On Saturday, 300 Sandwiches went to battle with The Sandwich King himself Jeff Mauro in our first Sandwar event! We both hit the kitchen at Red Stixs in Water Mill, NY on a hot Saturday afternoon in the Hamptons to see who could make the tastiest sandwich for 75 hungry friends. We also raised some loot for charity, with proceeds from shirt sales and tip jars going to the American Cancer Society.

We fought hard, as you can see from the photo above with Jeff and I flexing our massive guns in the kitchen (wow look at my arm in that photo! Ladies, you see what yoga can do for you?). Jeff brought his Mortadella Melt with Fig, and I brought fried mahi mahi sandwiches with red cabbage slaw, jalapeño cilantro emulsion and pickled cucumbers.

While I was cooking alongside Jeff, elbow to elbow in the same kitchen, I learned a few things about Mr. Sandwich King. First, he’s always cool under pressure. Second, he’s a funny guy. Very quick with the one-liners. Third, he has the sweetest wife, Sarah, who attended to the event. And four, no matter how crazy it gets in the kitchen, his hair never moves out of place.

Anyway, we, along with my wonderful fiancé E, cooked our tail off for 100 of our friends, and picked chef Geoffrey Zakarian (who is a freaking Iron Chef America champ! my god, we cooked for an Iron Chef!) and “Today” show contributor Jill Martin to judge the best sandwich. We ended in a tie. And so, we went to a people’s choice vote. Somehow, Jeff pulled out the win. Rumor has it his friend Marc Murphy rigged the votes, but whatever. These things happen.

Listen, I, who have been making sandwiches for about two years, challenged a guy who has a show on the Food Network to a sandwich cook-off, and asked an Iron Chef and a “Today” show contributor to judge. That takes guts. And I had a solid showing—some people had devoured two or three servings of my fried fish sandwich! For that, I feel like a winner.

This just means one thing—there will be a rematch.

In the end, no one went home hungry and we all had a good time and raised money for a good cause. Thank you to all who participated in Sandwar, including our judges, our sponsors Arizona Beverages and Don Julio, and Red Stixs for hosting. Until next time…

by