The name is mysteriously vague: Beastwich. Presumably, a sandwich made with a beast. Or a beast of a sandwich. Both are somewhat true. But the Beastwich is never the same.
By Thursday night, I’ve often resigned myself to the fact that Friday will be a “buy lunch” day. The giant meal I’ve cooked on the weekend can stretch for two or three lunches during the week but by Friday, my fridge is looking pretty sad. Friday is a lazy lunch day.
Beast Restaurant has a solution and that solution is a brown bag lunch (fake it like you brought it from home) for $10 on Fridays. That includes a sandwich, small side, and dessert. Chef and co-owner Scott Vivian decided a Friday take-out lunch was a good thing to do since he was in the kitchen doing prep anyway. Beastwich Fridays have been going on since last Spring and are available year-round. It is also a way for Scott to have fun with his style of cooking bold international flavours with local and seasonal ingredients. Each Friday a different city is highlighted — occasionally there will be a guest chef who can lend an authentic flavour to the featured city.
Last week the city of choice was Montego Bay, and the Beastwich was a jerk chicken salad with house mayo, grapes and celery, and a garlic scape and English pea pesto on the bun (veggie option was jerk egg salad). To round out the meal: a side of grilled plantain and cucumber salsa with Jamaican vinaigrette, and a square of pineapple upside down cake. All desserts are made by Scott’s life and business partner, Rachelle, whose doughnuts and desserts are famous under the name “Dough Toronto.”
While Beast restaurant is known for some adventurous dinner dishes, the Beastwich pleases almost anyone. Past sandwiches have included a Croque Monsieur (Paris), porchetta, rapini, and provolone (Cosenza), and smoked mortadella with pesto (Bologna).
Scott tweets the featured sandwich Friday morning and doors open at noon. On a nice day, customers often sit outside to enjoy their lunch. But don’t expect to saunter up at 1pm and find a Beastwich waiting for you. They often sell out within the hour. A meatball hero (NYC) and fried chicken sandwich (Lexington) even took the staff by surprise when they sold out in 15 minutes. People in the know, know the Beastwich does not wait.
Follow Beast on Twitter: @BeastRestaurant
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