Deli Mamie in West Hollywood makes LA's finest sandwiches

To completely recognize Mamie, the five-month-old Italian sandwich store in West Hollywood, you need to perceive its schiacciata. The bread is made by hand a number of instances a day by the proprietor of the store, Mikael Choukroun, utilizing a recipe from his Italian grandmother. The dough – made from equal components water to flour and fermented for 72 hours – is kneaded in the same approach to focaccia, however is distinct in texture, with a crispy crust and a lightweight, chewy middle. Olive oil and flaky salt are added to the dough a number of instances after it’s initially rolled out. “You possibly can't management the crush,” says Choukroun. “The crush controls you.”

At Mamie, the bread gives the inspiration upon which all the panini and pizza menu is constructed. The restaurant features as a European café, a spot the place diners can take in the heartbeat of the town whereas sipping frothy Italian cappuccinos or assembly associates for a chew to eat. Mamie's is the newest in a wave of Italian delis and sandwich outlets which have taken Los Angeles by storm in recent times, together with Ferrazzani's in Pasadena, Bread Head in Santa Monica, Venice's All'Antico Vinaio, Lorenzo California in Beverly Hills, and Ggiata Delicatessen with location. in Venice, Melrose Hill, West Hollywood, and shortly Highland Park, amongst others. In a crowded sandwich market, Choukroun is betting that his chook filled with thoughtfully sourced elements will stand out. “My intention is to supply dinner-quality elements in an off-the-cuff means. I wished my meals to be unpretentious,” he says.

A man wearing a white hat and white t-shirt assembling a sandwich at a deli called Mamie's in West Hollywood. — Mikael Choukroun.

Mamie's Deli case in West Hollywood full of sauces, dips and other ingredients to make sandwiches. — Every sandwich incorporates just one kind of meat to permit its distinctive texture and flavors to shine.

A black-gloved hand making schiacciata bread at Grandma's in West Hollywood. — The crushing is completed by hand a number of instances a day.

Baked bread at Mamie's in West Hollywood. — The bread is made from equal components of water and flour and fermented for 72 hours.

Raised in Paris, Choukron spent summers in Rimini, Italy, along with his grandmother, recognized to him and his 36 first cousins as Mamie. (Coincidentally, the phrase additionally means “my bread” in Previous French, he says.) Choukroun didn't converse English when he moved to the Bay Space at 19 and remembers discovering work standing on the facet of the freeway to attend. a building firm to rent him to color flats or do yard work. After studying some English, Choukron labored as a restaurant dishwasher and ultimately labored his means into front-of-house administration.

Choukroun moved to Los Angeles in 1996 and went on to handle eating places in locations like Patina, 208 Rodeo in Beverly Hills, and French Moroccan spot the Little Door. Though he appreciated the excessive stage of cooking and high quality elements present in these finer eating institutions, their environments struck Choukron as too pretentious. When the pandemic hit in 2020, and the restaurant trade was shut down, Choukroun took the chance to revive Mamie.

Every slice of meat present in Mamie's signature panini is rigorously chosen by Choukroun and delicately positioned on the schiacciata like effective china. Cured meat choices, together with Parma prosciutto, mortadella, Toscana salami, bresaola and guanciale, are sourced from DOP licensed Italian producers. Every sandwich incorporates just one kind of meat to permit its distinctive texture and flavors to shine. (“When you’ve good merchandise, maintain it easy,” says Choukroun.) The relationships Choukroun cast with suppliers whereas working the eating places allowed him to offer Mamie's merchandise at an inexpensive worth. Whereas elements reminiscent of artichoke hearts, stracciatella and candied lemons are additionally imported from Italy, a lot of the store's greens, reminiscent of wild mushrooms, eggplant and zucchini, are sourced from native farmers markets. Many of those identical elements are used to high the store's rectangular pizzas.

A sandwich layered with porchetta, crema di gorgonzola, truffle cream, spicy roasted eggplant and baby arugula at Mamie in West Hollywood. — Rimini sandwich with porchetta, crema di gorgonzola, truffle cream, spicy roasted aubergines and child rocket.

Rimini sandwich with bacon, fig jam, gorgonzola cream, pistachios and baby arugula. at Mamie in West Hollywood. — Avenue sandwich with bacon, fig jam, gorgonzola cream, pistachios and child arugula.

The shop's rectangular pizzas use the same schiacciata dough at Mamie West Hollywood. — The store's rectangular pizzas use the identical schiacciata dough.

Choukroun's reminiscences of spending summers with household alongside the Adriatic Coast impressed the panini menu. The Rosselini is made with Tuscan salami, sautéed wild mushrooms, truffle cream, and rocket, whereas the Diva is layered with mortadella, stracciatella, chopped pistachios, and child arugula. The requisite turkey choice, the Cardinal, comes with artichoke coronary heart cream, oven-dried tomato, Comté cheese and arugula. Many sandwiches embrace a creamy do-it-yourself unfold, reminiscent of candy gorgonzola, pesto, lemon cream, or spicy Calabrian chile. “Crema is a part of each desk in Italy,” says Choukroun.

Along with her panini vary, Mamie prepares easy salads with arugula or butter lettuce accompanied by heat crostini schiacciata and generally topped with 48-hour marinated goat cheese. For drinks, Mamie's espresso brews Kimbo, the well-known Italian espresso roasters from Naples, and imports lemon and blood orange flavored carbonated drinks from the Sicilian model Lurisia. Mamie additionally hosts a small market with a wide range of Italian specialty merchandise reminiscent of Gentile pasta and Cafona artichoke pots.

Today, whereas Choukroun is engaged on the schiacciata dough or layer of meat for the sandwiches, he typically thinks of Mamie and the summer season he spent in Italy getting ready the dishes alongside her. “She acknowledges herself right here,” says Choukroun. “She could be residence.”

Mamie is positioned at 7900 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90046, and is open every day from 9 am to five:30 pm.