Epic eaters, get ready. Bacon lovers, start your engines. Late-night bar food cravers? Let’s do this. It's EPIC SAMMICH TIME.
Deli –cioso:
On Tuesday, June 15, Dustin Staggers and Eric Morris will open Epic Sammich Co. at 2009 Highland Ave. in the space that, until Saturday night, was Rumpllings [5]. (To learn more about the closure of Rumplings click here! [6]).
Staggers explains Epic Sammich Co. thus: “It’s like a play on Epic Mealtime [7], in sandwich form. Basically, it’s going to be fun fat-kid food that me and Eric like cooking and are really good at cooking. We want to make it chef-driven.”
Morris had expected to take on a bigger project with Staggers and Co. after the closure of Loop 22 last month. [8] But he says Epic Sammich Co. “is my sole project for now, just because I want to put all my attention and time into this and Ten Tables [4]. I think if anything, the way we’ve kind of built this new concept, to kind of make this the flagship and really get it down, narrow it down, and make it to where it could be an expandable brand.”
Griffin Paulin, previously co-owner at Rumplings, will not be involved in Epic Sammich Co. at this time, but Dustin Staggers, Griffin Paulin and Eric Morris will stay active in their Ten Tables work together [4].
(Kaiser) Bun in the Incubator:
Image courtesy of Epic Sammich Co.
As noted before, the space that will house Epic Sammich Co. is Staggers’ “incubator restaurant,” [6] where he plans to test concepts until one succeeds to his satisfaction. “We won’t open a taco joint in that eighteen-seat spot, we’re not going to sell pizza by the slice,” he assures me. “We’re trying to give Louisville something that doesn’t exist yet – which is what we want to serve here, sandwiches that are eclectic and monstrous – a New York deli-style.”
“Another part of this switch is: it’s cold in the winter, it’s hot it the summer. I don’t need to be Kevin Harned [9] to tell you this: not everybody has a burning desire to go eat a hot bowl of soup in the summer.”
Epic Fat-Kid Food:
The tentative menu for Epic Sammich Co. promises some legendary stacks (on stacks). Dagwood himself could chow down on the “BLT 3” with Jay Denham’s back bacon, Benton’s smoked bacon, Woodlawn Farms [11] belly bacon, Grateful Greens [12], and lemon and roasted garlic aioili. Staggers says all the dressings and condiments at Epic Sammich Co. will be made in-house. There will also be fresh cookies from Staggeringly Delicious [13], chips and sodas available.
Befitting a restaurant inspired by a web show about eating gratuitous mounts of food, Staggers says every sandwich on the menu will have “at least eight ounces” of meat (or other meaty ingredients, as in the “It’s not Tofu” vegetarian offering). There will also be a challenge sandwich called “THE Epic Sammich” planned to be monstrously large, a gimmick sandwich for competitive eaters or the highly voracious.
Morris notes that not everything on the menu at Epic Sammich Co. will be entirely new; “There are a few things you’ll find on the menu [at Epic Sammich] from Loop 22 [10]. One is our hot chicken, it was really popular at Loop…between two slices of bread. We did a kimchi Rueben at Loop and that’s also going to be back.”
It’s also worth noting that Sammich’s preliminary menu has a “Nawlins’ Vice” sandwhich that is certainly a tribute to Staggers’ other restaurant, Roux [14].
Epic Sammich Co. will be working with Wiltshire Baker [16]y to source Kaiser rolls, and having Cuban bread shipped from Tampa, Amoroso’s Bread shipped in from Philadelphia. “Bread is crucial for a sandwich,” Staggers notes, “I’m working on some rye bread resources right now.”
Late-Night Fridge Raid:
The hours for Sammich will be similar for the hours kept by Rumplings: Tuesday through Thursday for lunch and dinner, then late-night hours kept Friday and Saturday to accommodate the late-night Highlands bar hoppers.
Morris and Staggers have discussed a possible delivery service in the future to run out of Epic Sammich Co., as well as the possibility of a Sunday brunch from 12 – 6 p.m. with “a monster breakfast sandwich.”
Open Sammich-e:
Staggers and Morris both know opening Epic Sammich Co. on June 15 is a stretch. “That was Dustin’s idea!” Morris laughs. “This happened within two days. He called me up and told me about it, and I was like, man, dude, I just got a gym membership. Can’t we relax for a second?”
Regardless of the exact open date for Epic Sammich Co. you’ll be able to sample food from both Rumplings and Epic Sammich Co. at the rescheduled RumpFest on June 28. [17]
“We HOPE to open it June 15,” Staggers is quick to qualify in our second conversation. Of course, there is the added hope that this “incubated” concept will succeed better than its predecessor - or at least be suitable epic.
Cover image courtesy of Epic Sammich Co.