Bread Fan

As a kid, Brendan Messina loved turkey club sandwiches. "It was always piled high with turkey, bacon, cheese, mayonnaise," he says. "You couldn't go wrong." After 10 years as a fine-dining chef, Messina wanted to return to his childhood love. So in December he opened Herb 'N Twine on Lorain Avenue in Ohio City. "Sandwiches are simple," he says. "I don't know anyone who doesn't like them." We dare anyone to disagree with him after trying the porchetta ($9.50). Messina rolls pork shoulder from the Pork Chop Shop with rosemary, sage, oregano, garlic, salt, pepper and brown sugar, and lets it cure for 24 hours before roasting. He then carves slices to order before stacking the savory pork on a crusty French-style roll with pickled mustard seeds, sweet Peppadew peppers, house-made chillichurri (a spicy twist on chimichurri) and crumbles of chicharrones from Lakewood's La Plaza Supermarket. "It's a little sweet and savory," he says. "It's like an umami-style sandwich." 4309 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, 216-465-9600, herbntwine.com