Kirk is still busy, Cathy needs a day off, so Ed (from Yuma) does the food blogging here today. About a lunch that he and Tina had recently in Phoenix.
Back in 2010 when I told Tina that Chris Bianco’s Pizza Bianco
had just been named the best pizza in the United States, she said, "I used
to eat at his restaurant all the time when I lived in central Phoenix."
"Huh, you stood in line for 4 hours for pizza?"
"No, his other restaurant was my neighborhood sandwich
shop." So if we were spending a weekend in central Phoenix, a visit to Pane
Bianco had to happen:
The understated exterior of the restaurant was matched by
the funky/shabby hipness of the interior. Having once aspired to being
funky/shabby hip, I felt right at home:
The lunch menu listed a few "bar bites" for around
$5, and sandwich and salad choices priced between $9 and $12. The other side of
the menu had a limited selection of sodas, beers, and wines as well as the
sparkling water we chose ($3):
I'm surprised I'd never run across Mountain Valley sparkling
water before as it was pleasant tasting and refreshing. I also enjoyed the
rustic looking tabletop.
We selected 2 sandwiches, both of which came with an
interesting potato salad composed of thinly sliced potatoes, chopped apples, cabbage,
shredded red cabbage, sliced red onion, and minced parsley. The mustard seeds,
other spices, and light dressing gave it all kind of a central European flavor.
The salad is in the foreground of this picture of the sopressata sandwich that had
been Tina's favorite back in the day:
As you can see, the excellent salumi had been sliced paper
thin:
The sopressata was wonderfully matched by the aged
provolone. This was not your standard waxy tasteless Italian cheese, but a full
flavored partner to the sausage, dry and a little bit crumbly. The woodfired
onion was a nice touch as well. My only complaint – and really my only
complaint about the whole meal – was that the homemade focaccia was a little
tough and chewy as if it had been baked the day before. Nonetheless it was
altogether a satisfying sandwich:
Our other lunch selection was the "market sandwich,"
featuring lamb that had been braised overnight:
We both thought the sandwich was unusual and interesting.
The tender meat had a pronounced lamb flavor and was topped with chopped
cabbage and roasted red pepper strips:
In both cases the sandwiches were perfectly simple and
focused – no mayo, no mustard, no catchup, no sliced tomato, no pickles; just
very good basic ingredients.
Pane Bianco, 4404 N. Central, Phoenix AZ 85012; (602)
234-2100.