First, it was better burgers. Now, it’s better sandwiches.


A new breed of sandwich player is cropping up around the country and carving out a specialty niche within the fast-casual segment.


In the same way that restaurant concepts have elevated the humble burger with a focus on quality ingredients, these new operators are rethinking the beloved sandwich.


Many are former fine-dining chefs who are applying techniques more commonly found in high-end kitchens, often making just about everything in house, from the cured meats and roasted turkeys to the pickled vegetables and fresh breads. Most rely on a commissary model to maintain quality of ingredients as they grow.


Their goal is to appeal to customers who may be bored with the build-your-own sub format and are willing to pay more for a more upscale experience between two slices of bread.


Among them are chains like the 14-unit ’wichcraft, based in New York, and the growing, four-unit Mendocino Farms in Los Angeles.


Others are new one-offs or smaller operations just starting to grow, such as ink.sack in Los Angeles, the Noble Pig in Austin, 
Texas, and Bunk Sandwiches in Portland, Ore.


Coming next year is a new concept by New York chef Wylie Dufresne’s father, Dewey Dufresne, a former sandwich-shop owner who plans to introduce a concept called Byggyz — pronounced Biggie’s — to New York.


The challenge for this new breed of sandwich slinger, however, is running a labor-intensive operation and serving top-quality ingredients while still keeping prices around $10 or less.


Many say they’re still trying to find that balance. But the response from consumers indicates there is room for growth.


“It’s less a trend and more a natural development,” said Jeffrey Zurofsky, a partner in ’wichcraft. “It’s here to stay, and it’s for the better. I hope this movement of changing the quality and ingredients … will actually change the way others, like Subway, will do their business.”



’Wichcraft


As the nation’s biggest restaurant chain, Subway clearly has established itself on the foodservice landscape. And the segment has long included more upmarket concepts, from McAlister’s Deli and Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches to Le Pain Quotidien and Potbelly Sandwich Shop.


But the newer crop of better-sandwich brands aims even higher than that.


First opened in 2003, ’wichcraft, developed by celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, was one of the first to raise the bar on sandwiches. 


Offerings include updated classics like the top-selling turkey. The meat is roasted in house, sliced thick and piled on a ciabatta roll with bacon, avocado and house-made onion relish and aïoli.


Less traditional options include a pressed sandwich on country bread with roasted sweet potato and mozzarella, spiked with oven-dried black olives, shallots and basil.


The average per-person check is about $10 to $11, which, with food costs up about 12 percent over the past 18 months, has posed a challenge, Zurofsky said.


“You can’t really charge more than $10 for a sandwich,” he said. “It’s just not part of what people will accept. They’ll pay more for a salad, but not a sandwich.”


’Wichcraft now has 12 locations in New York and two more in Las Vegas and San Francisco. However, Zurofsky said the chain is taking “a pause” to think about how to grow from here.


Last year, ’wichcraft scaled back the menu from about 19 sandwiches to 11, making room for seasonal and daily specials and “refining for scale,” Zurofsky said.


The goal is to finish the year with a prototype for future growth, and then restart moves into new regions with the aim of opening about 30 over the next two to three years, he said. Washington, D.C., and Chicago are the next potential markets.


Mendocino Farms


Not far behind in terms of growth is Mendocino Farms, founded in 2005 in Los Angeles. In October the chain opened its fourth location in Los Angeles, with two more planned next year.


Last year, New York investment firm GrowthPoint Restaurants, started by Così Restaurants founder Nick Marsh, committed $1.2 million to Mendocino Farms’ development. 


The chain is known for its farm-to-table philosophy of using local and seasonal ingredients. One of the top sellers is a Vietnamese-style bánh mì made with caramelized Kurobuta pork belly with house-pickled daikon and carrots, and chili aïoli. 


In addition, founder Mario Del Pero and partners Judy Han, a former fine-dining chef, and Ellen Chen are planning a second sandwich concept called Blue Cow, scheduled to open in January.


Blue Cow will serve as a “think tank” for developing new menu items for the primary Mendocino Farms brand, Del Pero said.


Guest chefs will be invited in to help push the envelope on creating new sandwiches.


“We realized we couldn’t be as experimental because we wanted all [Mendocino patrons] to eat the same,” Del Pero said. “We see [Blue Cow] as an opportunity to maintain our soul and keep our edge.”


Blue Cow also won’t have the price limitations of Mendocino Farms, he said. At the primary restaurants, sandwiches are kept below the $12 mark, while at Blue Cow they may veer closer to $20.


“Sandwiches are an interesting vehicle to make more upscale food more approachable,” Del Pero said. “It’s taking the familiar and showing how brilliant it can be.”


Both Mendocino Farms and ’wichcraft have moved away from offering guests the chance to build their own sandwiches — though they can if they ask.


The fear, said Del Pero, is that guests will take the bold ingredients carefully designed for certain sandwiches and combine them in unappealing ways.


“We’re dangerous on the build-your-own side,” he said. “They could build a disgusting sandwich.”


