I’m not going to lie; I am not a big lunch person. I like hot meals, so naturally I am not a fan of cold cut sandwiches or bland salads. Because of this, lunch for me is a hard meal to be satisfied with. Lunchtime in high school came with a much-needed break from classes and hunger that was indescribable. New York City’s Zabars is one of those places that one must try while in the Manhattan. It is known to be a supermarket, but right next door to this hectic superstore, there is a small place called Zabar’s Café. Conveniently, this café is right around the corner from my high school. As soon as we heard our last period teacher mutter the words lunchtime, off to Zabars we went. When reaching Zabars, I would rush in and wait on the dreaded line, tapping my foot like the impatient New Yorker I am. When I finally received my tomato, basil, and mozzarella Panini, I gobbled down a hot piece of melted mozzarella cheese, while trying not to get part of the skin of the tomato stuck in my teeth. Then, when I finally saw the green piece of basil, I got a refreshing bite of wilted plant. I had to wipe my chin from the little bit of balsamic vinaigrette dripping from the Panini to my jaw line. Biting into the next ridge of the Panini, I got a bit of toasted crust that fell off the side of the sourdough bread. It is simple pleasure to mix the stringy mozzarella cheese with the slightly warm but still cool parts of tomato and basil.
Not having this meal in college was not as big of a surprise for me because I prepared myself that at Emory there would be no Zabars. However, I have been looking for a solid lunchtime hot sandwich in college. This one was tricky, because “solid lunchtime hot sandwiches” do not exist at the Duc. So when I asked my sister, who happens to be a sophomore here at Emory, where I could get these apparently hard to find sandwiches, she let me in on a little secret; “Cox,” she said with a little snicker. I decided to take her words of wisdom and last week I took my inexperienced self to Cox for lunch. The atmosphere felt a little like my beloved Zabars: it was very crowded and I had to wait in a long line before I got to place my order. Since I was in college, a place where you should expand your horizons, I decided be a little adventurous and order a hot sandwich with chicken, mozzarella, lettuce, and Russian dressing. I do have to admit, this was not a Panini, but a grilled sandwich. Aside from this slight disappointment, it was particularly appetizing. After my first bite I knew this had the potential to become my new, but never quite as good, version of “Zabars” during the next four years. The chicken was cooked just right, not too dry but definitely fully cooked. The mozzarella was not as melted as I would have liked but still enough that I needed to rip the excess string of cheese hanging from my mouth. Finally, the lettuce and Russian dressing added some freshness and flavor that the sandwich absolutely needed. I would have liked the familiar sign of ridges on my sandwich, but overall this was a “solid” substitute for my favorite hot sandwich from home. Who knows, maybe I will even have a new favorite meal...lunch.
