Thursday, January 09, 2020

Rolle too!

I don't want this reblogaissance to solely consist of being sad about restaurants that are closing, so hopefully this trend will end.

Rolle announced he is closing Cafe Rolle. I'm not sure if it's already closed or if maybe we can all go grab one more salmon sandwich. Read more after the jump


In 2011 I wrote a MidMo cover story where I placed their chicken pate sandwich (with goat cheese and tarragon) at number one. He had since discontinued that sandwich, but I still loved the hot poached salmon.

Wow, MidMo look weird now but I'm glad it's still up. I mostly stand by the list, except for the Sandra Dee's pick, which is weird. I don't think I ever ate that sandwich before or since. I miss that Mariscos Mazatlan torta. And of course I miss fat face. Oh man, what sandwich did I have recently that reminded me of the cola-braised pork from Fat Face. Smiller do you remember? Goddamnit that is gonna bug me.

Petra got gross pretty quickly and I stopped going there. Le Bonne Soupe changed owners. Anyway, the list is still ok and a lot has changed since 2011. This comment is cracking me up:

OK, well uploading a screengrab failed cuz it looks tiny. I will type:

Diana: It's pretty strange that this list does not included Dad's or the Sandwich Spot (comment: no, no it isn't) Seriously?!? I'm also a little put off by the pork-and-beef centric decisions (in retrospect, she is right, but it was a meatier time). It's false advertising to label this "Sac's top 20 sandwiches" when really it's "Becky Grunewald's top 20 sandwiches".

I responded to this article by starting a sandwich-testing laboratory so we could reach a scientific consensus on the 20 best sandwiches in Sacramento. We received a 1.4 million dollar grant from the NIH and after years of rigorous testing, we published our results in the peer-reviewed journal Nature: Sandwiches. Our results confirmed that Rolle had the best sandwich so I was called to testify before a congressional subcommittee on why I had wasted 5 years feeding sandwiches to rats when I already knew, and had published, a list of the best sandwiches. I retired in disgrace from that career and I'm now back to blogging for fame and fortune.

Back to Rolle. Truly classic. I make a facsimile of his mustard vinaigrette all the time, which is super simple. William Rolle is quirky and charming and was always singing and humming and greeting everyone in his strong French accent, always asking me how friends who used to work there long ago were doing. If you have been going there awhile you remember Rafik, the server who was the sweetest guy in the world, who died shockingly young of a respiratory illness. And that fish-scale printed paper he packaged stuff in! I want some of that to keep.

Please don't let Sunflower be next. Or Bud's. Or anywhere!!


5 comments:

beckler said...

Felt the need to clarify, if you don't remember it, that the chicken pate was actually made with chicken meat, not chicken liver. Mostly when we hear pate we think liver, but not in this case. But chicken liver would top my list of "Becky Grunewal's 20 best livers"

Jed said...

The Bee is declaring all the closures a “bloodbath.” Call in the National Guard.

Kate said...

OK the description of your secret scientific sandwich career made me laugh actually out loud. I bet the sandwich lab was unrivalled for safety!

I tried to go to Rolle last Tuesday before the announcement and got a real sinking feeling when the sign saying "closed for vacation, will return Tuesday January 7" was still on the locked door. I think they never reopened after the winter break.

Scott Miller said...

Where was that Fat Face-esque sandwich?? Was it something you maybe made at home with Faria bread? We haven't been to to many places recently that have sandwiches I don't think.

beckler said...

it wasn't anything I made. this is going to bug me forever!