Slow your roll: Slow Roll Subs bring East-coast hoagies to Kansas City
Robin Harvey and Christian Castillo // Courtesy of Slow Roll Subs
Sandwiches are a funny food.
On one level, they’re incredibly basic; a sandwich is one of the first true meals many people learn to put together for themselves.
On another level, sandwiches are intimidatingly complex—the amount of each ingredient, the order you place them, the type of bread you use, the toppings, the condiments—every sandwich is a unique expression of its creator, meticulously designed for the moment. The flavors meld together but stand on their own, the textures each get their own moment to shine before becoming a part of the larger symphony of each bite, and the last morsel always taunts you from among the crumbs at meal’s end. Dare you leave it on the plate, inviting the scorn of all who see it: “C’mon, you couldn’t even finish that last bite?”
At Slow Roll Subs, a new pop-up kitchen setting up shop across the metro, chef-owners Christian Castillo and Robin Harvey are perfecting a specific type of sandwich sorcery: the East Coast hoagie.
Courtesy of Slow Roll Subs
Castillo and Harvey met and earned their stripes at some of KC’s most notable fine-dining establishments, but when they brainstormed their own kitchen, they decided to build a more casual, community-focused concept.
“Kansas City has tons of great sandwich options,” Castillo says, “but there aren’t many places that do justice to the hoagie roll. We wanted to create something that we couldn’t get anywhere else in town.”
Creating their perfect sandwich was an endeavor. First, they had to make the ideal hoagie roll, so Castillo and Harvey started R&D’ing different recipes on their own to find what worked and what didn’t. Then they worked toward the middle, eventually finding a sweet spot that became the base of every Slow Roll sandwich.
The hoagie roll has a crisp exterior, enhanced with sesame seeds and cornmeal for a satisfying, shattery crunch with each bite. Just under that surface is the soft, pillowy interior, which cushions the tasty ingredients inside and keeps sauces and condiments from running all over your hands.
Courtesy of Slow Roll Subs
The name Slow Roll Subs came from the work itself.
“Choosing this style of sandwich meant that every time we do a pop-up, it’s going to eat up time,” Castillo says. “We did 40 rolls for our first event, and sold out in about an hour. We bought heavy-duty equipment and doubled it for the next round. From mixing and proofing to shaping and baking, it takes about three days to make 80 rolls. It’s intensive, especially because we’re working our other jobs, but it’s worth it for the quality we put out there.”
Slow Roll Subs offers four sandwiches: two “always-ons” and two rotating sandwiches. The namesake Slow Roll is their version of an Italian. It’s served cold and packed with mortadella, pepperoni, hot peppers, fresh mozzarella, mayo, and Slow Roll’s standard dress of arugula, cucumber, shallot, and chimichurri. The other signature sandwich is the Picnic: smoked turkey, provolone cheese, dill dijonaise, standard dress, and wavy potato chips for extra crunch.
The team draws from an expansive list for its rotating menu options. “We always want to have at least one hot sandwich on the menu,” Harvey says. “We want to be able to include as many locally sourced ingredients as we can, and we want to incorporate the identity of our host if possible. There are a lot of variables, but it gives us a ton of room to play with fun, unique, and out-there concepts.”
Courtesy of Slow Roll Subs
In addition to sourcing as many local ingredients as possible, Harvey and Castillo create the sides, sauces, and condiments on the menu. Castillo says, “Our wavy chips are housemade, and they’re perfect alongside or on top of your sandwich. We make our dijonnaise, we make the chimichurri that’s part of our standard dress. It’s all part of the flow that goes into creating good food. This is all food that we want to eat, and it’s all food that we want to share.”
So far, Slow Roll has held dinner at Barbacoa on Troost, where Harvey currently works as the sous chef, and at Jade Jaguar in the Crossroads. Their next takeover is scheduled for Sunday, November 15 at Sagebrush in Rosedale.
These nights typically begin at 5 p.m. and run until 9 p.m.—but sell out well before then. Slow Roll offers half and whole subs for $9 and $16, respectively. A side of housemade chips is $3 extra, and they’re developing new sides for the future.
“We’re trying new ideas all the time,” Castillo says. “We create combinations we want to try but can’t get here. We try to reverse-engineer flavors we’ve had and loved. We try to recapture those unbelievable flavors we’ve had on quick breaks at restaurants, when talented chefs are showing off what they can do. And then we want to share it with everyone.”
Courtesy of Slow Roll Subs
Now that they’ve started to get the process down, the team at Slow Roll is cautiously looking ahead. They just had local designer Claire Henry create branding and logo work for the business to help bring it to life, and they’re starting to talk a little bit about the ultimate goal: their own location.
“The response to the pop-ups is great, and we’re going to keep it up for a while,” Harvey says, “but we definitely want to have a Slow Roll Subs shop sometime down the line. Seeing how positive everyone has been about what we’re making is really special, and it’s definitely made us think that we’re in this for the long haul.”
Until they find a place to call home, Slow Roll Subs plans to keep hosting pop-ups around town. The duo is in talks with other locations around Kansas City, and they want to continue hosting at their existing stable of partners like Barbacoa, Jade Jaguar, and Sagebrush.
Keep an eye on their Instagram to see if they’ll appear in your neighborhood—and get there early.
