December 21, 2017

An Ode to the Carrot Sandwich

This is Kenny. Jenny and I invited him over to CloverHUB to taste this year’s Carrot Sandwich before it formally launches today. He’s a regular customer at CloverKND, and a grad student in chemistry at MIT. We got a very poetic letter from him through Facebook Messenger a while back asking us to bring back the Carrot Sandwich.

Today we’re making Kenny’s dreams come true, so we asked him if it was okay for us to post his letter so you could all read it.

If you’ve also been dreaming of the Carrot Sandwich, join us at lunch today. It’s back, thanks to a bumper crop of carrots from Michael Docter at Winter Moon Roots Farm.

My Clover Journey

Dear Clover (or whoever at Clover holds to power to change the menu),

My relationship with you has had its ups and downs.

The first time I tried one of your sandwiches was soon after your Kendall Sq location opened in early 2014. I’ll be brutally honest – I wasn’t a fan. The pita was ok (I think your “new” pita is the best pita I have ever had. Period.), and contrary to what most people around me were saying, I was not a fan of the chickpea fritter. I went back once or twice and tried the BBQ seitan and maybe the chickpea fritter one more time. It wasn’t enough to change my opinion, and I thought that was that. Clover wasn’t the place for me.

Fast forward many months – I am walking by when I see something that piques my interest. A picture (maybe description?) of the Pushpir Paneer sandwich. As an avid fan of all things paneer, I was very intrigued. I set aside my prior impressions and tried the Pushpir sandwich. There are few words in the English language that can adequately describe the feelings of euphoria that followed my first bite. I got the paneer sandwich several more times before it was lost to history (I was so happy when it made a come-back some time later).

But the paneer sandwich is not the star of this story. The reason I am writing to you today is because of the Carrot sandwich.

I love meat. 9 times out of 10, if I had a choice between a meat sandwich and a veggie sandwich, I will choose the meat sandwich. That changed when I tried your Carrot sandwich. It is, without a single grain of doubt in my mind, the best sandwich I have ever had the privilege of putting into my mouth. My mind was blown not only the first time I had it, but the second, third, fourth, and so on. Each time, I would discover a new reason to fall in love with the sandwich all over again. Mind you, this was within the span of a couple weeks. Every sandwich I’ve had since then has tasted just that much less good because I now know of the existence of the Carrot sandwich. The sadness that followed the disappearance of the sandwich was cataclysmic.

I get your concept. You have a rotating menu so that it stays fresh and we as customers get the joy of trying an ever-changing array of sandwiches. But must something as divine as the Carrot sandwich be relegated to the position of “rotating sandwich?” Does it not deserve its rightful place among the other permanent members such as the BBQ seitan and Chickpea Fritter?

So there is my plea. I write to you today after no longer being able to wait as I hope for the return of the greatest sandwich to ever grace this Earth. I beg you to bring back the Carrot sandwich, once and for all. The Pushpir returning would be a nice bonus as well.

Sincerely,
Kenny “why-can’t-this-sandwich-I’m-eating-be-the-carrot-sandwich” Kang

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