The Great Chicken Sandwich Flap

    I have probably a dozen friends who, when any mention of the Temescal creeps into the conversation, sigh in a satisfied sort of way, and then, a little breathless and distracted, like they’re here but would rather be somewhere else, ask: “Have you had one of Betty’s chicken sandwiches lately?” When I see it happen, I think of Pavlov. The response is that direct.
    At the heart of what’s raising the salivation factor way beyond normal—Betty’s chicken—at first glance looks like something Colonel Sanders might have put in a bucket. But a closer scrutiny and the first bite and you’re aware that this is where the resemblance ends. In the first place, you know it’s really chicken. Rumor has it the Colonel’s chickens don’t get to actualize their chicken nature, as in running around and manifesting the pecking order. And Betty’s chicken—you can make your own comparisons from here on—is crispy to the point of crunchy. And the only oil that’s visible, although the pieces of breast have been deep-fried, is a light, fresh coating on the slaw, which in itself is noticeably absent of goo. (You know what I mean? Often slaw comes so slathered, it’s difficult to spot the greenery.)
    When I bite into a Bakesale Betty chicken sandwich ($7.95), I’m always surprised by the chili that knocks my socks off even when I’m not wearing any. It overwhelms. It engulfs the taste buds. It’s clearly a secret of the sandwich’s success. And there’s the pièce de résistance, if you will. Her sandwiches are substantial—plenty big enough for two unless you’re ravenous, or greedy.
    Finally, there’s that subliminal attraction. Whichever came first, the chicken or the egg, the sandwich idea was hatched within a blast of alarmingly blue hair. I guess the mark of the sandwich, when you think about it, is that it is as unusual—and successful—as Bakesale Betty founder, Alison Barakat.
    Bakesale Betty, 5098 Telegraph Ave., (510) 985-1213, www.bakesalebetty.com. Open 7 a.m. Mon.–Sat., 7 a.m.–3 p.m. Sunday.

 —By Wanda Hennig
—Photography by Amy Perl

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