The perfect comfort food.
By Sarah Fenske
Every time I go to Cheese 'n Stuff, the remarkable little deli/food shop on Central, I order the same thing.
This is not the fault of the owners. They have an amazing variety of food here, from sandwiches made with Boar's Head meats and exotic cheeses to Nordic delicacies. Where else in town can you get Swedish pancake mix? Or Lutefisk? When I popped by this morning, I was amused to see a sign at the counter proclaiming that they now had "German Limburger." No offense to Limburger, but you simply won't see that one being advertised in many other delis.
No, the reason I keep ordering the same thing is that I'm in love. The very first time I placed an order here, I hit the jackpot, and I just don't see any reason to give another sandwich a chance: The Doughboy is comfort food perfected.
It's pretty simple, really. Deli turkey, bacon, advocado, and mayo on sourdough bread, served warm. But there is something wonderful about the way they make it here. They never give you tasteless spears of still-hard advocado, for one thing: at Cheese 'n Stuff, it's creamy and ripe. The bread is so wonderfully soft, too. And the mayo -- I swear, they must slather it on, because the overriding impression you get is the creamy saltiness of mayo-and-bacon. Yum.
Incidentally, I'd always thought of Cheese 'n Stuff as one of my little secrets. It is, in fact, on the beaten track, but it seems so delightfully anachronistic, from the wonderful vintage sign promising "Cheeses" and "Fancy Food" to its quiet dusty feel on a non-busy morning. I felt like I knew something other people didn't know.
But after doing a little research, I now realize that my happy little secret is a lot of people's happy little secrets. Esquire recently cited the place in its "Best Sandwiches" list (check out the link here). And when I browsed Yelp.com to see if the foodies knew about the place, it turns out that not only do they know it, they love it -- and one of their bloggers is also obsessed with my beloved Doughboy!
So now you don't have to take my word for it. There is something sublime about this particular sandwich ... and if you can't bring yourself to eat all that mayo, well, the good people at Cheese 'n Stuff have some Limburger they can sell you.
