OT: It's All About The Bread

[Upstream]

Your sub is only as good as the bread it's made on, I don't care how good the meats are at your favorite deli.

Thusly, unless you go to a bakery/deli, where the fresh rolls are baked on the premises…your sub will be sub-standard.

That is all!

You are spot on that the bread is the most variable ingredient in a sub (especially since so many delis use the same meats from a handful of providers).

I disagree that the bread needs to be baked on premises. Although too many delis that get bread delivered serve bread that is already 12 to 24 hours old by the time you order the sandwich, it is certainly possible for a deli to have fresh bread delivered, and turn it over quickly in time for the next deliver. (It is also possible for a deli that bakes its own bread to bake poor bread, or serve when it is going stale.)

Also, what makes a good sub roll is very much a personal preference. Some people prefer the bread to be crustier than others, and some prefer an airier loaf than others. But regardless, the bread should be fresh and flavorful.

 

[zappaa]

What difference does it make it if sits on the shelf at the bakery/deli versus it sitting on the shelf of a deli across town who got it delivered that morning? Same batch.

Because I've subjected myself to multitudes of deli's in my life that rely on daily bread deliveries and gotten stale old rolls to many times to count.

 

[RC1978]

Nino Jr's in Ocean fits the bill. Great bread and great sub.

 

[cicero grimes]

Nino Jr's in Ocean fits the bill. Great bread and great sub.

Very good. As is Antonio's in Wanamasa, although they do not bake they have good bread.

 

[rurichdog]

Because I've subjected myself to multitudes of deli's in my life that rely on daily bread deliveries and gotten stale old rolls to many times to count.

That is disappointing. I'm not sure about the hold time & procedures for bread, but for an item that is pretty cheap & arrives fresh daily, the old stuff could probably be donated to a food bank instead of turning into tomorrow's crappy sub.

 

[rurichdog]

OK I'll make it a little clearer,it starts with brick oven baking, which is the best way to get the right crust and inside texture I believe. Subway in their stainless steel ovens,not so much,sorry.

I was being purposely obnoxious :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: I spend way too much time over on the Current Events board. My favorite bakery for bread is Franca's in Trenton (followed close by Italian People's in Chambersburg)

 

[beaced]

Your sub is only as good as the bread it's made on, I don't care how good the meats are at your favorite deli.

Thusly, unless you go to a bakery/deli, where the fresh rolls are baked on the premises…your sub will be sub-standard.

That is all!

Zappaa,you are110% correct on that.Years ago Jimmy Buffs,on 14th ave,Newark,used only great Italian Pizza Bread for their sandwiches. Probably from Callandra on Bloomfield Ave. Giordano and Spinnazola also made great Brick Oven ,hand kneaded bread back in those days.Thirty years ago I had a double dog with fries and mustard at the Jimmy Buffs location on Springfield Ave in Irvington.The bread was like hamburger roll. Strictly American.Disgusting. Ruined the whole experience.

 

[Cruising Route 66]

Your sub is only as good as the bread it's made on, I don't care how good the meats are at your favorite deli.

Thusly, unless you go to a bakery/deli, where the fresh rolls are baked on the premises…your sub will be sub-standard.

That is all!

At the Rockland Bakery in Rockland County they have a commercial Deli right in the bakery. It doesn't get much better than that for fresh rolls/bread for your sub or sandwich. Worth the trip to be able to buy stuff right off the racks as it comes out of the oven to cool. And the pastries are to die for. That is all.

 

[mikefla]

Not a lot of bakeries or even delis in Florida outside Miami to Boca Raton.

Publix supermarkets have 1st rad bakeries and great bread. Their Chicago Italian(I know what???) is the best,,,,,,,,,and the PUBLIX SUB is the best in my area....huge,,,$6......
always some type on sale for $5

 

[Bagarocks]

Subway bakes their own bread. Are they a good sub place?

Uhhhhhhh. No

 

[Upstream]

That is disappointing. I'm not sure about the hold time & procedures for bread, but for an item that is pretty cheap & arrives fresh daily, the old stuff could probably be donated to a food bank instead of turning into tomorrow's crappy sub.

It isn't necessarily left over from yesterday.

You have the bread coming out of the oven from a commercial bakery in Newark at 1 am (or worse, a 10 pm from a bakery in Brooklyn). It gets bagged and loaded on a truck which makes multiple stops at multiple delis. The bread gets to your favorite sub shop in Somerville at 5:00 am. The deli puts the rolls on the shelf, and opens at 5:30 am for breakfast. By the time you get there at 12:30 pm to order your lunch, the roll is already more than 11 hours old.

