Best Sandwich Downtown, Maybe Anywhere: Mendocino Farms

Friday, September 5, 2008, by Lesley Balla

Mendocino Farms is a small lunch-only counter in the California Plaza food court that only Downtownizens seem to know about. We’re sure the people who line up for sandwiches every day want to keep it that way—who wants to add another 40 people to the 60-deep lined up at noon any given day—but after having a duck confit sandwich with duck skin chicarrones and figs on chewy Breadbar bread yesterday, we can not contain ourselves. Chef/partner Judy Han has done stints in some top kitchens in LA (A.O.C., Grace, Literati II) and it shows. She uses artisanal ingredients and supports small farms, and the restaurant is certified green. The menu is large but the seasonal selections are what to look for, some of which may even end up in the regular rotation—fans of the Kurobuta pork belly banh mi wouldn’t let Han take it off the menu, and there’s a mean vegan ’schwarma’ we hear. It’s not new in the newest sense, but there are finally expansion plans in the works: Probably two or three more locations downtown and then they’ll maybe head west. Century City seems to be a buzz word. Westsiders, brace.