We’ve enjoyed the occasional lunch at Companion Bakehouse, and always find the sandwiches a pleasure. Companion and its founder Josh Allen were among those who led a move away from boring bread in St. Louis; the bread on any sandwich is among the high points of the experience.
But we’ve found a particularly delicious version that would make the ol’ Earl of Sandwich himself hoot "Gadzooks!" It’s called The B.P. A generous amount of moist turkey breast, a little ham and a layer of baby Swiss cheese is set upon a ciabatta bun and anointed with something called Cuban sauce. Cuban sauce is creamy, very slightly orange-ish, and quite sharp—one of the things we admire about this place is that they’re willing to season things more vigorously than we’ve come to expect locally. The whole thing is grilled in a sandwich press just long enough to crisp up the bread to a cracker-like perfection. The cheese melts a little, but it’s not really a hot-all-the-way-through sort of thing. And it’s not really a Cuban sandwich; no roast pork or dill pickles.
But it’s the sort of thing that made us say "Wow!" after the first bite, between the sharp sauce, the moist meat and the crisp bread. (And we will not even touch on the tasty morning food at Companion. That’s for another time.)
Companion Bakehouse
8143 Maryland Ave., Clayton
314-721-5454
Credit cards: All major
Wheelchair access: Fair
Smoking: No
Entrees: $4-$8