Of course, the deli can order a breakfast delivery for 5 am and another lunch delivery for 10:30 am from a local baker with shorter delivery times. But that is going to cost them more. And for a small sub shop that is trying to be price competitive with Subway, Wawa, Jersey Mike's, and Jimmy Johns, there is probably not a whole lot of value in spending more to get bread 8 hours fresher.

 

[RUSK97]

Ok, so what's the best bakery in Newark and do they have any retail operations?!? Only one I've been to is Texeira.

 

[Scarlet16E]

Agree it's all about the bread, but Wawa gets theirs delivered each morning from Amoroso who makes a fine hoagie roll. Lumping them in with the crap served at Subway is blasphemy. And Subway bakes their crappy bread in the store.

 

[RUbacker]

Zappaa,you are110% correct on that.Years ago Jimmy Buffs,on 14th ave,Newark,used only great Italian Pizza Bread for their sandwiches. Probably from Callandra on Bloomfield Ave. Giordano and Spinnazola also made great Brick Oven ,hand kneaded bread back in those days.Thirty years ago I had a double dog with fries and mustard at the Jimmy Buffs location on Springfield Ave in Irvington.The bread was like hamburger roll. Strictly American.Disgusting. Ruined the whole experience.

Agree. Anyone who wants that bad white American bread like you get at wawa, subway and tastee subs just does not know any better. Real bread baby !!!

 

[Abro1975]

Ok, so what's the best bakery in Newark and do they have any retail operations?!? Only one I've been to is Texeira.

The Original Calandras on Bloomfield Ave

http://www.calandrasbakery.com/

 

[beaced]

The Original Calandras on Bloomfield Ave

http://www.calandrasbakery.com/

A friend of mine was their accountant back in the ''60's-'70's. Told me that they had a brick lined oven,and kneaded the dough by hand. Result ,GREAT BREAD. Back in the Day,when you went to an Italian Restaurant in the Newark area,you had a hard time not filling up on the Bread and Butter while waiting for your food to be served.Incomparably Good!

 

[RUbacker]

A friend of mine was their accountant back in the ''60's-'70's. Told me that they had a brick lined oven,and kneaded the dough by hand. Result ,GREAT BREAD. Back in the Day,when you went to an Italian Restaurant in the Newark area,you had a hard time not filling up on the Bread and Butter while waiting for your food to be served.Incomparably Good!

Yep that's what we are talking about with subs. You don't get that at mikes , wawa, tastee and all those shitty places .

 

[cicero grimes]

The Original Calandras on Bloomfield Ave

http://www.calandrasbakery.com/

This.
The 4 things I miss from Newark:
1. Calandras Bakery for bread.
2. Jimmy Buffs / Dickee Dee's for italian hot dogs.
3. Ting a Lings for Italian Ice.
4. JJ's for dirty water dogs.

 

[zappaa]

This.
The 4 things I miss from Newark:
1. Calandras Bakery for bread.
2. Jimmy Buffs / Dickee Dee's for italian hot dogs.
3. Ting a Lings for Italian Ice.
4. JJ's for dirty water dogs.

LOL
My brothers daughter is Married to Rob Dee.
Rob's dad was a great athlete in Newark, played baseball for Univ of Miami and played in the minor leagues.

 

[beaced]

This.
The 4 things I miss from Newark:
1. Calandras Bakery for bread.
2. Jimmy Buffs / Dickee Dee's for italian hot dogs.
3. Ting a Lings for Italian Ice.
4. JJ's for dirty water dogs.

it was Louie Ting a Ling if memory serves.Seem to remember a stand on Blmfld. Ave. near Branch Brook Park. Not a very precise memory but I am talking about 1939 or so.

 

[REDRICH65]

Bread must come from an Italian bakery

 

[zappaa]

it was Louie Ting a Ling if memory serves.Seem to remember a stand on Blmfld. Ave. near Branch Brook Park. Not a very precise memory but I am talking about 1939 or so.

Just before the entrance, we used to pass Ting a Ling on the way to Branchbroik arena to play hockey games.

 

[B0ski]

Just before the entrance, we used to pass Ting a Ling on the way to Branchbroik arena to play hockey games.

Didn't Chuck Berry sing a song about that place.

