Join the Club Sandwich Club

Born in New York, the club is an iconic American sandwich that’s also found fans overseas. It first debuted at the Saratoga Men’s Club (hence the name) back in 1903 and was hailed as an evolution, if not a revolution, in the world of gastronomy. And when the club hit the masses, it promised to rival the very popular potato hash, “chef” salads and other favorites of its day.

That enthusiasm has never dimmed; if anything, it’s won fans and aficionados around the world. (There’s even a website, Club Sandwich Reviews, “chronicling a love affair with the club” and offering travelers a resource to find and rate the familiar dish abroad.) The core build is straightforward: three slices of toasted bread with layers of turkey or chicken and bacon plus lettuce, tomato and mayo, sliced into quarters and held together by multicolored toothpicks. The typical club sandwich also carries a certain health halo. Even though it includes bacon, the lean poultry and fresh veggies make it lighter than some other classic sandwiches, like the cheesesteak, French dip or Reuben.

Despite its beloved nature and enduring construction, the club can still benefit from elevated twists, artisanal slants and global reimaginings. Let’s take a look at some ways chefs are leaning into the deliciousness and adaptability of the club and finding new ways to incorporate seasonality of ingredients, flavor trends and everything in between.

The Additions

Reimagining the club can be as simple as introducing a new ingredient. Want to put a club sandwich on the breakfast menu? Simply add an egg. The InterContinental Grand Stanford Hotel in Hong Kong tucks in an over-easy egg for an early-bird twist.

The sandwich goes whole hog at Colorado-based Georgia Boys BBQ. The restaurant’s famous $50 Barnyard Challenge features a massive “club” sandwich built with barbecue pork, brisket, chicken, bacon and melted cheese. It’s surrounded by a heaping portion of hand-cut fries topped with ribs, hot links and six extra-hot Ghost Wings, all weighing in at approximately 5 lb. The brand also offers a more conventional club sandwich, which stands out simply yet effectively by adding avocado and garlic aïoli to the traditional build.

The Swaps

Modifications can also address issues of seasonality, global flavor trends and supply chain pressures. Chef Shaun Hergatt of the recently shuttered, Vestry in New York City, was meticulous in his updates, citing the correct ratio of ingredients as key to the success of the club sandwich. Several strategic substitutions made Vestry’s club a standout: butter-griddled sweet and tender brioche instead of white bread, Japanese shiso leaf in place of lettuce, miso-based spicy mayonnaise mixed with yuzu juice, sesame oil and Sriracha as the condiment, and salmon, rather than poultry, cooked to order.

For a Jewish deli-style twist, the BBLT Club at the The Bagel Deli & Restaurant in Denver uses kosher beef bacon in place of the typical pork and trades white bread for slices of marble rye. Indeed, bread substitutions offer a fast and easy way to flavor transformation. In the vein of the chopped sandwich trend, a split Hawaiian roll would be a superior anchor. Pressed croissants introduce buttery undertones and flaky texture. 

The Upsell

A decade ago, acclaimed French chef Hélène Darroze shared a recipe for an elevated club sandwich in a now-defunct publication. Like the original sandwich, her take and her advice remains timeless, keeping seasonality and quality top of mind. “My twist is to use confit (slow-roasted) tomatoes,” Darroze explained. “There’s nothing worse than a tasteless tomato, so if they’re out of season, confit them for a better flavor.”

Served between thin slices of sweet pain de mie, this club includes the requisite bacon and iceberg lettuce but also adds avocado, Espelette pepper from Provence, Comté cheese from the French Alps and roast confit chicken from Les Landes, France. But the pièces de résistance are almost certainly sliced black truffles and gold leaf.  

Over the past century, the club has proven its staying power the world over, but now is the time to view it as a ready-made canvas for experimentation. From substituting ponzu aïoli in for mayo to imparting Southern flavor via candied bacon and fried green tomatoes to adding elevated ingredients like truffles, the club sandwich is one menu staple that seems like the most inclusive club in the world.