The Kitchen Sink at Stanlieo's Sub Villa

The Tour de Sandwich had to take an unexpected detour when we discovered that the next sandwich in line, Kentucky Hot Brown at The Scene Lounge in Monaco Pictures, could not be had at our regularly scheduled Tuesday lunch time: The Scene Lounge is not open then. We'll have to pick that one up later; we pressed on to The Kitchen Sink at Stanlieo's Sub Villa.

Stanlieo's is an institution, a Huntsville tradition. Plus, check out the ingredient list on this sandwich: ham, turkey, roast beef, Genoa salami, cotto salami, pepperoni, Swiss cheese, capicola, American cheese, provolone cheese, onion, pickles, tomato, salt, pepper and oregano. Seven kinds of meat and three different cheeses?! It sounds like a riot! Clearly the creator of this sandwich embraces the virtue of excess. This reviewer was very excited and expected a sandwich that would give The Godfather a run for its money.

As usual, our group bemused the staff with our identical orders; the anticipation built as the sandwiches arrived one by one. The verdict? Some folks were very pleased with the sandwich. For fans of Stanlieo's, the fresh-baked bread and chopped pickle/pepper mix make this sandwich an esteemed member of the Stanlieo's sandwich family. For me, though, the sandwich fell short. First of all, I hate oregano on a sub. I had forgotten that fact until, halfway through the sandwich, I finally identified the unpleasant flavor. (Obviously I didn't read all the way to the end of the ingredients list! Once I got past the cheeses, I apparently wrote off the rest as "blah blah sandwich stuff whatever.") Also, I found the pickles excessive and overwhelming. Furthermore, the human brain has only 7 plus or minus 2 spaces available in short term memory. When a sandwich contains seven meats and three cheeses, even a very smart brain can't process all of those elements individually, it has to group them somehow. In a well-rounded sandwich, this might take a form such as: salty meats, peppers, cheese and fatty sauces, veggies. For The Kitchen Sink, on the other hand, my brain grouped it as: oregano, pickles, casserole. The flavors failed to harmonize to my satisfaction, ending up as one big muddle (aside from the pickles and oregano, of course). The blander meats diminished the effect of the stronger, saltier meats but weren't strong enough dominate the sandwich themselves. I can't believe I'm saying this, but sometimes less really is more.