by Malcolm Jolley
Brothers Sam and Ben Gundy are the New Sausage Kings
Bay Streeters, downtown condo dwellers and market lovers take note: as of September 14 the Sausage King reigns again at The St. Lawrence Market and lunch is served. Lunch will actually be served from hereon for anyone in the market when Olliffe the boutique butcher of Summerhill (and Certified Good Food Fighter) takes over the storied stall in the northwest corner of the market.
Chef and head butcher Ben Gundy will lead Olliffe’s market foray. I caught up with him and his business partner and brother Sam as the finishing touches were being put on Sausage King by Olliffe this week. On offer for lunch right away are sandwiches: peameal bacon or porchetta (roast pork shoulder) from heritage breeds like Tamworth, naturally raised by family friends of the Gundy’s in Huron County. They’ll also offer Olliffe’s trademark roast beef sandwich with tarragon mayo (a Summerhill staple for decades) and, of course, sausages on a bun. But it won’t be all sandwiches, Ben Gundy insists, there will be housemade soups (look for split pea with ham hock) and rotating specials, including a “poor man’s cassoulet”, that can be eaten for lunch or taken home for dinner. The Gundy brothers are looking forward to bringing their gourmet, farm to fork ethos to the St. Lawrence. Ben Gundy is adamant: “We want to offer what’s not being sold elsewhere in the market.”
A big focus will be, naturally enough, sausages. Sam Gundy explained that why they kept the original name: they couldn’t resist the idea of expanding their sausage program, which eschews fillers. Sausage King by Olliffe plans to offer 20 to 30 different housemade selections at any given time. The sausage counter will be supplemented with another small meat counter with a selection that Sam Gundy says will be “curated” by the butchers at Olliffe’s Yonge Street store. He says to look for interesting, less known cuts from heritage breeds and from local producers the Gundy brothers know well. Again, they are determined to offer something different at the market, including another specially selected offering of locally made charcuterie from their deli counter.
Find out more about Sausage King by Olliffe at www.olliffe.ca.
Malcolm Jolley is the executive director of Good Food Media, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to educating the public about artisanal food and the publisher of Good Food Revolution. Follow him at twitter.com/malcolmjolley.
