Grandwich 2014 sampled: First seven sandwiches swing strongly towards sweet or salty

This week, four Rapidian reporters are trying every Grandwich they can in the first week of the competition. The Grandwich competition runs from Tuesday July 8 through July 27. Top 10 sandwiches are determined by public vote online, and on August 1, the top 10 will be ranked by a team of judges in Rosa Parks Circle.

Our team of food critics consists of Tory O'Haire, owner of Propaganda Doughnuts, The Starving Artist and the future Bandit Queen; Wendy Hammond, Eat Local West Michigan website creator; Holly Bechiri, Rapidian Managing Editor with entirely too many years as a server in her past; and Kendra Vanderlip, Rapidian intern this summer who describes herself as a "budding foodie," who first became passionate about food by learning how to cook.

Our method is simple: Each sandwich gets divided in quarters and everyone samples as we discuss together as a group. We'll share our daily discoveries, and hope that this analysis will help our readers decide - out of the wide array of options available for only a short time- which sandwiches they themselves may want to try. Once we have tried every sandwich at the end of the week (minus the B.O.B. entry, which is unavailable until next week when they reopen), we'll select our top sandwiches and let you know which ones we'd look forward to going back to enjoy again. 

On Tuesday, we tried the offerings from Reserve Wine and Food, San Chez Bistro, Skywalk Deli, The Cheshire Grill, Bull's Head Tavern, Flanagan's Irish Pub and Fat Johnny's Cheesesteak. 

Flanagan's featured a meat-heavy sandwich. Flanagan's had some solid flavors going for it, but the mustard flavor in the sauce overpowered the rest. With that ingredient toned down, we'd be able to better enjoy the rest.

Bull's Head, another meat-heavy option, didn't seem to offer much you would find many other places. It ended up feeling like just a big pile of meat and cheese, and we didn't see much originality. This was the sandwich that looked the most appealing visually, and we recognized that to certain demographics- perhaps the meat lover's pizza fans among us- this would be a satisfying meal. For us though, we were looking for more.

Fat Johnny's Cheesesteak provided the least expensive sandwich of the day. We're not convinced that a unique sandwich was created for the competition, and found it excessively heavy on both salt and a distinct "cheese wiz" flavor, so much so that more than a quarter of this half sandwich would have been difficult for us to continue eating.

The Cheshire Grill's "Madame Cheshire" sounded more varying than it ended up being. A little too much on the sweet side, we wanted to taste the orange and balsamic flavors provided in the description. To use a symphony analogy, all of the instruments were just too quiet- and we wanted some volume turned up on those great strong flavors to balance out the sweet notes. All were in agreement that if some flavors were turned up to balance out the sweet and the side dish was changed or just eliminated, this would be an enjoyable sandwich.

San Chez Bistro's "Phoenix" had just one instrument- heat- that was noticeable. Although it didn't get "too hot" despite numerous ingredients capable of overwhelming the tastebuds, it just didn't have other balancing notes. We noticed that Eggland's Best eggs were used, and wondered if even switching to local freerange eggs, known by chefs and home cooks alike for their stronger, richer flavor, might add a rich smooth note to the sandwich to create more of a complex flavor profile.

Reserve Wine and Food's "PBAB&J (Pork Belly, Almond Butter and Rhubarb Jam)" was the most considered and thoughtfully executed sandwich of the day. Satisfying flavors balanced together, unlike every other sandwich of the day which swung to either the sweet or salty/savory side nearly exclusively on one side or the other. We wished for a little more "crunch," whether it was from the almond butter not being as smooth or more greens, but this was a tiny mention in possible improvements to bring the sandwich from great to perfection. This is the one we all wanted more of after our quarter was devoured. The Pork Fat Fries sent it over the edge of awesome.

Skywalk Deli, back after their win two years ago, was a disappointment- though more from our expectations for it to be a winner than anything else. The sandwich was thin, and gets its "Fresh Start" name from apple slices and a little bit of 80's-granola-mom-inspired sprouts. The gorgonzola cheese was sparse but still overwhelming in flavor, but overall we just wanted more. We look forward to this one working out the kinks in upcoming days, as everyone works to finesse their competing sandwiches, showcasing local Michigan foods and chef creativity in their own ways.

Let us know in the comments what you've tried, or hashtag #RapidianEats on Instagram or Facebook with shots of your own Grandwich experiences.