choice for game time: Eagles games, Temple games, Phillies games at the Vet – or specifically, the Vet parking lot by the pole with the Eagle 106 bumper sticker.

But could it stand up to the memory, now 15 years later?

The bread was still a knock-out.  A light and pillowy D’Ambrosio’s hoagie roll offers a soft but firm grip and absorbed the vinegary mustard and hot pepper spread with each chew.  The meats – turkey, corned beef, salami and roast beef – sing together like a choir in your mouth.  The turkey hits the high note, the soft corned beef adds the harmony, the salami is the star tenor, and the roast beef keeps the rhythm.  With clean shredded lettuce and juicy sliced tomato (no cheese), the Jewish hoagie has a spicy twang and chewy sweet richness that satisfies, and evokes fond recollections of Randall Cunningham, Mark Macon and John Kruk.

But if there was one kvetch, it was the short stack of meat.  It may be a recession, but there’s just no call for skimping on the meat.

Lee’s Hoagie House

A small, Italian family-owned operation in South Philly and Center City has blossomed in recent years, expanding throughout the region as dozens of franchise locations have taken root in the sandwich starved suburbs. Primo Hoagies serves up a wide selection of original creations and classic hoagies featuring Thurmann’s meats and cheeses, and their commitment to quality is evident with every bite.

The menu offers a dizzying array of lunchmeat and Italian specialty sandwiches that can satisfy any craving. But what is truly remarkable about Primo’s is the bread. In a city where fine bread bakeries make it possible to source any number of hoagie rolls, Primo bakes their own. Their hoagie rolls are top-notch; a crusty, dense, chewy, seeded reminder that some things are worth doing yourself.

The first sandwich I’ve ever ordered at Primo’s was the Turkey Diablo, so that is where we will begin with our reviews. The ultra-thin sliced turkey breast is moist and flavorful, packed tight in the hoagie roll with shredded lettuce, tomato, mayo and hot pepper cheese. But the star of the show is the the Diablo spice blend, which is available with a number of different meats. The fiery chili and herb blend adds a spicy new dimension to the turkey hoagie that grabs hold of your palate and lets you know it means business. The sandwich leaves a spicy zip in the mouth well after it’s done. If not for the cooling mayo, the Diablo seasonings would be well above an average person’s spice tolerances. But for me, the Turkey Diablo is more satisfying and unique.

More on Primo Hoagies to come in future posts. Got a favorite from Primo’s? Tell us about it in the comments.

Just west of the University of Pennsylvania campus is a little deli that has been a mecca for sandwich lovers for over 40 years. Although Bob Koch the enthusiastic, caring and friendly owner passed away in late 2005, his legacy lives on. At lunchtime, a five-person-deep single file line is almost always the norm, but the current employees keep the tradition of passing around complimentary fresh sliced corned beef and pickles to patiently waiting customers. The specialty sandwiches at Koch’s are known for piling on several types of meat and condiments and are named for universities in the area as well as members of the Koch family.

Jeff’s favorite, the Drexel Special is Koch’s take on the corned beef special adding special beef, turkey, provolone and of course topping it off with cole slaw and on a hoagie roll slathered in Russian dressing.

My personal favorite is the Special K, a hulking behemoth of a sandwich consisting of corned beef, turkey pastrami, kosher salami, potato salad, swiss cheese and Russian dressing.

To get the full Koch’s experience, you really have to go and wait in line, chat it up with the employees and watch as they slice the meat fresh and pile it high on your sandwich. At the same time, if you’re in a rush they take phone orders too. Either way, be prepared for a sore jaw, a full stomach and a smile on your face.

Get your sandwich on:

Koch’s Deli
4309 Locust Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 (Google Map)