A Sandwich a Day: The Durbin at A Taste of Heaven

[Photograph: Nathan Lurz]

So many of the sandwiches reviewed on Serious Eats have a laundry list of highbrow ingredients and preparations that it's easy to forget that a few well-executed pieces can come together to make one heck of a dish.

Thankfully, A Taste of Heaven in Andersonville practices the principle with The Durbin ($10.95). It sports a fairly straightforward trio of ingredients: turkey roasted and carved in-shop, roasted pear, and Havarti cheese in between some sourdough. But behind the simple one-two-three is a heaping helping of flavor.

None of it seems to have an overpowering or overly noticeable secret ingredient or twist, but all the components shine in their straightforwardness. The perfectly sweet pear hits from the first bite and sits right between the line of crisp and tender. The havarti's mild tang complements it and is adequately gooey upon table service. The sourdough is just a bit chewy with a sourness to add another layer to the sandwich. It's so good that it's worth picking some off around the edges, especially if some of the pear/cheese/turkey juice has soaked onto it.

Finally, there's turkey that tastes like your grandma makes (or wish your grandma could make). It is spiced just enough to make the bird absolutely shine—moist and tender. There's no extra flavors to get in the way of pure turkey goodness.

It seems simple enough. But sometimes even sandwiches like this are best left to the professionals.

A Taste of Heaven

5401 N Clark St, Chicago, IL (map)
(773) 989-0151 ‎
atasteofheavenchicago.com

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