We all need an Italian deli in our lives.
If you live on the Westside of Los Angeles, chances are good you’re a regular at Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery on Lincoln in Santa Monica. In Pasadena, it’s either Porta Via Italian Foods or Roma Market. Down in the South Bay, those in need of some prosciutto head for The Original Giuliano’s Delicatessen in Gardena. The high rollers in Beverly Hills flock to Eataly in Westfield Century City.
And, here in the San Fernando Valley, it’s Cavaretta’s Italian Deli, which has been slicing meat and cheese, and creating monster heroes since 1959.
The menu at Cavaretta’s says, “Come by today for a taste of yesterday.” And in a world of sushi minimalism, and postmodern postmodernism, Cavaretta’s is a terrific journey into a world that, for many, lives on only in memory. This is a deeply nostalgic deli, a place to go for those of us who grew up in cities that were blessed with Little Italys — New York, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and even San Diego. Los Angeles had a Little Italy at one time, more than a century ago, near Dodger Stadium. But aside from the San Antonio Winery, little remains.
Like LA’s population, the Italian delis of DTLA have journeyed into the surrounding cities. Here in Canoga Park, Cavaretta’s satisfies a deep-seated need for capicola, cotto salami, mortadella and provolone cheese. You enter Cavaretta’s hungry … you leave toting a bag heavy with the weight of the sort of sandwiches that give diet-obsessives conniption fits. With a big scoop of spicy pepper mix on top.
Happiness is just a bite away. And if you can’t wait till you get home, there are a trio of benches on the street in front — with a view of, you know, traffic.
Curiously, at Cavaretta’s they refer to their Italian sandwich as, simply, “sandwiches.” Which, of course, they are. But that deprives us of the fun of the sundry names used across the country to describe overburdened, long loaves of bread, piled high with just about everything in the deli case.
Where I grew up, in New York, they were submarine sandwiches — subs — because that was the shape of the long, narrow loaf of bread, with rounded tips on both ends. But we also called them “hero sandwiches” — a name coined by Clementine Paddleford, a columnist for the long defunct NY Herald Tribune, who back in 1936 referred to a sandwich of such size “you had to be a hero to eat it.” The name stuck.
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Down in Philadelphia, to be contrary, they called their sub/heroes “hoagies,” which I always thought was an homage to musician Hoagy Carmichael. But apparently, it’s a variation on the name a local sandwich shop gave to their oversized creations, which they called “hoagies.” And, up in the Boston area, those meals on a loaf were known as “grinders” — which may have been a reference to the effort your teeth had to give in order to chew what could be a half-pound sandwich.
In various parts of the country, they’re also foot-longs, po’ boys, wedgies and (mysteriously) spuckies. But at Cavaretta’s, they’re just … sandwiches. And darned good ones, too.
If you’re putting on a party, you can order them in a 3- or 6-foot size. But at the counter, they’re more modest, though far from less than heroic. There are 12 meats to choose from; I like peppered turkey, and spicy salami. There are six flavors of turkey (including turkey pastrami), and four of chicken.
The sandwiches all come with lettuce, tomato, onions, mustard, mayonnaise, Italian dressing and cheese. Though, for me, it’s the spicy mixed peppers that make this an edible work of art.
It doesn’t hurt to get an antipasto salad on the side; love those marinated artichoke hearts. And if I’m really hungry, they make killer meatballs — and exceptional lasagna sold for $9.95 a slice, like it’s a very thick pizza. The sausage and peppers are a walk through my youth on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx — a Little Italy that survives to this day.
Oh, and don’t forget the cannoli. It’s so crisp, packed with a filling that’s obscenely good, and impossible not to inhale. No matter how full you may be with the sandwich, meats, cheeses, salads, lasagna and meatballs, there’s always room for cannoli.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
Cavaretta’s Italian Deli
Rating: 2.5 stars
Address: 22045 Sherman Way, Canoga Park
Information: 818-340-6626; www.cavarettasdeli.com
Cuisine: Old School Italian Takeout
When: Lunch, every day
Details: Beverages from the refrigerator case; no reservations
Prices: About $20 per person
On the menu: Cold Sandwiches, with 21 meats to choose from ($9.95/$13.95), 4 Vegetarian Sandwiches ($9.95/$13.95), 5 Specialty Sandwiches ($10.95-$15.95), 9 Add-Ons (25 cents-$2), 5 Hot Sandwiches ($9.95/$14.95), Lasagna ($9.95), 5 Salads ($3.95-$9.95), 10 Side Orders ($5.99-$15.99 a pound), “Our Famous Cannoli” ($2.50/$3.75), 9 Specialty Bars ($3.75), 4 Pastries ($3.75), 9 Cookies ($12.99 a pound)
Credit cards: MC, V
What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.)
