Making sandwiches as a job isn’t usually the most glorifying of vocations. John-Patrick Downey-McCarthy turns that reality on its head.
With creative panini grilled sandwiches that range widely in their exoticness and soups that are just as on par, Downey-McCarthy’s full-time job making sandwiches in his VW van is as rad as sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll — in your mouth. Well, maybe not exactly that.
Downey-McCarthy’s segue into the food cart business is similar to the experience of many others who have a creative interest in the culinary arts, but few financial resources.
“I came up with this idea of having sandwiches that were wrapped up and ready to grill — hot to order,” Downey-McCarthy said. “So I had this picture of a cooler in my head and sandwiches wrapped up and a panini machine and I was kind of like, ‘Yeah this is economically doable; I think I can pull that off.’”
The Seattle native had a long string of kitchen jobs and a culinary degree under his belt when he came to Eugene five years ago. He started here by running the kitchens at Lavelle’s Bistro in the 5th Street Market and Chanterelle (now Cornucopia).
But he still had the itch to start up something that was a complete projection of his culinary vision.
So on Halloween of 2009, Devour was born. The sandwiches that Downey-McCarthy makes tend to stray from the more traditional, European styles, but things really aren’t that limiting.
There have been a lot of fusion-style combinations, and with an entirely new menu each week (posted weekly on the Devour blog and complete with pictures), Downey-McCarthy is pushed more and more to test the limits of what a sandwich really constitutes. Consider last week’s menu:
General Devour: The classic Chinese style done up our way with Swiss and shredded cabbage
Bacon Meat Loaf: Mom’s classic recipe but bacon inter-laced with cheddar, onions, Devour sauce
Avocado and Basil: With spicy tomato and smoked gouda
Weekly Soup: Curried Tomato
Of his more interesting combinations and fusions, Downey-McCarthy said, “We branch out and do other things; some Asian stuff, some Indian things, just whatever we think might be good in a sandwich. Just taking something and saying, ‘Well, this ingredient isn’t normally in a sandwich, but this ingredient’s not to far away from this ingredient, so that might work in a sandwich.’ So it’s just trying to gauge that.”
Being entirely mobile in his two VW vans also affords Downey-McCarthy some freedom and privilege that more stationary food cart owners don’t always have, such as establishing more business and forming community relations.
For example, Ninkasi Brewing Company isn’t officially designated a brewpub, which would allow them to prepare and sell food at their tap house. Instead, Ninkasi invites Devour to come by on Friday nights and set up shop.
“I guess we’ve just been really fortunate to meet so many people,” Downey-McCarthy said, “and we’ve been asked to participate in events that we probably wouldn’t have been invited to had we been sitting still.”
Oakshire Brewing is also a stop on Saturday afternoon and Lavelle’s Bistro on Friday, as well.
All other “locations” are coordinated by businesses during the week for Devour to stop by and sell their sandwiches around lunchtime.
But if you’re looking to get in on the Devour amazingness, call around 1 p.m. or a little later in the afternoon and you’ll probably be in luck. And Downey-McCarthy is down to meet up, meet half-way, or work something out if at all possible.
Other than that, you can find Devour’s sandwiches and soups at its downtown Springfield cafe, also where most of the prep work happens.
“We’re trying to find a new tactic to capture those people (that don’t have good access) to have them come in and enjoy our food. And with the cafe we opened up, that’s what we’re really trying to focus on,” Downey-McCarthy said.
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Daily Emerald
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