Jolly Good Sandwiches at Near & Far
When the second lockdown ended last year, Raphael Exton Pery hung up his Jolly Good Sandwiches apron, put the pop-up on hold, then went back to work at Gimlet at Cavendish House.
But after he was hit by a car and had to take a month-long break, he re-jigged his priorities and thought it was time to bring the jolly good times back. So he did.
This time he's cooking out of Near & Far's next-door bottle shop, so you can have a tinnie of hard-to-find beer alongside your next-level sandwich.
The chicken sanga with citrus-herb mayo, cucumber and lettuce; rare roast beef with Swiss cheese, bread and butter pickles, mustard sauce and balsamic leaves; and the farmhouse cheddar with beetroot and carrot pickle, alfalfa, citrus mayo and butter lettuce all come served on a white sourdough baguette from Cobb Lane, while the cheese, pickle and mustard melt toastie uses the same bakery's sourdough slices. There are also three flavours of Cobb Lane doughnuts available on weekends.
The Melbourne chef, whose CV also lists Clifton Hill wine bar Spensley’s and Carlton North’s Little Andorra, wants to help drum up a Melbourne sandwich “culture” – as we have for coffee and brunch. That means fresh, everyday sandwiches as opposed to the heftier occasional ones that can line you up for a sluggish afternoon.
Hours:
Wed to Sat 11am–4pm
Sun 11am–3pm