The Wine & Cheese Cask is about as Cambridge as you can get with its boho vibe and long history, if technically in Somerville (at Beacon and Washington). It’s been selling vino and fromage from back when Woodstock marked the world’s biggest love-in, through the tumultuous ’70s, big hair ’80s and Y2K and is still doing so today. Besides fine bottles to imbibe and rich, rinded pungents for the cheese board, the homey nook also has a bang-up deli that serves killer sandwiches – a menu that had fallen off my radar until a recent article here in the Day about the G.W.A.C.C. adoration sticker campaign. And boy, was I happy to be reminded.
The sandwich slate has its Italian side, with mortadella and provolone and an Italian cold cut combo, and more Western Europe-fashioned sandwiches that’ll warm your heart and tummy such as the Bavarian (imported black forest ham, Emmental cheese, mustard, pickles and onions on rye – your basic Bukowski Tavern treat gone upscale); classic ham and brie, with a fantastic apricot mostarda jam on a baguette; the classic Rustic Royal (smoked ham with imported French butter and arugula on baguette); and a Gorgon that won’t turn you to stone (Gorgonzola, sliced apple, arugula and fig spread on baguette). Closer to home there’s the North Shore (roast beef, what else?). But the one to have is the Italian Turkey.
Yeah, Thanksgiving is around the corner, but one can never have too much turkey, and this meat is super moist, thinly sliced and piled high, with mayo and provolone on fresh sourdough. The Italian aspect is the crisp green and red peppers and pepper hots. The combination of textures and flavors seems perhaps counterintuitive, but one bite and it feels instantly and instinctively right – crunchy, creamy and light with a bite. Whoever curates the importing of these fine meats and the menu board should be up for a holiday bonus.
All sandwiches are $11, with no substitutions (that’s how serious the Cask is; it even makes its own “house ranch” dressing from scratch). The slate revolves seasonally, with many – including the Italian turkey, Rustic Royal and ham and brie – recurring. The menu online is still a season behind, which I mention because it’s efficient to call in an order and grab and go 10 minutes later, but if you spy something online that catches your eye, it may not be available when you call in. A helpful staffer will guide you to something similar.
With fellow long-timer the P&K Delicatessen and newcomer PRB Boulangerie, the stretch of Beacon Street that runs from the backside of Porter Square and into Inman is sandwich to-go central.
Speaking of turkey, I’m brining and roasting a bird for the first time in years. The carving of a well-cooked Butterball always makes for a pleasing crescendo after all the arduous preparation and hurry-up-and-wait hours of checking and anticipation, but for me, I love the feast of leftovers that results – a simple mayo and turkey on toasted white bread, turkey pot pie or chili and, when down to the bone, soup. One thing I won’t be making is the stuffing, because Flour’s sage sausage stuff is impossible to re-create – so now you know,
Bird is the word. Happy holiday feasting (and napping)!
Wine & Cheese Cask, 407 Washington St., Kirkland Village, Somerville
Tom Meek is a writer living in Cambridge. His reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in the WBUR ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.
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