Brilliant Idiot Sandwiches from Gordon Ramsay? A no-brainer!
It’s hard to believe a concept born from a 2015 Late Late Show with James Corden meme featuring Gordon Ramsay could spawn a YouTube cooking challenge, a best-selling book, and now a sandwich pop-up in BGC called Idiot Sandwich. Yet, in many ways it’s a no-brainer: people love delicious sandwiches.
Located on 9th avenue corner 36th street along Uptown Parade BGC, it’s the first Idiot Sandwich stand in the world, a collab with Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill Philippines, the outstanding Michelin-star restaurant at Newport World Resorts in Pasay City.
At the launch, folks wearing big cushiony sandwich slices on their hands helped us do “Idiot Sandwich” selfies, the Red Fox Dance Company busted moves, and Mini Coopers decorated with Ramsay’s beaming mug arrived on 9th avenue to launch the new pop-up, which will be open until Aug. 16—and possibly indefinitely.
Sometimes, it takes a village to build an idiot. The original viral meme had Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves receiving an outrageously OTT dress-down from Ramsay, who claps bread slices over her cheeks and yells, “WHAT ARE YOU?” Her nervous answer: “Uh… an idiot sandwich… Sir!”
From silly ideas, big concepts are born.
On the plate, the Idiot Sandwich is simply a way to reduce things down to the best, yummiest, boldest flavor choices available between two slices of bread—or, at this opening, between pretzel buns, potato buns, Kaisers, croissants and focaccia loaves.
They succeeded. The chefs behind the counter served up a Breakfast Club (croissant, herbed chicken breast, eggs, bacon, basil mayo), a Pastrami Sandwich (pretzel, beef pastrami, sauerkraut, horseradish, white cheddar), a Classic Ham & Cheese Toastie (with chili honey dip), Fish, No Chip (potato bun, white fish, avocado green goddess, butterhead lettuce) and Tonkatsu Cubano (Kaiser roll, pork katsu, ham, kimchi, miso, white cheddar) to eager media and friends. Not to mention a sublime Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Ice Cream Pie. Dranks flowed, a DJ spun, and we all dug into the roster of sandwiches ranging in price from P355 to P695.
I loved the pastrami on pretzel bun for the flavor oomph, and the ham & cheese toastie is a non-guilty pleasure, drenched in buttery cheese, perfect with a sweet & sour dipping sauce.
At the launch, Megaworld Lifestyle Malls VP Graham Coates, Newport World Resorts COO Lance Gautreaux and Alliance Global Group, Inc. CEO Kevin L. Tan were joined by Gordon Ramsay Restaurants Philippines managing partner Raymond Magdaluyo, Travellers Signature Restaurants senior director for F&B Luxury Brands Ryan Behr, Taguig City Councilor Jomil Serna and Ambassador to the Philippines and Palau Sarah Hulton OBE to cut the opening ribbon. The pop-up also includes Gordon Ramsay and Idiot Sandwich merch.
Says Behr, when Gordon Ramsay launched his book Idiot Sandwich: 100+ Recipes to Elevate Your Sandwich Game, “we got a copy of it, and we were just sitting in the lounge, padding through it. And I said, ‘How cool would it be if we open an idiot sandwich pop-up here?’”
His team brainstormed the concept—the first of its kind worldwide—“and then I said, ‘Let's pitch it to London and see what they say.’ And they thought it was a brilliant idea.” All of it unfolded over the past five or six months, from idea to BGC streets.
First, the team had to whittle it down to a handful of sandwiches.
“We only offer five or six sandwiches. Gordon cooked us over 80-plus sandwiches, and we just really targeted the sandwiches that will fit the Filipino market, and we stay true to these.”
Behr thinks the “biggest hits” might be Fish, No Chip and the Pastrami; though the Breakfast Club is also a banger that will likely click with the eat-on-the-run BGC crowd.
So far, the concept seems Idiot-proof.
Gordon Ramsay Idiot Sandwich pop-up is located in Uptown Parade, 9th Ave. corner 36th Street. Open 5 p.m. to midnight.
