The Vintage Sandwich Anthony Bourdain Seriously Hated

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When Anthony Bourdain didn't like something, he never held back on sharing his honest thoughts on the matter. The chef-turned-author and traveling television host had a deeply entertaining way with words, and even his criticisms sounded poetic and, often, hilarious. During an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2016, Bourdain shared his damning critique of the club sandwich, saying, "I'm really irritated by that useless middle slice of bread on the club sandwich. It's been there forever. It's not a trend. It's lasted for decades, and why, when we can so easily dispense with it?"

His issue was mostly that the middle slice of bread makes all of the other sandwich ingredients slide around and away from the sandwich, seriously annoying anyone who tries to eat it. Without the rogue, third slice of bread, the club might even have been a sandwich Bourdain enjoyed, as it combines bacon, turkey or chicken, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise — all of which are fairly inoffensive lunch elements.

Interestingly enough, it appears that the original club sandwich didn't contain a third slice of bread at all. While the origin of the sandwich isn't crystal clear, many agree that it was first created in the late 19th century at the Saratoga Club House in eastern New York. The earliest printed recipe for the club sandwich is found in 1903's "Good Housekeeping Everyday Cook Book" and calls for just two slices of toasted, buttered bread and the aforementioned ingredients.

I agree that the club isn't the best sandwich in the world, but I've never minded the extra piece of bread. I'm more offended by the bread being toasted, which unavoidably slices and dices the roof of my mouth. Like Bourdain, I'd choose almost any other sandwich at a restaurant, and I'd especially select one of the handheld dishes he loved.

During his frequent travels, Bourdain admitted that the sandwich he craved most was from Pastrami Queen, calling it the best pastrami sandwich in New York City. Simply made with pastrami and a squirt of mustard on soft rye bread, plus some pickles on the side, he gushed that it was often the first place he headed to whenever he landed back home. 

During an episode of "No Reservations" when he traveled to Montevideo, Uruguay (a food city he thought was completely underrated), Bourdain ate a chivito, which he claimed was "the greatest sandwich ever" (via YouTube). He compared it to Mount Everest and likened eating the dish to trying to herd cats – in other words, chaotic. There are many variations, but his chivito was piled with ham, bacon, beef, grilled onions, hard-cooked eggs, lettuce, tomato, mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise, and both hot and sweet peppers.

Finally, Bourdain's own mortadella sandwich was perfect for late-night cravings. He included the recipe in a cookbook called "Appetites" that he wrote with Laurie Woolever. Bourdain pan-fried slices of mortadella, melted provolone cheese on them, and served it all on a sourdough roll. He hadn't cooked professionally in years by the time the book was released, but Anthony Bourdain still sure knew how to make a mean sandwich.