This week, an existential question about chicken salad. Meanwhile across the pond, the pickle of a high-profile pre-order. We also welcome Guest Gulletier Wendy Wood back to the table.
A Focaccia-nary Tale
by Kitty
This Thursday, I went to work in the office and was determined to make the most of my lunch hour. A reward for wearing hard pants and having to host meetings in a pair of Bluetooth headphones. I took the word “hour” as a loose suggestion and decided I'd head downtown to pop into Craftland, a gift store on Westminster Street, before procuring food. After investigating grab-and-go lunch options, I landed on the (almost) neighboring Small Point Cafe. They had the option to order ahead—along with a self-proclaimed "famous chicken salad" on focaccia and freshly squeezed lemonade. I placed my order from the office parking lot and hit the highway.
The stars aligned and I found a sweet ass parking space (a risk at lunchtime mid-week!), meaning I’d have time to browse Craftland’s latest wares and dine in. I slid into a seat at the cafe and retrieved my order from the counter. Based on the description of the sandwich in their online ordering system, I knew my lunch was going to need some deconstructing. I lifted the top slice of bread to remove a layer of cucumbers that I wasn’t in the mood for—safer done in a cafe booth than in my lap on the Route 6/10 Connector. Upon inspection, I found chunks of chicken slathered in an orangey-brown-hued dressing. Sans cukes, I slapped the focaccia back on to chow down.
Around bite number three, I shuddered at the taste of something crunchy and sweet. Was this a fucking grape? “I better not uncover a walnut next,” I thought—residual fear from the time a tree nut made my tongue tingle. I opened her back up to find a slew of dried cranberries and what looked like bits of sweet red pepper. How did these evade my initial examination? I reluctantly ate the whole sandwich, extracting cranberries as I went, like an archaeologist on a dig site trying carefully not to disrupt the surrounding dirt. Speaking of fossils, the focaccia did have a certain…crunch to it. Instead of leaving me satisfied, this sandwich left me wondering—what constitutes a chicken salad, anyway?1 Sure, there’s the ever-present grape and nut debate, but Small Point Cafe went absolutely rogue on this one. Perhaps a substitute for the word “famous” on their menu would be “showstopping”? Sure as hell stopped me in my tracks.
The Verdict: A “sweet and savory” spin on a classic requires full up-front disclosure.
Name Drops: Small Point Cafe
Reel Food
by Wendy Wood2
I’m not a foodie. A buzzy new restaurant or culinary trend? Couldn’t care less.
Don’t get me wrong—I appreciate good food and hate to eat poorly, but I like to think about food the way I think about my clothes: well-made, quality ingredients, nothing flashy, comfortable classics rather than bedazzled going-out tops.
I have no desire to chase down the Zara food equivalent. I have happily missed out on the world of cronuts and rainbow bagels (references that confirm how out of touch I am with whatever is currently trending). Like my closet, I have been eating and wearing pretty much some version of the same thing for the past ten years.
However, I have recently become so utterly bored with my food decisions, that even Instagram must have sensed my need for a makeover. My feed for the past few months has been flooded with non-stop foodie recommendations around London. One IG Reel that I immediately bookmarked was Top Sandwich Spots in London. I’m a sucker for a good sandwich; one of the few things I will go out of my way for. Sometimes I have dreams about the BLT from Court Street Grocers—I wake up salivating, unsatisfied, and stuck on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Lady Delish seems to have smiled upon me as one of the algorithm’s recommended places, Chatsworth Bakehouse, happened to be a stone’s throw far from where we live. Upon clicking on the Instagram link I realized that I had passed this place several times. It never seemed to be open, so it had drifted out of my mind. With renewed interest and determination, I headed to their website to find the hours and rules of engagement—I suddenly had to have one of their sandwiches. Pre-orders for that week’s special occur on Monday at 12:30, and then pick-up is in the afternoon on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Usually, this kind of thing immediately turns me off, but instead, I found myself setting an alarm on my phone for Monday at 12:30. By the time I logged on on Monday, I was too late; they sold out of the sandwiches in half an hour. I spent the next week obsessively checking their website; a familiar feeling usually reserved for a vintage coat on eBay.
The following Monday, I was fully prepared and managed to bag that week’s offering, “The Kimchi Faceplant.” I arrived at the tiny storefront at 12:25 on Wednesday (5 min before opening) to find a queue of around 30 people! I sheepishly joined the line, feeling out of place and instantly wondering if this was going to be worth it. Forty minutes later, I was almost ready to abandon my sandwich dreams. The impatient lady in front of me had already gone up twice to investigate the hold-up. She irritatedly returned to our stretch of the line with news of a card-reader error. The three mothers with babies and strollers blocking the sidewalk in front of us couldn’t have been less bothered by this information and continued to chatter about home renovations. When the line shifted (the card reader error finally resolved) we moved swiftly toward the storefront. The tiny little shop that could hold only one customer at a time was the perfect combination of scrappy and decadent. Piles of various focaccia and trays of perfectly baked cookies were on display. The style of the interior was stripped down and functional with a little sprinkling of chaos—a studied, careless aesthetic I quite like. After an hour's wait and a few apologies from the staff, I triumphantly clutched my brown bag lunch and rushed to get home.
I have had many lackluster vegan sandwiches, but fortunately, this was not one of them. Was this sandwich a slippery greasy thing? Yes. The oil from the focaccia melded with the sesame soy dressing from the sweet Doenjang glazed eggplant. Surprisingly sturdy and far from heavy thanks to the bright, crunchy Kimchi-style chopped salad spilling out of every bite. If the Kimchi and eggplant were the leads of the sandwich the addition of a vegan mayo and crispy onions were the perfect supporting stars that really made the sandwich sing. They added the tang and crispiness necessary to cut the oil. It was so good, I even scraped up the last few bits stranded on the side of the plate. I sat back, perfectly satisfied.
In the back of my closet, I have a very special black corduroy blazer with sparkly black bugle beads sewn between the wales. It’s not an everyday item but a much-loved one. Perhaps the Kimchi Faceplant sandwich equivalent! Something special and sparkly to brighten a dull week. It’s safe to say I’ll probably find myself setting an alarm on Mondays and filing back in the queue. I can’t wait to find out what other lunchtime delights the imaginative team at Chatsworth has in store.
Name Drops: Chatsworth Bake House
Side Dish: Read Wendy’s first Gullet story.
A special thank you to this week’s illustrator, Olga Aleksandrova3! See more of her work here.
If you’d like to be a Guest Gulletier or illustrator, drop us a note at putitinthegullet@gmail.com
As legend has it, chicken salad was first served in Wakefield, RI in 1863.
Wendy Wood is a London-based textile designer specializing in knitwear and industrially knitted fabrics. When she is not knitting she enjoys puttering around in the garden. She has never come across a dahlia or a ball of yarn she didn't like.
Olga Aleksandrova is former architect turned editorial illustrator, based in Central Asia. Her work has been featured in publications such as Esquire, Harvard Business Review, The Washington Post, and BBC. Olga's illustrations blend metaphorical expression with visual storytelling. Check out her portfolio and follow her on Instagram for the latest creations.