Mealy-Mouthed: 'wichcraft SF

Went to 'wichcraft SF for lunch today after buying a toy helicopter and a comic for Simon at the Westfield Mall. I'd been meaning to stop by this place for about a year, and I got there around 11. It was pretty empty, and I sat at the bar, where a 18-year-old-looking kid was also sitting. He was writing on little index cards, in this boring bubble-lettered font, and kept calling the people working behind the counter over so they could check his spelling. I guess he was making placards for the pastries they had available at the register, and he was getting a free lunch out of the deal. Maybe he was the brother of someone who worked there.

I had this: chopped chickpeas, roasted red peppers, black olives, lemon and parsley on country bread, chosen from a menu that looked a lot like this.

The sandwich came with some chips and I bought a Hitachino Nest Red Rice (RR) beer to go with it all. All of that for $13. I don't know if that was a good deal or not. It probably was.

Sandwich was a bit sloppy. Chickpeas falling out all over the place, in this sort of yellow and grey and green mash that looked much nicer than it sounds. The ingredients were fresh and firm. Everything tasted quite good, so I didn't mind the mess, and picked up the bits with my fingers and used my chips as scoops while I read the comic I got for Simon (Frank Miller's Robocop).

I mean, it's just a lunch place. There's some subtlety in what they're doing, sure, but there are also like four panini presses that I knew would start cranking out slow-roasted pork, red cabbage, jalapeños & mustard on ciabatta roll, and grilled cheddar smoked ham, pear & mustard on cranberry-pecan bread when the rush hit in an hour. And clearly my chickpea mash was pre-built this morning.

But who cares? My mouth didn't.

In a Word: Sandicraft