NEW YORK — As lunchtime staples, sandwiches are oftentimes defined more by their contents than their carriers. And while the right mix of toppings, roughage and condiments rounds out the flavor profile, the whole meal crumbles without the right bread.
At Sandwell, a New York “healthy-ish” sandwich shop, the freshly-baked bread is an intentional, core ingredient for the business.
“For us, it’s very important to make our own bread and make it in-house so we know exactly what it is and make sure it’s perfect for our sandwiches,” said Andy Gottlieb, founder and CEO of Sandwell.
A roll all its own
The quality of the sub roll was a structural pillar of the business, needing the ability to hold up when stacked with hefty ingredients such as meatballs and chicken parmesan. This end product, Andy shared, and a commitment to making delicious foods with simple ingredients, is what spurred the R&D process forward.
It took about eight months for the team to land on the winning roll formula.
“I’ve always really liked the classic soft Italian semolina roll and wanted to find a way to do that that was vegan but also had a very smooth and complex flavor,” Andy said.
Oat milk turned out to be a great fit for the roll, fulfilling both the need for a well-structured, flavorful bread and the desire to offer a vegan base for the business’s menu items. Sandwell also found success in the integration of King Arthur Baking Co.’s Sir Lancelot Hi-Gluten Flour, which offers the bake a flavorful, high-protein base.
Formulating a roll that fulfilled all the sandwich shop’s needs took between six to eight months to lock down consistency, though the team still tweaks and tinkers with the recipe to ensure it works well for the staff’s needs.
Tight-quarters baking
Making from-scratch baked goods is a challenge all its own. Doing so in a tiny commercial space in New York City adds an extra layer of difficulty.
Andy leveraged his previous experience building a bakery commissary in Washington, DC, to inform the purchase of commercial-grade equipment that fits within the shop’s tight square footage. This included a dough spiral mixer, divider and moulder, all chosen for their ability to create consistency in each step of the bread-making process.
“While imperfections add to the character of a bread, for us, because it’s an ingredient in the recipe, it has to be as consistent as possible,” he said. “We fit all this [equipment] into a little triangle of our space so our baking team can work together … that’s how we’re able to do this production and volume within a small, combined space.”
Another key element to maximizing counterspace is a cold bulk-fermenting process, which not only frees up surface area for sandwich assembly, but also helps refine the complex flavor profile of the bread and allows team members to bake what they need throughout the day.
As Sandwell’s footprint grows in 2026, Andy hopes to find a retail space with more space in the back, a move that could not only strengthen its hub-and-spoke baking model but also create a foundation for the sandwich shop to add more bread varieties and, one day, even sell the rolls individually.
