Thursday, February 7, 2008

A Day to be Remembered

STOP THE PRESSES!! Pigs have flown and hell has frozen over because on Tuesday…February 5th…my husband…John C. Grundman ordered a vegetable on his deli sandwich!!! Can you believe it? I almost rolled over and died when he showed me. I know most of you are about to click off this page for what you think is ‘lameness,’ but for those of you who know my husband, know how groundbreaking this was.

John has always been a very plain eater, and even more plain when it comes to deli sandwiches. Only meat and cheese… that is it...no condiments. It is true that I am too a plain eater, but I have at least expanded to lettuce AND tomatoes on my deli sandwiches (since Sept. 2003.)

What caused the day that resulted in hell getting a ski resort? Well I will tell you…it was the Giant Grinder of SLO...that simple. That first day that we went there when John A) actually took a bite of my sando w/ lettuce, and then B) said he ‘liked ‘ it was just the beginning. Even though it was two days ago I am still in shock.

After my last post about The Grinder it inspired me try and find out more information about my favorite deli in Fortuna. Come to find out my good friend Sarah told me her mom used to work there!! Talk about a great resource! Sarah totally hooked me up and had me chat with her mom through gmail. I could not believe my luck…that all I was finally going to have my deli memories verified!

The chat was a total success and she verified all of my memories told me more interesting tid bits!

- Name of deli: Down to Earth (kind of hippyish)
- The owner: Frank, left to play drums for a band that went to Vegas
- The inside has high dark wood paneled booths (my memory confirmed)
- Tentative business dates 1975-1980 (which mean I was 3-4 years old!)
- Sandwiches were served in red plastic baskets (my memory confirmed)
- There was fridge where you could pick out your own drinks (my memory confirmed)

I cannot tell you how great it was to hear that my memories were legit! You know I could have dreamed them up or something…I mean with my love of deli sandos you never know what might happen. I’d love to see a photo of the place, just to really bring back the memory, however I doubt Fortuna has a historian. Plus, would they really have records of an old hippie deli?

I returned to The Grinder today and took Jen with me…so she could experience a little bit of sandwich heaven. It wasn’t as busy as it was the last time I was there, which surprised me…but I was glad to see there was a steady stream of customers. I know I’ve said this before…but you should really go try one for yourself. I mean if it will cause John to start eating veggies on his sandwiches…imagine what it could do for you!

4 comments:

Sarah said...

I want to know exactly what happened in Sept 2003 to cause you to add veggies to your sandwich. Did they accidently get added and you were still asleep and ate some by mistake?

And I didn't move to HC until 1980 so no wonder I didn't remember the deli. Sheesh!

BossyLucy said...

I confirm Amber's rating of The Grinder! The bread has a great flavor and is so SOFT!! I still can't believe I ate such a HUGE sandwich!
As one of your blog entries you should list out and rate our local restaurants. It could be like Zagat Grundman style!!

Maggie Mae said...

Next time you're in LA, you should go to Bay City (in Santa Monica) if you haven't already been...!

Anonymous said...

They say you start losing your taste buds after you turn 30. You can know that it's the taste buds if he starts drinking ensure.