Spanning centuries and borders, the sandwich is without doubt one of the most universally acquainted dishes. Easy, transportable and versatile, the enchantment of a meal between two slices of bread endures. It’s an optimum canvas, infinite in scope. You may hint London sandwich outlets again to the mid-Nineteenth-century sandwich bars dotted round The Strand, focusing on hungry theatre-goers. In a while, outlets like Sandy’s, which was opened in 1925 by British actor and theatre director Kenelm Foss, had been a supply of lunchtime nosh for throngs of staff, and honeypots for the creatives of the day.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of M&S Archive)
A few of these historic outlets nonetheless exist, like 125-year-old Paul Rothe & Son in Marylebone. Nevertheless, the pre-packaged sandwich (pioneered by Marks & Spencer in 1980 and popularised with Pret’s 1986 launch and Boots’ seminal ‘meal deal’ on the flip of the millennium) finally flooded the market with fast choices. Add within the look of extra uncommon quick meals choices within the late Nineties to mid-2000s – assume Wasabi, Itsu or Leon – and the sandwich store got here underneath risk.
M&S sandwich manufacturing, 1987
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of M&S Archive)
Why the London sandwich store is again in style
However the sandwich store has seen a revival. Sandwiches grew to become an ‘it’ meals once more within the mid to late 2010s. We noticed the likes of The Dusty Knuckle serving their famed potato sourdough sandwiches from 2013 initially out of a transport container in Hackney. The next yr Max’s Sandwich Store opened in Crouch Finish, attracting followers with sandwiches as packed as a rush-hour Tube with wealthy fillings like ham, eggs and chips.
Now, we see the likes of Bristol’s Sandwich Sandwich, which introduced its social feed-friendly slabs with symmetrical rainbow-like cross sections to the Metropolis final yr, already planning a second (and whopping, at 3,500 sq ft) London store. Cult sandwich model Crunch is about to open its first everlasting web site, following the recognition of its Spitalfields stall – serving brioche-y bricks with luxurious fillings, like duck leg and quince, since 2023. Sandwich outlets are cool once more, and meals entrepreneurs are responding accordingly.
The Crunch x Kushi London ‘Katsu Sando’
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Crunch)
The brand new vanguard of London sandwich outlets are positioned as fashionable locations, value travelling to even on the weekend. These aren’t simply pit stops for a speedy mid-week lunch to bifurcate a protracted day of maximising shareholder worth. For Jack Macrae, who co-founded Mondo Sando as a sandwich supply service in the course of the pandemic with faculty good friend Viggo Blegvad, lockdown was integral to this shift.
‘The final three to 4 years have been nuts for sandwiches,’ he tells Wallpaper*. ‘It’s undoubtedly linked to lockdown. One of the thrilling issues you could possibly do was get a enjoyable sandwich. Dom’s Subs was a lockdown factor for instance.’ He refers back to the semolina-dough Italian-American-style rolls that blew up from an ‘order by way of Instagram DM’ mannequin run out of a café basement on Hackney Street, to an in-demand model with two websites throughout the Sq. Mile.
Dom’s Subs id and branding by Sean Thomas
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Sean Thomas)
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Sean Thomas)
‘Individuals need that particular meal feeling with out spending the Earth,’ says Freddie Sheen, who opened ‘connoisseur sandwich store’ Rogue Sarnies with co-founder Zac Whittle in 2023. He shares how the tough financial local weather boosted sandwich outlets, the place decadent choices reminiscent of its beef shin with caramelised onion supply indulgence with out the restaurant price ticket.
In addition to enhancing the product itself, newer outlets are utilizing an aesthetic character to emit a person model ethos, setting themselves other than the traditionally extra homogenous sandwich store id.
Loyalty rewards at Mondo Sando
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Mondo Sando)
On the heels of a profitable 2022 residency at The White Horse in Peckham, the Mondo Sando group opened their debut brick-and-mortar web site on the finish of 2024 – Cafe Mondo in Camberwell. The sandwich store by day and diner-meets-bar by evening has a retro atmosphere. You’ll discover surfaces in Rubik’s dice colors, cobalt and white chequered packaging, nostalgic boxy typography throughout the chalkboard and whiteboard-style menu shows, alongside a miscellany of classic ephemera.
