FERNANDEZ & WELLS
A LITTLE SLICE OF EXCELLENCE IN SOHO
It takes a lot for me to get excited about a sandwich, ergo, it takes even more for me to get excited about a sandwich shop.
So, when my greying but well dressed friend, Neil began to extol the virtues of Fernandez & Wells on Lexington St, it was hard not to have to stifle a yawn.
But, damn him, he was right. In fact, he was right with very polished knobs on. Fernandez & Wells is not just a sandwich shop, it is what Bill Bailey might call the whitewashed sandwich shop of dreams.
The deli has been open since January, I think and one of the owners used to work for The Monmouth Coffee Co. Because of that and its obvious links with Neal’s Yard Dairy, there are a lot of things that are immediately familiar from the slightly Spartan décor of the deli ( and its sister coffee shop around the corner on Beak St which opened in March) the unaffected amiability of the staff and, most of all, the quality of the produce on offer.
The deli does sell a huge range of sandwiches which you are welcome to take around the corner and eat in the coffee shop as they have no space for you to eat in. On top of which, it also sells a wide range of of other foods including a Paella based on the MORO recipe, Chunky soups ( perfect for the chills of the current Summer ) and, bet of all, hand cut hams ranging from hand sliced Iberico Bellota to a Pyrenean ham one of the owners discovered when he was on holiday.
For once, however, I was not seduced by slices of Jamon. I wanted a sandwich and decided upon a hefty item made with Greek Peppers and Asturian Chorizo. I could just have easily gone for one of about twenty other offerings, including another nod towards Neal’s Yard, Bill Oglethorpe’s grilled Monty’s Cheddar on Poilane bread, but in the end, the thought of oily, spicy pork on a bun won out.
Jolly fine it was too. With that and a bottle of Fentiman’s Ginger Beer, I toddled around to the Coffee shop and sat happily munching as the busy and important people of SOHO passed by.
It’s not cheap. £6 for a sarni and a bottle of pop. But, for the best Chorizo sandwich I can recall, it is worth the effort.
Definitely worth a try.
Labels: Fernadez Wells, LONDON, Sandwich Shops, SOHO
posted by Hermano 2 @ 1:40 pm
Dine with Dos Hermanos
2 Comments:
There's nothing wrong with getting excited over a sandwich, I do all the time. I find there's something very special and also very therapeutic about making a sandwich for oneself. Glad you liked the chorizo sarnie, I don't often put it into sandwiches but I would certainly extol the virtues of doing so
Popped in today for some much needed protein after the carbfest that was my w/e (pizza, pasta, bread and terrine made with potato). Went for the thirty-month Jamon Iberico. The Jamon was delicious but they made a right er...pigs ear of cutting it. The knife wasn't sharp enough so the meat ended up looking like offcuts.
Somebody who I assume was one of the eponymous owners came by but didn't comment upon the fact that here was a fabulous ham being massacred. I guess it's all just for show. I'd respect them more if as a nod to all things Iberian they just hung up some castanets and a bullfight poster.
Rolls looked good, though
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