What Makes a Sandwich Gourmet?

The food scene in Reno and Truckee is getting better all the time, with new places popping up on the regular. Next time you're perusing the limited - or "curated," as they say - menu in one of these fine little establishments and you wonder what exactly they mean by gourmet sandwiches, remember this post.

What makes a sandwich gourmet?

We looked it up, and some smarty-pants on Quora nailed it. The term "gourmet" is designed to make you think this sandwich is no ordinary sandwich. Nope, it's been elevated by one or more of the following ways:

• Impeccable quality, thanks to either rare or premium ingredients
• Unrivaled kitchen skills, meaning it was assembled by someone who knows what he/she is doing
• The price tag, because an $18 sandwich must mean it's delicious!

Here at Full Belly Deli, we've made thousands and thousands of sandwiches. Really, really great sandwiches that are nowhere near $18 a pop. And in our humble opinion, the price tag isn't an automatic tell of a gourmet sandwich. But yes, high-quality ingredients and some knowledge in the kitchen probably are.So what else makes a sandwich gourmet?

• Varying yet complementary textures - It's a sad truth that a lot of the standard ingredients in a sandwich are pretty similar in texture. From the bread itself to cheeses and meats to certain vegetables, they're all pretty soft. And too many soft ingredients makes for a boring sandwich. You can fix that in a snap with a little bit of crunch - a crispier bread choice, more veggies, even a handful of potato chips.
• Better condiments - The condiments aren't there just to up the moisture level. This is where you can really pull together all of the elements and kick everything up a notch or three. here at FBD, we whip up all kinds of house-made sauces, from horseradish cream to cranberry cream cheese to roasted red pepper sauce and more.
• Killer bread - We wrote a whole post about this one, so go check that out. We'll wait here.

We're guessing atmosphere probably plays into a restaurant's ability to promote gourmet sandwiches. But sometimes, you just want a guaranteed great sando. And that's when you go to Full Belly Deli in Reno and Truckee. You won't hear us calling our sandwiches gourmet, but plenty of people do.