The interiors replicate the pair’s fascination with world informal meals tradition. ‘We’re fascinated with locations like caffs, dive bars, izakayas – the locations the place quick meals and getting drunk collide,’ Macrae says. He lists the normal British ‘caff’, synonymous with Formica tabletops and laminated menus, and the old-school sandwich bar as influences, together with the New York luncheonette. ‘We drew some inspiration from locations like B&H Dairy and S&P Lunch. We wished a “shotgun” format, the place you have got a counter to 1 facet and the store extends in a protracted straight line.’
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Cafe Mondo)
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Cafe Mondo)
At De Santis, tucked into the cavernous church crypt of Mercato Metropolitano in Mayfair, inventive director Letizia Cervieri was charged with designing a appear and feel that’s fashionable however in line with the spirit of the enduring Milanese panini home – specifically, the unique Corsa Magenta location, which opened initially as a bar in 1964 and boasts a star-studded customer record. There’s a grown-up, bar-like sultriness to the covert London department – paying homage to a speakeasy – with its curved brick ceiling, mirror-lined wall, metallic rose-gold surfaces reflecting the desk lamps, and muted ceiling lights. Should-tries embody the beloved ‘Reggio’, crammed with salty-sweet, buttery PDO parma, earthy porcini – additional silky with olive oil – and creamy, nutty fontina.
‘The design works for takeaway however you possibly can come for lunch or dinner, and have a face-to-face chat over a panini and charcuterie with an aperitivo,’ Michael Weber, supervisor at De Santis, explains. The ritual of aperitivo will not be as quintessential to London’s eating tradition as it’s to Milan’s, however Weber believes spots designed like this could coax extra late afternoon nibbling and sipping. ‘With the rise of wine bars and the draw back from digitalisation, persons are in search of alternatives to attach all through the week.’
De Santis at Mercato Metropolitano branding
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of De Santis)
Dodo sandwich at De Santis
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of De Santis)
Dal Fiorentino introduced Florentine Schiacciata sandwiches to Hoxton in 2022, spreading to a 3rd store in Fitzrovia final autumn. Right here, garlands of cured sausage, chillies and garlic, and rows of decorative wall plates deliver conventional Tuscan aptitude. Decor can be central to the transportive mission of It’s Bagels, the New York-style bagel store opened by style photographer Dan Martensen in Primrose Hill two years in the past.
As with the model’s earlier areas, for its latest opening in Soho final yr, Martensen enlisted Brooklyn-based GRT Architects to deliver the essence of a standard Huge Apple diner to certainly one of London’s most storied neighbourhoods. The 15-cover web site has the everyday chequerboard flooring, wood panelling, and theatre-like lightboxes signposting menu gadgets. The daring however easy capitalised signal, neatly hand-painted in crimson and navy, has a patriotic, ‘land of liberty’ really feel to it.
It’s Bagels Primrose Hill
(Picture credit score: Pictures by Teo Della Torre)
It’s Bagels Notting Hill
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of It’s Bagels)
For the brand new era of sandwich outlets, an identifiable visible language uniting their bodily and digital presence is essential to attracting, connecting with, and rising a loyal fan base, who can affiliate with the institution, not simply as a store, however as part of their life-style.
The resurgence of London sandwich outlets appears to be like set to proceed. De Santis’ Weber reveals, ‘We’re in search of a second location – someplace that displays the historic attraction of De Santis however accommodates extra Londoners.’ Equally, Rogue Sarnies is certainly one of a variety of manufacturers at the moment increasing due to the town’s continued affinity for sandwiches.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of It’s Bagels)
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of It’s Bagels)
For Freddie Sheen, who labored at Michelin-starred Galvin La Chapelle earlier than beginning Rogue Sarnies, there’s one thing pleasantly grounding about sandwiches. ‘Placing one thing scrumptious between two slices of bread was a breath of contemporary air after the swipes, drags and purées of effective eating.’ Macrae of Cafe Mondo notes the timelessness and nostalgic pull of sandwiches. ‘It’s no coincidence that our most ordered sandwich by a rustic mile is the fish finger sandwich. Lots of people had it at college, or after faculty, and are returning to that consolation as adults.’
And so, a century on from the artists’ lair of Sandy’s, the sandwich store is a cool hangout as soon as once more.
It’s Bagels Notting Hill
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of It’s Bagels)
Supply: Wallpaper
