These utterly from-scratch Little Italy sandwiches are worth the wait

Sanguiccio's Genio Ienzi makes his own sausages, bakes his own bread, grinds his pepper and crumbles his oregano. Just don't rush him.

Sandwich-maker Genio Ienzi does things his way or not at all. That’s not to say that the owner-operator Sanguiccio Deli-Cafe on Preston Street is cantankerous in any way. He’s actually quite pleasant, low-key company.

It’s more a case of him having high standards that he’s not willing to compromise. That’s why Ienzi makes his own sausages, which, while admittedly salty, are bursting with other flavours too. “This is all my mom’s cooking; I was watching her when I was growing up,” Ienzi says.

He also bakes his sturdy panini buns , which have crispy exteriors and crumbs that are light but sufficiently absorbent, because all of his unpressed paninis are heavy on the juice. Ienzi grinds his pepper, crumbles his oregano, and cooks all by himself in his tiny eatery. “A lot of things you can’t buy.

You have to make them,” Ienzi says. He also makes his sandwiches to order, at his own pace, at his crowded workstation. A wait of 15 minutes or so to have your lunch made isn’t out of the ordinary.

But you go to Sanguiccio, if you’re in the know, precisely because the quality of Ienzi’s food can’t be rushed, and your investment of time will pay off with a delicious, highly seasoned sandwich. Adding to the quirkiness of Sanguiccio is the fact that there’s no menu. If you know, you know.

Or maybe you consult Sanguiccio’s social media to see what’s available that day. Usually there’s a sausage panino, usually with rapini and perhaps tomato if Ienzi gets some he likes. Last week, I had a sandwich generously laden with porchetta — “It takes 15 hours to make,” Ienzi says — as well as a chicken sandwich that I’d be happy to eat every day.

Both came with a simple but super-tasty tomato salad that made my day. Some days are very quiet at Sanguiccio. When I visited last week, in the middle of the afternoon, I was the second customer of the day.

But the day before, Ienzi had 15 customers, he says. On the wall near the door hang laudatory articles dating back almost 15 years, to when Sanguiccio had been open just a few years. The entrance and dining area that seats maybe six or eight people are a little cluttered and a little dark.

That must be how Ienzi likes it. Formerly, he had a health food store at the same location, but he says ongoing construction on Preston Street did it in. On the table, there’s a large metal dispenser for olive oil, labeled “EVOO Calabrese” — a nod to the Southern Italian region where Ienzi was born.

More specific are the signs and posters that shout out to his hometown of Cleto. “I’d live there if I could, if it was possible,” says Ienzi. His family came to Canada when he was five years old, and his mother is still around.

“I still ask her to do stuff,” he says. Sanguiccio, he says, survives by word of mouth and customer loyalty. He has regulars who like his unaffected home-style cooking so much they ask him to cook multi-course dinners for them.

Which he does. Ienzi is 65, but says, “I can’t afford to retire.” But he says he likes what he’s doing.

“I got good customers and I got good friends,” he says. “If I could retire, I’d still be doing this. It’s fun.”

phum@postmedia.com Sanguiccio Deli-Cafe 183 Preston St., 613-569-0456, instagram.com/sanguiccio Open: Tuesday to Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday noon to 4:30 p.m., closed Sunday, Monday Prices: Sandwiches for $16 Access: steps to front door Want to stay in the know about what’s happening in Ottawa? Sign up for the Ottawa Citizen’s arts and life newsletter — Out of Office — our weekly guide to eating, listening, reading, watching, playing, hanging, learning and living well in the capital.

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