There was a time when we worked at the same office. That’s how we had met. We would coordinate our train timings when we began dating so that we could take a cab together from Churchgate station to Nariman Point. There used to be a sandwich-wala opposite our office building. We would place our order of two chilli cheese alu toast sandwiches which would reach our respective desks soon after we settled down at work.
Cut to 25 years later. We were at Jio World Drive. I was peckish and we popped into Annie Baffna’s The Nutcracker.
K suggested ordering the Mumbai sandwich. I was sceptical as cafes tend to make street food dishes unrecognisable by poshing them up.
I was in for a surprise. I took my first bite and exclaimed, ‘this is like a raaste ka sandwich.’ She had a bite and concurred. I know this sounds a bit la di da, but then there was no sandwich-wala in sight to eat at and this was close to the real McCoy. We do love our street side sandwiches too.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had ‘mini’ desserts on offer. This is a such a good idea as sometimes you just want a nibble and not a whole dessert. I chose a mini apple crumble and a mini lemon tart to have with my espresso. They were perfect. I didn’t realise that the coffees come with biscottis on the side. Those were ace too. We packed a bottle of pesto for home. I doubt if either of us knew of pesto when we had first met. It’s our favourite pasta base now. They do a lovely pesto mix at Nutcracker. It’s a pity that they add cream if you order a pesto spaghetti at the restaurant. Do tell them not to add it if you opt for a pesto spaghetti there. It would be a travesty otherwise.
Ps: The paprika sprinkled fries that accompanied the sandwich were the stuff of dreams.
