Sydney Special

I’m pretty sure if you’re somewhat of a foodie, you must have heard of All’Antico Vinaio, the famous sandwich shop from Florence that opened in Circular Quay a few months ago. Although I gotta admit, I am having sooo much trouble remembering their name. It just does not stick with me. Also I’m not sure how to pronounce it.

Anyway, good thing they’re open on weekends because I swear half of Circular Quay is like nope, Monday to Friday only. I made my way there around 11 and there was already a bit of a line. It works a little differently here too. You order your sandwich first, they make it, hand it to you... and THEN you go pay.

I went for the Sydney Special and straight away, the bread was the highlight. They have the bake room right there and you can literally see them constantly churning out fresh schiacciata. The sandwich is BIG, but the bread itself isn’t super thick or dense, so somehow it doesn’t feel as ridiculous as it looks.

This one has no sauce, so it’s really just the pure taste of the ingredients. And you can definitely tell the bresaola is good quality. Really nice beefy, cured flavour, plenty of it, with tons of rocket adding a bit of freshness. They definitely do not skimp on the parmesan either. Maybe a liiiittle too much for me actually. Because it’s shaved parmesan and there’s no sauce, by the end my mouth was getting a bit dry.

Still, I really enjoyed it. Great bread, great meat, super generous fillings. I think next time I’d go for one of the slightly wetter ones with some kinda spread in there.