The Order:
With AnnMarie out sick, our top-notch blog photographer Ali (and web designer extraordinaire) got tipped for a start in the big leagues today. Her reward? An order from Culture Espresso, the new SeamlessWeb spot in the former Starwich locale on 38th street (R.I.P.). They’ve got an extensive coffee selection, but we were looking for lunch and the sandwiches sung out to us with Sullivan Street bakery bread and interesting ingredients. Ali chose the Figgy Sandwich featuring prosciutto, goat cheese, fig spread, and arugula, while I went for the Chipotle Chicken Sandwich with grilled chicken, avocado, and lettuce. And with the cold weather I couldn’t resist finding out the soup of the day, and when I heard it was Organic Butternut Squash, it was a no-brainer.
Soup and Sandwiches
The Meal:
I braved the cold, got some fresh air, and came back with the chow. Once the sandwiches came out of the bag, we noticed that they were conveniently cut in half and had an obvious split situation on our hands. The soup was all mine though. I’m a huge fan of puréed soups, with butternut squash and sweet potato as two of my all-time favorites, so I had high expectations. And the soup met, but did not exceed, them. The flavor was great and I savored every spoonful, but my one issue is that I would have like the soup to be a little thicker and heartier. I’d definitely order it again though, and would say the same about both sandwiches. The Figgy was the slighter of the two in size and flavor, but the ingredients were delicious and clearly high quality across the board. And I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: BREAD MATTERS! Ali took her half apart a little to get the inside scoop and show you what fig spread actually looks like:
Inside the Figgy Sandwich
The Chipotle Chicken also had excellent ingredients and all kinds of things going on, as it was bursting out of the bread. Ali said that the avocado really made it, and I can’t disagree, as I think that avocado should be in pretty much every sandwich. Overall, we agreed that the chicken was definitely the more filling of the two, but in the end I’d really say it’s a toss-up to determine which one was better. It depends on how hungry you are and what kind of mood you’re in!
Chipotle Chicken Sandwich bursting at the seams
With such super soups and sandwiches, we can only imagine what their signature coffee is like, so we recommend that you order it and tell us about your own Culture Espresso experiences.
Check out Culture Espresso’s menu and feel free to give us recommendations for future orders in the comments.