Two of my favorite places to grab a sandwich near campus are Tasty Gourmet on Boston Avenue and Deli−icious in Davis Square. Both restaurants remind me of delis back home in Brooklyn, N.Y. — the deli capital of the world — partly because they import fresh Boar's Head cold cuts from New York, but also because they embrace the idea of a sandwich as a meal: They offer a pickle and a side with each order and feature creativity in sandwich invention and attention to detail in sandwich construction.
The first time that I ate a sandwich at each of these places, I knew that I liked both establishments. Sure, they seemed very similar, but to me that just meant I'd have two consistently solid sandwich options to choose from whenever I'm craving a hearty deli bite.
What I did not know was that this similarity was no coincidence.
When Ralph Martin opened Tasty Gourmet in 1996, his son Keith worked in the shop, helping his father serve up sandwiches and creating some new variations from time to time. Tasty's quickly became a local favorite. But after 10 years of working at Tasty's, Keith craved a new challenge.
A roast beef joint in Davis Square was up for sale, and with the money saved up from his 10 years working at Tasty's, Keith pounced on the opportunity. Just like his father did in 1996, Keith gave his place a confident name that promised consistently scrumptious sandwiches. Only instead of tasty, Keith's creations would be Deli−icious.
At Deli−icious, Keith attempts to strike a delicate balance between maintaining the characteristics that make Tasty's special and adding his own unique style to the menu. Father and son agree that two of the keys to their success are Boar's Head meats and using freshly baked bread (Ralph makes some of his in−house and imports the rest from Panera Bread, while his son Keith preferred to keep the secret of Deli−icious' bread close to the vest).
"Anyone can sell ham and cheese on rye," says Ralph. "But around here, having Boar's Head is a luxury."
The main differences between Deli−icious and Tasty's lie in the way that the two places market their sandwiches. Tasty's, which is slightly closer to campus, caters its menu to a Tufts population that is growing more and more health conscious every year. Ralph says that he sells significantly more turkey and chicken sandwiches than he does roast beef, while Keith at Deli−icious devotes a whole menu section to roast beef.
Another difference, Keith says, is that Deli−icious sells more fried food than Tasty's due to the different clientele that he attracts. Fried chicken is a mainstay on the menu, and in a Deli−icious original, the "Honeycomb Hideout," honey barbecue chicken strips are smothered with melted cheese, bacon and ranch dressing in a messy−but−scrumptious treat.
But as much as Keith attempts to be unique, his menu still owes much to his father's legacy at Tasty's. The homemade Red Bliss potato salad is, for example, identical at both places. And a few of the more popular sandwiches at Tasty's have been recreated at Deli−icious, including the Bacon Turkey Bravo (bacon, turkey, smoked gouda and a dynamite chili Dijon special dressing), which becomes the Southwestern Turkey Melt and the Spicy Turkey sandwich, which at Deli−icious becomes the "Big Papi."
In terms of serving up a smile and fresh, delicious sandwiches at reasonable prices, the apple has not fallen far from the Martin sandwich tree. And while Keith does infuse Deli−icious with his unique, tough−guy deli style, his shop ultimately should be considered more of a variation on the Tasty's formula then an entirely original concept.
As long as he keeps on making delicious sandwiches, though, you won't hear me complaining.
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Ben Kochman is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Benjamin.Kochman@tufts.edu.