Guests are beginning to get it, though, and Del Pero said build-your-own requests, which initially accounted for about 20 percent of sales, have dropped to about 5 percent.


The first full-sized location — about 2,400 square feet — is expected to do about $3 million in sales this year.


Ink.sack


Also in Los Angeles, Michael Voltaggio last month opened ink.sack, a tiny shop with no seating that the former “Top Chef” winner called “basically a food truck that doesn’t move.”


With only six or seven items on the menu, ink.sack offers sandwiches that are about 4 inches long, so guests can order several to try different things.


All meats are made in house, except the Serrano ham used in the Spanish Godfather, which also contains chorizo, lomo and Manchego, with shredded salad, piquillo peppers, olives, olive oil, and sherry vinaigrette.


Ink.sack’s other specialties, which run from $5 to $7, include a Reuben made with beef tongue, house-made sauerkraut and Russian dressing; and turkey that is brined in house and cooked sous vide.


While preparing items from scratch can reduce food costs, Voltaggio said it also increases labor costs.


“But I’d rather spend the money doing it ourselves,” he said.


Ink.sack, however, doesn’t have a kitchen, so food is prepared in the kitchen of Voltaggio’s full-service restaurant called ink.


Voltaggio said he plans to open a commissary space after getting a few more locations open.


“I didn’t grow up dreaming of being a sandwich chef, but now all I want to do is open sandwich shops,” he said.


Noble Pig


The Noble Pig was opened in September 2010 in Austin by partners John Bates and Brandon Martinez, who believed scratch cooking with local, sustainable, top-quality ingredients would stand out in the sandwich crowd.


Bates, who worked previously in fine dining at the Austin restaurants Asti Trattoria and Wink Restaurant, said “everything but the chips” is made in house, from the bread to the duck pastrami.


“My gripe with sandwich places is that they go out and buy a slightly more-premium grade of deli meat” and call it gourmet, Bates said.


At the Noble Pig, sandwiches run between $7 and $9, and the shop is open for breakfast and lunch, as well as the occasional multicourse fixed-price dinner, because, Bates said, “I can’t get the fine dining out of me.”


The shop’s signature item is The Noble Pig sandwich, with spicy ham, pulled pork, provolone and bacon on farmhouse white or oatmeal wheat bread, grilled Texas-toast style, for $8. 


Other top sellers include the BLT, made with smoked pork belly and roasted tomatoes, and the Smoked Duck Pastrami, with Russian dressing and rye pickles.


The partners added a new “deli and charcuterie” next door, where they will sell their house-baked breads, hams and pâtés, sauces, cheeses, and grab-and-go sandwiches, Bates said.


They are looking for a second location in Austin. If they get to a third, Bates said they will open a commissary from which they can make items and negotiate better rates from vendors.


Bunk


In Portland, two former fine-dining chefs are joining the upscale sandwich pack as well.


Tommy Habetz, who worked previously for Mario Batali at Po and Bobby Flay at Mesa Grill, both in New York, said he teamed up with partner Nick Wood, formerly of Brennan’s in New Orleans, to open Bunk about three years ago in “an act of desperation.”


“We didn’t have the money to open a fine-dining restaurant,” he said. “Many of our friends couldn’t even afford to eat in fine-dining restaurants.”


So the two decided to open a sandwich shop in an 800-square-foot space, where they applied their high-end culinary training.


A top seller is the Pork Belly Cubano, made with slow-roasted pork belly, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard for $9.


The menu also includes a meatball Parmesan hero, $8, and roast beef with caramelized onions, horseradish and Cheddar, $9.


Some chefs in the better-
sandwich realm do things that are “a little esoteric,” he said, or put together ingredients just to get attention.


“It might be really delicious, but not everyone wants to eat a fried-chicken-liver sandwich with black garlic every day,” Habetz said. “You don’t want to be a novelty.”


With the original location ringing in sales of about $600,000 to $700,000 per year, Habetz said, the partners last year opened a larger Bunk Bar nearby. The kitchen there has become a commissary. A third, takeout-only location recently opened in downtown Portland. 


Now the partners are eyeing other cities, but Habetz said he knows that size can erode quality.


“The key is trying to grow and not let quality go down,” he said.


Byggyz


Coming early next year is the fast-casual Byggyz concept by the senior Dufresne, who said his famed chef son is not involved, though the father has borrowed a few of his son’s cooking techniques.


Sandwiches will range from $7 to $10. The cornerstone of the menu will be the Byggybeef, made with beef short-rib meat braised in pomegranate juice and beef stock and molded into a rectangular patty using “meat glue” — Wylie’s influence. It’s served hot on a ciabatta-esque roll with “XO-llent” sauce, American cheese, julienned pickled carrots, red cabbage, fennel slices and hot peppers.


Dufresne, who operated a sandwich shop called Joe’s for 40 years in Rhode Island, said he sees the need for something a little better.


“I don’t want to make something elitist,” he said. “I want to make something delicious that’s of interest to everybody.”

Bret Thorn contributed to this article.


Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com
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Follow her on Twitter @livetodineout.