Salty, creamy and immensely satisfying: This focaccia sandwich is the best I’ve eaten all year

For this impermanent takeover of Sandwich Watch, the column dedicated to the Sydney sandwiches you request to cognize about, I’m taking you to my favourite focaccia newcomer: Delisia. It’s a tiny sunlit cafe successful a Forest Lodge terrace, with a sandwich-making set-up similar a bougie Italian Subway. The antagonistic is filled with deli goods, from beef bresaola to pecorino spread, and determination are 15 Italian-inspired sandwiches − 10 “classics” priced astatine $16.90 and 5 “epicures” with premium ingredients priced astatine $18.90 − each served connected focaccia bread.

All the fillings look good, peculiarly the best-selling, beauteous Figaro with slices of blush-pink figs, prosciutto, burrata, chromatic and rocket. But I deliberation elemental and savoury is the spell here, truthful my prime is the Lorenzo ($16.90).

Delisia’s Lorenzo sandwich is filled with creamy whipped ricotta and salty pancetta.Rhett Wyman

What makes it truthful good?

Long rectangles of focaccia are baked in-house, each morning. They’re aureate and a small crunchy connected the outside, brushed and fluffy connected the inside, and sliced truthful heavy you’ll request 2 hands to devour it. Honestly, it’s truthful large you could astir apt stock 1 betwixt 2 people.

The Lorenzo is salty, creamy and immensely satisfying, packed with sliced pancetta, crunchy house-made pistachio paste, parmesan and the lightest, creamiest whipped ricotta. To finish, it’s drizzled with olive oil, and recently, they’ve started serving it with sliced greenish olives. Inspired by a caller peculiar posted connected Delisia’s socials, I adhd a dash of chilli lipid ($1) and it’s a chef’s buss moment.

Is this the champion focaccia sandwich successful Sydney? I can’t accidental for sure, but it’s surely the champion I’ve tried this year.

Owner Lena Raslan with the Lorenzo sandwich astatine Delisia.Rhett Wyman

Why focaccia?

First-time concern proprietor Lena Raslan developed an appreciation for focaccia sandwiches during a two-month Europe trip. “I was inspired by the flavours and the mode they did definite things,” she says. “It was truthful uncommon to find thing pre-made - it was each caller to order.”

With its salty finger-dimpled crusts, Delisia’s house-made focaccia is reminiscent of the Genovese style. It’s made to a two-day proving and baking process utilizing integrated ingredients to make a merchandise “soft connected the inside, crispy connected the outside, truthful radical get the champion of some worlds,” Raslan says.

Be prepared: Delisia gets engaged connected weekends.Rhett Wyman

Great, let’s go!

Hold up. This sandwich store comes with 1 caveat: it’s already precise popular, drafting ample crowds connected weekends. When we visited, the footpath was crowded with customers, the hold was astir fractional an hr for a takeaway sandwich, and bully luck scoring 1 of the few, mostly outdoor, tables, disposable connected a archetypal come, archetypal served basis.

But determination are ways astir waiting. Raslan says the quietest times are earlier 11am oregon aft 2.30pm, oregon immoderate clip Tuesday and Wednesday. Delisia takes pre-orders connected transportation app DoorDash, and implicit the telephone (though they mightiness not prime up during the luncheon rush).

Bonus: each sandwich is strategically wrapped successful achromatic insubstantial for eating on-the-go, making it perfect for the adjacent locomotion past Orphan School Creek and down to Glebe Foreshore, if you’re truthful inclined.

Grab a Lorenzo astatine Delisia, 284 Bridge Road, Forest Lodge, Mon-Fri 7am-4pm, Sat 7am-3pm oregon Sun 8am-3pm, delisia.au

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