Ascot’s Busy Sandwich Shop, Sarni, Now Serves Sandwiches for Dinner – With Matching Wines

Since opening in September, Sarni has become a lunchtime hotspot. It’s common to see crowds form outside the bright blue shop on Racecourse Road, especially on Saturdays. Given its open kitchen and steady stream of orders, you might expect chaos akin to the first season of The Bear. But co-owners and chefs Hugo Hirst and Marty Coard run a smooth operation – no mess, no shouting, no swearing.

In November, Sarni began opening for Friday and Saturday night dinners. Initially it offered an evolving menu of snacks and share plates: crudo, arancini and steak, for example. But the team quickly realised no matter the time of day, customers wanted Sarni to do what it does best – sandwiches.

“We had so many people coming in at night saying, ‘Hey, can we get a sandwich?’” Hirst recalls. “And we’d have to say, ‘No, but we’ve got all these other dishes.’ They’d be quite disappointed.”

Now, Hirst and Coard are giving the people what they want. Sandwiches are available for dinner, alongside a few extra dishes. There’s a flatbread topped with confit garlic, anchovies and smoked mozzarella; brisket croquettes; and merguez sausage koftas.

“We’ve also started pairing the sandwiches with wines,” Hirst says. “We’ve enlisted the help of a few [wine] reps, and said, ‘This is what we’re making – bring us what you’ve got.’”

Expect a fried Jamaican jerk chicken sandwich with a Duke’s Vineyard riesling; a braised beef and pimento cheese sandwich with Unico Zelo’s Truffle Hound nebbiolo; or a sambal brisket barbeque sandwich with Defialy’s piquette. The wines are carefully chosen but won’t break the bank – nothing is over $18 a glass.

“We don’t want you coming in, buying a sandwich and a wine, and suddenly spending $50,” Hirst says. “We want people to feel like they got value, tried something interesting – maybe something they wouldn’t normally order – but it was really yummy and went well with their sandwich.”

Sarni
143 Racecourse Road, Ascot
No phone

Hours:
Tue to Thu 6am–3pm
Fri & Sat 6am–8pm
Sun 8am–1pm

@sarni.bne