There are sandwiches of circumstance. Spontaneous structures of brilliance built from last night’s dinner between two slices of bread, a bun or maybe a pita.
Then there are sandwiches of intention, culled from careful planning and procurement of just the right ingredients. Mario Llamas, owner and operator of Mario’s Butcher Shop in Orange County, is king of them all.
In the four years since he opened his butcher shop, in the corner of a dense strip mall in Newport Beach, he’s built a following for his house-cured and smoked meats and a growing menu of stellar sandwiches. Llamas cures and ages the coppa, soppressata and Genoa salami for the Italian sub. He smokes and steams his own pastrami.
After working as a chef in Guadalajara and Mexico City, he returned to the United States and started an apprenticeship at West Coast Prime Meats, one of the largest meat distribution companies in Southern California…