I finally tried the social media famous sandwiches from Florence at All’Antico Vinaio’s new LA Koreatown location.
I ate La Favolosa, built with Salame toscana, pecorino cream, artichoke cream, and spicy eggplant. Great quality ingredients with none overpowering the others. The salame is exactly as expected, tasty! The eggplant? Nice, but not spicy in the least.
But the real stars were the pecorino cheese cream and the artichoke cream. There’s a nice, nutty, slightly funky, earthiness to the creams that play well with the Tuscan salami. And the creamed cheese works so much better here than if it were sliced.
All on Florentine-style schiacciata bread, which is like a thinner, less seasoned foccacia that works exceptionally well for a sandwich.
I don not love paying $20 for a sandwich, but the price kinda makes sense for the high-end ingredients and attentive service. Not to mention there’s clearly some investment capital behind them these days. With more than 10 locations in Italy, five in New York City, two in Los Angeles, and one in Las Vegas.
While it’s a big sandwich, it’s not too heavy. Really makes for a great picnic or beach sandwich.