Monday, December 1, 2008

Cricca's sub shop

You could drive past it without noticing - you probably have.

A neighborhood cluster of stores. A boutique, a pizza joint, a liquor store. A strip mall with a donut shop, a mailing and shipping store, a nail shop, an insurance office.

And right in the middle of the strip of stores, a splash of red and green neon, a jolly aproned chef hand-painted on the window glass, a welcoming set of tables and chairs on the sidewalk.

I've passed it a million times. But today, on the way home from the supermarket in Woodland Hills, I pulled into the parking lot and parked.

Cricca's Italian Deli and submarine shop. Inside, a mural with an Italian scene, some obligatory plastic salamis and fake cheeses hanging down from the ceiling as decor. Shelves with a small assortment of imported Italian canned goods, with their pretty and colorful labels. A big glass-fronted deli case holding trays of marinated antipasti and cold salads. Hand-lettered signs on the wall listing the many varieties of sandwiches offered, with names like "The Al Capone," "The Italian Stallion," or the favorites of guys like Tony, Luigi, or Vinnie.

I knew right away it was a good place, because this truck was parked outside, and inside at one of the small tables were two blue-uniformed mail carriers, with huge sandwiches in front of them.

I ordered one Cricca's Special - ham, genoa salami, capicola, provolone cheese, and marinated artichokes and mushrooms. With the works (tomatoes, lettuce, onions and Italian dressing). To go.

While I waited, I looked at the glossy headshots of actors, autographed praising the sandwiches, displayed on the walls. You see a lot of that in West Valley eateries. I listened while one of the postal carriers told his partner about something he'd heard Rush Limbaugh say on the radio. His partner shook her head, disapprovingly. "You shouldn't listen to that stuff," she said.

The sandwich came in a crisp paper bag, printed with a colorful picture of a sandwich. It was long, and hefty, about the size and weight of a newborn child. I took it home, where [The Man I Love] was busy working.

"I brought us some lunch!' I said.

I unwrapped the white paper covering, which was just starting to go translucent from the oily, vinegar dressing. Buon appetito! Pass the pepperoncinis.

7 comments:

shrink on the couch said...

Oh my. I started salivating at the site of that Deli sign. I'm an East Coast girl living in submarine cluelessness. Unless it comes with the letters BBQ at the end, most Texas eateries are not up to snuff.

So to feed my untended addiction, please tell us what kind of sub and more pointedly, what are those little chunks of foodstuffs under the meat? mushrooms?

Glennis said...

Yep, mushrooms and artichoke hearts below those.

Mmm!

Vallen said...

You are good at finding yumminess. You should write a column.

shrink on the couch said...

ahh, so my comment made it in. I thought that one was lost!

and yum..artichoke hearts. now THAT's a sub!

Mrs. G. said...

I just had a brief love affair with the photo of that sandwich.

giorno26 ¸¸.•*¨*•. said...

Hi,
sono italiana e vivo in Italia...
volevo farti sapere che quando si acquista cibo " italiano " di leggere bene l'etichetta della confezione... deve avere scritto assolutamente " made in Italy "... perchè altrimenti non sono veramente italiani ma solo dei "falsi" americani o di altre Nazioni.
I Italia "combattiamo molto" contro i falsari del vero cibo italiano.
In California c'è molto cibo che non è italiano ma venduto per italiano, come ad esempio :
1) Parmesan che NON E' il vero Parmigiano Reggiano italiano, il Wisconsin è lo stato Usa dove si realizza la maggioranza del formaggio italiano falso.
2) Proscitto di Parma deve avere la scritta made in Italy in quanto addirittura in Canada non ci è possibile esportarlo perchè c'è una ditta canadese che ha registrato questo nostro marchio per primo spacciandolo per suo.
3) La mozzarella di bufala deve avere scritto made in Italy, altrimenti è fabbricata in California con il vostro latte e con metodi non italiani.
4) Il pecorino romano deve avere scritto made in Italy.
5) Il Chianti “è fatto” nella Napa Valley in California come il Marsala wine.
6) Mentre tra i condimenti risaltano i San Marzano: pomodori pelati “grown domestically in the Usa” e il “Pompeian olive oil”, che non ha nulla a che fare con i nostri famosi scavi di Pompei, ma è prodotto nel Maryland e quindi non italiano.
Spero di esserti stata utile.-
Buon Natale e il tuo blog sulla california mi piace molto.-

giorno26 ¸¸.•*¨*•. said...

Ti invio il mio link sul post del cibo italiano che vorrei che leggessi :-)
http://rosadimaggio63.blogspot.com/2009/11/usa-mangiate-solo-made-in-italy.html