Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor

By Marcy Nathan, Creative Director

This issue of Rouses magazine you are holding was inspired by our designer, Mary Ann, who has a sandwich named just for her at Regina’s Kitchen, a local lunch spot in Mobile, Alabama, that her mother owns. There is also a sandwich named for her sister, Cecilia.

This all got me thinking: What kind of sandwich would I be, if I was a sandwich?

I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m a messy person, and I love a good roast beef po-boy — the smooshier and squishier, the better. To be honest, I ate my way through most of the po-boys on our 2023 best dressed list. Now, I am not a food critic, but I know what I like, and what I like is messy. I grew up on Parkway Bakery & Tavern in Mid-City (the messiest roast beef in town); Sammy’s Food Service & Deli in Gentilly; and Domilise’s Uptown, with Miss Dot behind the counter. I love Guy’s Po-Boys on Magazine Street; owner Marvin Matherne is a New Orleans original, like the po-boy itself. He’s a hoot.

But I’m not a po-boy, or a po-girl.

I couldn’t be a club either because, as Groucho Marx said, “I wouldn’t be a member of any club that would have me.” At 5’3” — okay, okay, 5’2” — I’m practically a shrimp, but just practically. And while I’ve been known to give a few fingers in my lifetime (especially while driving), I like to think I’m more substantial than a finger sandwich. Growing up, my sisters and I would fight to be the one who would

mess up the smooth surface of a new jar of peanut butter. “I got first dibs!” was like calling “Shotgun!” at our house. I always used a knife to carve my initials, like the Mark of Marcy.

My dad would make us toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on Sundays, the one day a week my mom slept in. The smell of peanut butter, jelly, butter and toast sends me right back home.

I thought I invented the peanut butter and pickle sandwich, but as it turns out, it was almost as famous as peanut butter and bananas. The New York Times even has a recipe. Here’s mine: Bunny Bread or Evangeline — they are not the same thing, which we explain elsewhere in this issue — Jif Crunchy Peanut Butter, and dill pickle spears, sliced thin. It’s a little bit sweet, a little bit sour, a little bit crunchy, a little bit soft, just like me.

Now if I can just get Regina to put me on her menu…