WILMINGTON — Chef Bobby Zimmerman is trading Beat Street’s global street food for something a little more familiar, if not a lot messier. Sunny Day Sandwich Shoppe has opened in Wilmington’s Cargo District, serving up Italian beef, chopped cheese and other overstuffed sandwiches.
With his sous chef of nine years, Kevin Kellum, the team has been doing research and development by testing hot handhelds on True Blue’s menu and other sandwiches at a pop-up they hosted at End of Days Distillery’s Concept Kitchen last December. The sandwich concept was devised in homage to the “hard-working people of the city,” Zimmerman said.
“I’ve realized I want to cook for the blue-collar workers,” he added. “The people who put in a hard day’s work and don’t mind a little bit of juice or cheese on their chins.”
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The Chicago Italian beef, consisting of shredded beef topped with in-house brined giardiniera, and dipped in the gravy the beef is cooked in, soaks through to the foil paper wrapping it. A New York chopped cheese gushes with shaved meat, caramelized onions, sweet peppers, white cheddar, and mayonnaise.
“The chopped cheese is just lights out,” Zimmerman said. “We wanted to offer a sandwich that embraces messiness, some may not be pretty to look at but that’s what makes them good. They’re leaky and toppings are falling everywhere. I can’t think of a good sandwich that is gorgeous.”
The Chicago Italian beef is a nod to his time traveling to Chicago frequently from his home in neighboring Iowa. It’s also having a resurgence because of “The Bear,” Zimmerman acknowledged, referring to the Emmy-winning series from FX, which follows a Chicago restaurant and its chefs.
But the real question Zimmerman has been toying with lately: to embrace the sog or not?
The chef said he has taken an informal poll in the last few weeks, which has indicated a split of people for the saturation, especially the hot Italian beef, which can even be double-dipped in au jus at Sunny Day. His sous chef, Kevin Kellum, agrees that’s where the flavor is.
“But I got a little offended by someone I really like and admire — my girlfriend — who said the sandwich was too soggy,” Zimmerman quipped during Sunny Day’s soft opening on Friday, Aug. 21.
The debate — to sog or not — has devolved into a Larry David situation (see the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode “The Spite Store”). This interaction has led Zimmerman to now devise “a soggy marketing campaign to execute cult soggy facts” every diner needs to understand about why saturation matters.
He even broke it down scientifically.
“Salted vegetables bring out water, and when adding adequate sauce, it makes for a tastier sandwich,” Zimmerman said. “When you industrialize the bread and it doesn’t become soggy, it’s a shitty sandwich. So we use plenty of salt and season our vegetables — is that so wrong?”
Zimmerman also said the hot sandwiches are packed with glutamates — natural amino acid compounds — due to the seasoning of the meats and added flavors from the culinary team. Glutamates provide savory foods their rich, umami flavors.
However, the menu at Sunny Day will deliver for both sog-lovers and non; those who want the saturation will be satisfied by three hot offerings — Italian beef, chopped cheese and French dip. However, there is also a build-your-own menu that may create less moisture, if one so chooses.
Diners can select from a multitude of toppings, meats, cheeses and condiments — this is where vegetarians can also create their own sandwiches. Once a month, the Sunny Day team will choose the best culinary handheld to feature on their menu.
The building blocks of flavor come from using top-cut and sustainable meats from San Giuseppe Salami Co. in Greensboro. Zimmerman said the turkey and chicken is nitrate-free and sous vide rather than processed.
For the hot sandwiches, they slow cook a tiny muscle from the tenderloins they cut at True Blue. Homemade bread is delivered daily from True Blue Butcher and Baker in Hampstead, while all sauces, vinaigrettes and aiolis are made in house.
They considered butchering and roasting all meats, since that is the speciality at True Blue.
“We could have gotten into briskets and pastramis,” Zimmerman said. “But with the cold sandwiches, you can customize them thousands of ways.”
Zimmerman and Kellum have created a menu that is a work-in-progress. The Green Goddess, for instance, was born from a popular salad the team sold at all of its restaurants. The handheld is topped with turkey, white cheddar, grilled asparagus, avocado, tomato, shredduce and Green Goddess dressing.
Roasted sliced beef also appears on the Dino — which is heavily seasoned and tastes like a Greek gyro pita, but served on a True Blue roll. It’s topped with feta, an olive relish, shredduce, tomato, Tzatziki, pistachio crumble, and basil aioli.
“I did not know what to expect with this one,” Kellum said. “But it is such a good sandwich, with lots of flavor.”
His favorite, however, is the O.G. — Sunny Day’s approach to an Italian coldcut. It’s topped with soppressata, pistachio mortadella, provolone, parmesan, Calabrian chili aioli, tomato and vinaigrette.
“Bobby killed it with the vinaigrette,” he said, adding it rivals Jersey Mike’s “juice.”
The menu could change up some and Zimmerman said a taco may slip back into rotation on a random Tuesday — one of Beat Street’s staples. The concept was in place four years, highlighting street food from various areas across the world: tacos, empanadas, burgers, ramen, eggrolls, kebabs and the like.
“But food trucks have multiplied in this town, bringing more street food,” Zimmerman said, adding there is also a plethora of restaurants opening in the Cargo District. “You have to evolve with competition.”
Sunny Day Sandwich Shoppe will have $10 chopped cheeses on Wednesday until they run out and 50% off sandwiches on Thursday when purchased as a combo.
The restaurant is open at 348 Hutchison Lane, Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Prices are $10 to $22, with both small and large portions offered.
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