ONE TASTY ‘TRAIN WRECK’
Veal sandwich an Ontario finalist
Anthony Del Brocco will be making his train wreck of a sandwich Saturday in the finals to win Ontario’s best veal sandwich.
His veal meal is a bit messy to eat in his Mettawas Station Italian Mediterranean Grill inside the historic Kingsville train station. That combo got the sandwich dubbed the Train Wreck and he’s hoping his combination of local ingredients and Ontario veal can beat three other restaurants for the provincial veal victory. “Bragging rights. I get to say I have the best veal sandwich in Ontario,” Del Brocco said of what a win in the Veal Farmers of Ontario competition would mean.
“I’d like to bring that home back to Kingsville because there’s a lot of great food places here in town and I’d like to say that I’m part of that.” He saw an advertisement for the contest with John Catucci of the Food Network’s You Gotta Eat Here on a day when one of the restaurant’s servers had sold a lot of the veal sandwiches. It wasn’t difficult to get people to nominate the restaurant.
The public nominated 129 restaurants, said Cara Ferguson, Ontario Veal Appeal brand ambassador for the veal farmers. Judges including Ferguson and Catucci came a few weeks ago to Kingsville as judges narrowed the field from 14 sandwiches to the top four.
They wanted to pick the top three but couldn’t because the taste testing was so close, Ferguson said. “People really love their veal sandwiches,” she said. “There have been online arguments about who has the best. It’s really stirred up a fiery passion almost like they’re fighting over a sports team.” Veal comes from male calves that aren’t needed on dairy farms. Ontario produces mostly grain-fed veal that is usually from sevenmonth-old bulls that go to market at 650 to 700 pounds.
Del Brocco, who is of Italian descent, grew up in Kingsville and owns the restaurant with his wife Janet. He created his veal sandwich about five years ago. It includes his homemade tomato sauce and a toasted ciabatta bun from Lakeside Bakery in Leamington. The breaded veal cutlet and provolone cheese is topped with sauteed onions, mushrooms and local greenhouse peppers.
“People seem to love it,” he said. The Mettawas Station Italian Mediterranean Grill, which is in the train station in space leased from the Essex Region Conservation Authority, will celebrate its 10th anniversary in October. The fieldstone station was completed in 1889 for whisky magnate Hiram Walker’s railway and his resort Mettawas Hotel.
The station became so deteriorated that some suggested it be demolished but it was saved in 1989. The conservation authority acquired the property in 1995 and the building was restored and given a new slate roof in 2003.
The history may have helped but Del Brocco said his sandwich is delicious. “Maybe just the love and effort I put into making them,” he said of what makes the difference. There will be five judges Saturday at Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market and the Kingsville restaurant will be up against Nostra Cuccina in Kitchener, Kantene of Mississauga and Paninoteca of Hamilton. The winner is expected to be named at 2:45 p.m. Saturday and will receive a trophy and a publicity boost.