 

[LKAP13]

Just because a place "bakes" their own bread does not mean that they "make" their own bread. A lot of places buy frozen dough from a manufacturer and bake it on premises - basically all supermarkets do this but some sub shops might as well.

That said, I completely agree with Zap. I worked for many years at Deli's and bagel shops, getting my start on Route 46 in Clifton at the place known as "Hot Bagels". My father in law had a sub shop in Englishtown for a while and the bread was awesome, got delivered from Brooklyn daily. It got expensive though and between that bread and using Boar's Head meats he couldn't make a profit and sold the place.

 

[RUbacker]

Just because a place "bakes" their own bread does not mean that they "make" their own bread. A lot of places buy frozen dough from a manufacturer and bake it on premises - basically all supermarkets do this but some sub shops might as well.

That said, I completely agree with Zap. I worked for many years at Deli's and bagel shops, getting my start on Route 46 in Clifton at the place known as "Hot Bagels". My father in law had a sub shop in Englishtown for a while and the bread was awesome, got delivered from Brooklyn daily. It got expensive though and between that break and using Boar's Head meats he couldn't make a profit and sold the place.

Exactly why places like subway , wawa, tastee in Edison and mikes go cheap on bad bread and meats. So go to real delis for a great sub. Love the real bread !

 

[LKAP13]

By the way, this goes for burgers too. Nothing will ruin a good burger like a crummy roll.

 

[ScarletJack]

Ting A Ling's...3 great dogs for a dollar and you can buy dry ice there for your beer kegs back in the 60's College Days.

No arguing the point that the Newark Watershed is the supplier for world class water for baking the very best hard crust Italian Bread. Just ask Frank Sinatra who had Paramount Bakery bread flown weekly to wherever he happened to be. Paramount is gone now, but Newark water remains the best!

 

[RUbacker]

By the way, this goes for burgers too. Nothing will ruin a good burger like a crummy roll.

Agree . Places claim to have great burgers and then they serve it on crap rolls like those sub shops . Doesn't make sense .

 

[S_Janowski]

Exactly why Tastee subs are extremely overrated. I couldn't believe I waited 20 minutes in line for one of those things.

The bread doesn't have to be baked on premises. Amorosos in South Jersey as already mentioned makes a great roll and plenty of delis/cheesteak joints use their bread. There's a truck that drops off rolls every morning to Jim's steaks on South Street. Del Buonos in Haddon Heights makes a great roll also. You can pick them up right off the oven.

And I don't get the hate for Wawa hoagies (or subs) on here. It's convenience food that you can get within about 2-3 minutes. Comparing Wawa to your Local deli isnt a fair comparison.

 

[FanuSanu52]

Ting A Ling's...3 great dogs for a dollar and you can buy dry ice there for your beer kegs back in the 60's College Days.

No arguing the point that the Newark Watershed is the supplier for world class water for baking the very best hard crust Italian Bread. Just ask Frank Sinatra who had Paramount Bakery bread flown weekly to wherever he happened to be. Paramount is gone now, but Newark water remains the best!

I think Italy, and the entire continent of Europe, might argue that point.

 

[ruready4somefootball]

Speaking of Ting A Lings, I grew up in Bloomfield, right off Bloomfield Ave, and I remember as a kid watching the National Guard roll down Bloomfield Ave on their way to City Stadium for their staging area during the Newark Riots. My Uncle told me an incident at Ting A Lings involving a pregnant black women is what triggered the riots,I don't know how true that is. Also, I remember walking to Dickie Dee's by the water tower,to get those great Italian hot dogs which I always thought were better than Jimmy Buffs. Shout out to Zappaa, do you remember the stories about "Dead Man's Turn" Or The Lady In White" that supposedly died on their wedding night on that sharp turn in Branch Brook Park in Newark?Also, since Montclair was the next town over, did you ever go into my Uncle Jerry's sports store in Bloomfield Center? He was the first person in NJ I believe that sold personal,home and away embroidered NFL jersey's.They were made by a retired Newark cop and his wife my Uncle was best friends with. I used to wear a different jersey to college,be asked where I got them, and get a huge amount of orders for him. I keep a couple, but mostly I was a traveling billboard,lol. Also, I wonder if we ever played against each other before I moved and went to Raritan HS.Played travel little league for Bloomfield North with Chalie Puleo who went to Seton Hall,a great pitcher who also played in the majors.I remember playing the Livingston LL, and thinking how rich they were because they had an electric score board,lol.

