Sandwich Update: My Dream is Crushed

It was with a heavy heart that I left Barnes & Noble last week. I had went to get my mother a book for her birthday and to get myself a new cookbook. I wound up with Tom Colicchio's "'wichcraft." I was aware that this star chef had turned his attention to the humble sandwich with his 'wichcraft restaurant in NYC, and having had the pleasure of dining at some of his establishments (one of the best meals of my entire life was at Gramercy Tavern in NYC; although Colicchio is no longer affiliated with the restaurant, he was at one time co-owner and Executive Chef), I was sure these sandwiches weren't just greasy take out slop. What I didn't know, however, is that there are currently 13 'wichcraft restaurants. One in San Fran, one in Vegas, and 11 in the Big Apple. 13...lucky me. Apparently, without consulting yours truly, a sandwich empire has been created. I would really like to call ole Tommy boy a hack and accuse him of stealing my idea, but even I'm not that delusional. This doesn't mean I'm not a little pissed, though.

Crushed dreams aside, there's some damn fine sandwiches in the book. Last night I opted for page 121: Chicken breast with roasted peppers, mozzarella, and spinach-basil pesto. Chicken is, for me, generally a "What-the-hell-am-I-supposed-to-do-with-this" type of thing, but this one kinda jumped out at me. Turned out rather delicious too, I might add.

Tom Colicchio might be a short, bald, dream crusher, but he also makes a mean sandwich. All the same...screw you, Tom.