Some things look too good to eat, which is both a blessing and a curse for Sandoitchi, the Japanese-style sandwich-maker that is hosting a pop-up in Denver this month.
It’s a blessing because Instagram posts about the photogenic sandos have been one of the primary drivers behind Texas-based Sandoitchi’s buzz-worthy marketing over the past two years. It’s a curse because, well, the brand’s founders want the food to stand on its own.
“We were born on social media. Instagram is our biggest media and social media tool,” said Sandoitchi operations manager Keith Tran. “But we don’t want to get lumped in with other ‘Instagram foods.’ It helps that the sandwich is very pretty. But we are a chef-driven brand.
“Our food tastes as good as it looks. Maybe better. We want to draw the line there,” he added.
Created in Dallas in 2020 by chef Stevie Nguyen — who had previously worked at Momofuku Ko, Morimoto and Uchi — the company’s goal is to bring a version of the pre-packaged sandwiches found in Japanese convenience stores, known as konbini, to the United States.
Wait. Convenience stores?
“Their convenience stores are not like the ones we have. It’s a whole different animal in Japan,” Train explained. Instead of stale hotdogs and greasy pizza sitting in a glass case for hours on end, Japanese convenience stores have entire walls of high-quality, pre-packaged food. “It’s pretty and pristine and in Japan, it’s not looked down on in that way.”
In fact, Tran points out that famed New York chef and restauranteur David Chang has long extolled the virtues of Japanese convenience store food — so much so that he opened his own version of one, Peach Mart, in Manhattan in 2019.
“It’s not often you think of a product that is new to everyone, but this one is,” Tran added. “We want to introduce it to as many people as possible.
To do that, Sandoitchi’s six-person team has hosted pop-up events in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Louisiana, California and Colorado, each lasting for a few weeks.
Sandoitchi’s first appearance in Colorado lasted two weeks in May, selling out each day. The current pop-up, taking place at Zeppelin Station, at 3501 Wazee St., runs through Aug. 27.
But you can’t just waltz in and grab a sandwich. Each week’s menu goes up for pre-order the previous Sunday on Sandoitchi’s website. Then customers pick up their items on an appointed day. So, while this week’s sandwiches are sold out, pre-ordering for next week begins at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 14. The final week for pre-orders begins at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21.
The expanded menu features: the Egg Salad Sando with scrambled egg salad, soft boiled egg, toasted green pepper and Kewpie mayo; the Hot Truffle Chicken Katsu Sando with koji chicken, cabbage, kauboi hot sauce and black truffle Kewpie mayo; the Fruit + Cream Sando with strawberry and matcha cream; the Shrimp Salad Sando; and the Pork Katsu Sando.
The only exception? This Saturday, Aug. 13, when the full menu will be available from 3 to 7 p.m. at Zeppelin Station during the RiNo Beer Fest. In addition, the team will host a non-sando-related dinner at Sunday Vinyl on Monday, Aug. 22 (details will be on Instagram).
After that, it’s down to Austin for another pop-up and then Sandoitchi will focus on setting up a brick-and-mortar operation in Dallas. But Tran said the company will return to Colorado sometime later this year or early next year, although it will be in a city outside of Denver.
“We started this in the middle of the pandemic, which is really why we do these pop-ups,” Tran said. “Then we asked, ‘Can we take it on the road and prove that it can work in different markets?’ I think we have proven that it can.”
