Semi-healthy food lacks personality

The word on the street is that Subway is coming to four of the five TCC campuses.

I like Subway every now and then. It’s not somewhere I want to eat every day, and when you get right down to it, I could just make a sub sandwich at home.
What I can’t make at home is the fabulous Philly cheesesteak sandwich Chef James puts together at the NE Campus café.

Heck, even Subway shops can’t make a Philly cheesesteak like Chef James. They have a steak-and-cheese thing on their menu that consists of rubbery, pre-cooked meat that is tossed into a microwave and then clumped on a roll.

My man James cooks fresh cheesesteak with onions, peppers and mushrooms under a hood on a hot skillet. He babies the mixture until the right moment and then piles a load of mozzarella on top, swipes the mixture up while the cheese is melting and lays it on a toasted, open-faced hoagie roll.

I’m only on NE Campus a couple of days a week, and the only reason I’ve limited myself to Chef James’ Phillies every once in awhile is because I don’t want to be greedy. And don’t get me started on the chicken finger basket or the gyro that is so insanely good it needs to be eaten in private.

Subway’s slogan is “Eat fresh.” I get it. Pop in and design your own sandwich with a bunch of vegetables at your disposal.

What I don’t understand is how a company that has built a reputation on sandwiches for more than 45 years does not offer chicken salad.

What’s up with that?

Miss Sarah at NW Campus put together a fresh chicken salad wrap in a spinach tortilla for me the other day that was out of this world.

On more than one occasion, I’ve strolled by the NW café just to see what they had cooking and have hit the jackpot with Chef Roscoe’s vegetable lasagna or Chef Terry’s turkey and dressing. Shoot, just last week I snagged a basket of hot, freshly made churros at NW and, well, if you missed out on those, I’m so sorry.

In the long run, when you think about it, students won’t remember missing out on wonderful food served and prepared by interesting people.

With Subway, there are no culinary surprises, but you will have your choice of all the veggies you can stuff into a 12-inch roll.