RESTAURANT REVIEW: At Bruno's, sandwiches superb

Let's not forget that simple is good.

In fact, let's modify that maxim and say a simple sandwich is good. There doesn't need to be anything complicated about a sandwich. Nothing fancy.

A sandwich is not one for black-tie events. No, it's a food generally more at ease being blue collar.

Oh, elaborate, expensive sandwiches can be good, but at its heart, a sandwich is straightforward: two pieces of bread with filling between them. That's it. It doesn't have to get more complex than that.

And I had my mind on a simple sandwich venturing into Bruno's Little Italy Deli in downtown Little Rock last month.

I walked in, ordered, paid and minutes later received my sandwich, a Jimmy's Poor Boy ($8.50), which arrived in a simple, rectangular white box, stenciled with the restaurant's logo on top.

Back at the office, I unpacked my lunch: a hefty sandwich, a small brown bag of house-made potato chips and a plastic container holding two pepperoncini peppers.

Yes, a simple sandwich. Then I bit into this Jimmy's Poor Boy and was transported. Wow, sometimes simple is beyond good. Sometimes it's oh-so great.

Jimmy's Poor Boy turns its back on its name, offering rich flavors of salami, pepperoni and prosciutto, with perhaps only the last getting lost in the shuffle. It's a masterful sandwich, balancing the salty goodness of the meats with soft cheeses -- provolone and mozzarella -- and a dash of salt and pepper. The mayonnaise adds to the depth of flavors as the shredded lettuce lends a satisfying texture.

And then there's the sandwich's bread. It's from the same bakery where the main restaurant next door, Bruno's Little Italy, gets its bread, Wenner Bakery on Long Island, N.Y., and the bread finds a nifty little balance between crunchy on top and bottom, and pleasingly chewy on the inside.

It could be argued that every good sandwich owes its value to its bread -- its foundation -- and Bruno's Jimmy's Poor Boy takes a firm footing and layers it with a first-rate feast of delicious Italian cold cuts and cheeses. This is a sandwich so good -- OK, now I'm gushing -- that I ordered it twice more on return trips. Twice more I was thoroughly pleased.

Of course, considering the deli is an offshoot of Bruno's Little Italy, the deli should be expected to be good. After all, there's a lot riding on the deli. Its tidy takeout boxes are heavy with the legacy of the main family (with a restaurant lineage in Little Rock stretching back to 1940s), its big brother restaurant and its place in Arkansas history.

The deli -- which opened in early August -- is part grocery store, with deli cases to the left as one enters filled with hot coppa, bresaola, speck -- all from Salumeria Biellese in Hackensack, N.J. Shelves on the right wall are lined with jars and tins of olives, capers, flat fillets of anchovies, whole baby clams, whole baby conch, and tartlettes in raspberry, apricot and strawberry flavors.

Diners can eat inside the hall-like deli, as there are a dozen bar stools with a Formica bar, with the stools facing a yellow wall adorned with local art. Plus, the next door patio at Bruno's Little Italy is open for diners looking for some downtown outdoor eating.

Still, I found it quicker and easier to just grab and go.

Whether eat-in or to-go, diners are treated to some of the best Italian sandwiches in central Arkansas, including the Verdure Grigliate ($8.25), a sandwich stuffed with a quartet of roasted vegetables: zucchini, squash, eggplant and red bell pepper. Tying it all together is cream cheese along with a pleasantly garlic-y and nutty pesto spread. Topping the sandwich is mozzarella, but it doesn't add much in the way of flavor, as the vegetables are the stars here.

The Verdure Grigliate is messy, but messy is sometimes good, too, especially when it comes to the Italian Roast Beef ($8.50), a classic sandwich packed with savory slices of roast beef. Most of that messiness was due to the fact the sandwich was dripping in juices -- so much so that I imagined an unsuspecting business person ruining his work clothes with the hefty sandwich -- but the reward arrives in slice after slice of perfectly roasted beef, dripping with flavor. Call this one a delicious mess.

Less enjoyable was the Italian Sausage ala Parmigiano ($8.50), which was a little dry with too little marinara sauce, although the fennel-flecked sausage popped with the flavor.

All told, there are nine sandwiches at Bruno's Little Italy Deli, not to mention daily specials such as the Fried Chicken Cordon ($8.75) and the Fried Petit Jean Bologna with Fried Egg ($8.50). I'm sorry I couldn't try them all. What I had, though, was so good.

All sandwiches come served with excellently crisped, Romano cheese-sprinkled potato chips that are heavenly. Crunchy, with the light cheese adding a playful touch of texture and flavor.

The chips are a side that many places might consider an afterthought, but at Bruno's Little Italy Deli, the chips -- and there are many of them in a bag -- are just one more way for the deli to elevate its food into something larger and better.

There also are several salads on the menu, including a large Insalata Miscolanza ($13), a house salad tossed with cured meats and cheeses, and a rotating soup of the day, along with Fried Mozzarella Cheese Sticks ($5.25).

The short menu is bookended with a selection of three French Bread Pizzas, including the Sausage ($7.75), which is a loaf of Bruno's bread cut in half lengthwise and blanketed with that same delectable marinara sauce and piquant sausage. These pizzas took a nostalgic turn for me, reminding me of "pizzas" my mother would make for me when I was a towheaded youngster.

My mom's concoctions weren't much: bread (usually simple white bread), some leftover jarred pizza sauce and cheese.

Bruno's version follows the same path but, as with everything else the deli does, their pizzas take something simple and transform it into delicious art, just like they do with their sandwiches.

It's a dish that proves that great doesn't have to be elaborate. Sometimes great is just plain simple.

Weekend on 10/06/2016