 

[KingHigh]

I like the bread at most of these places. The difference among all the good sub places is very little. Another factor is the lettuce. Is it fresh and crisp and squiggly enough to hold just the right amount of oil and vinegar? A big part of the enjoyment of the bite of a sub is the crunch through that salad-y layer. If that's not first class, then the sub cannot be considered first class.

 

[onesimus]

Sorry to say Zappaa but I disagree to an extent.

I live in Europe, which blows away any bread you get in the U.S - and generally the sandwiches here are mediocre compared to some of the ones you get in the U.S.

Sure you have some gems like Nerbone at the Mercato Centrale in Firenze. But it's not all about the bread. (Except when it comes to Philly Steaks which can only be made with Amoroso rolls)

 

[zappaa]

Sorry to say Zappaa but I disagree to an extent.

I live in Europe, which blows away any bread you get in the U.S - and generally the sandwiches here are mediocre compared to some of the ones you get in the U.S.

Sure you have some gems like Nerbone at the Mercato Centrale in Firenze. But it's not all about the bread. (Except when it comes to Philly Steaks which can only be made with Amoroso rolls)

Agree, there's great bread in Italy, France and Switzerland for sure… European Italians don't prepare sandwiches in the fashion of an Americanized sub…the other two have awesome bread but have no idea what to put on it…LOL

 

[Armor and Sword]

And I don't get the hate for Wawa hoagies (or subs) on here. It's convenience food that you can get within about 2-3 minutes. Comparing Wawa to your Local deli isnt a fair comparison.

Agreed. Wawa hoagie bread isn't all that bad and is better than Subway or Tastee bread. What Tastee bread does have is size. It's a wide sub/hoagie roll, wider than the rolls in most places, which allows more meat, cheese, etc, but that's about it. I believe that Wawa bakes their own on-site.

For chains, I also give kudos to Primo Hoagies, in the Philly area. They have great Philly/Italian-style bread for their hoagies. I've never had a bad hoagie there. Most of the places in Philly itself, especially in Reading Terminal Market use the "good" bread.

There is a new Jersey Mike's in the Philly area I visited recently. Not a bad sub, but too much oil and vinegar and shredded lettuce. The worst thing of all was that the staff was really loud and noisy, to which both the teenagers behind the counter and their middle age bosses (and owners?) were contributing to. It was annoying.

 

[cicero grimes]

I recall 4 really good bakeries in Newark.
Calandras
Paramount
Columbus
Catherine's for pastry.

 

[cicero grimes]

Speaking of Ting A Lings, I grew up in Bloomfield, right off Bloomfield Ave, and I remember as a kid watching the National Guard roll down Bloomfield Ave on their way to City Stadium for their staging area during the Newark Riots. My Uncle told me an incident at Ting A Lings involving a pregnant black women is what triggered the riots,I don't know how true that is. Also, I remember walking to Dickie Dee's by the water tower,to get those great Italian hot dogs which I always thought were better than Jimmy Buffs. Shout out to Zappaa, do you remember the stories about "Dead Man's Turn" Or The Lady In White" that supposedly died on their wedding night on that sharp turn in Branch Brook Park in Newark?Also, since Montclair was the next town over, did you ever go into my Uncle Jerry's sports store in Bloomfield Center? He was the first person in NJ I believe that sold personal,home and away embroidered NFL jersey's.They were made by a retired Newark cop and his wife my Uncle was best friends with. I used to wear a different jersey to college,be asked where I got them, and get a huge amount of orders for him. I keep a couple, but mostly I was a traveling billboard,lol. Also, I wonder if we ever played against each other before I moved and went to Raritan HS.Played travel little league for Bloomfield North with Chalie Puleo who went to Seton Hall,a great pitcher who also played in the majors.I remember playing the Livingston LL, and thinking how rich they were because they had an electric score board,lol.

Your uncle's store was my go to sports shop growing up.

 

[The_Senator]

I recall 4 really good bakeries in Newark.
Calandras
Paramount
Columbus
Catherine's for pastry.

Giordano's, in the first ward, was the best of all of them.
Right down the block from St Lucy's church

 

[cicero grimes]

Giordano's, in the first ward, was the best of all of them.
Right down the block from St Lucy's church

Never had a chance to try it. What made it so good in your opinion and is it still there?

 

[ruready4somefootball]

M<y cousin Jamie, still owns this bakery on Bloomfield Ave.http://racioppistaralles.net/location/