Barcia's Grocery on Annunciation St.

  Working next to an expert who has been making sandwiches for the public for over 30 years left me in awe.

    Ann Barcia of the Po-Boy Store by the same name on the corner of Annunciation and Antoine Streets, was in need of help one day because her sister, and partner,  had knee replacement surgery. I volunteered to help out. My offer was accepted.

    My task was to answer the phone and to record the orders. Ann had already been putting together the very large order for 30 sandwiches when I arrived at the appointed hour; 10 A.M. Ann had already pre-sliced the Leidenheimer French bread into thirds with a little end left over from each loaf. I wondered if she made bread pudding out of the ends and she said, “No.”

     Ann commented that the bread was “very good today. Sometimes, depending on the weather the bread is not always exactly the same.” I learned that my shorthand and inexperience almost resulted in mis-made sandwiches.  

     “I want a hot sausage poor-boy with gravy. Hold the mayo and tomatoes.” I wondered how you put gravy on hot sausage. I learned that the homemade roast beef gravy was added to a lot of other sandwiches like hamburgers and luncheon meat.

      I watched Ann handle a meat clever to sever the frozen hamburger patties with a quick, well aimed chop; one, two three.. That was what it took to make a hamburger poor-boy.

      Ann had carved so many sandwiches that there was a demarcation on the counter from years of cutting the poor-boys in- half. A meat clever in one hand and a carving knife in the other, Ann went from the slicer machine back and forth to the industrial size burners where all of these delicious sandwiches are grilled. As she wielded the knife, clever, and slicer, I watched with pure amazement as she adjusted the slicer for the different cuts of meat. All of those years create a special waltz which Ann has mastered.

     “I want a roast beef poor-boy with extra gravy and I want a luncheon meat sandwich with the meat grilled.”

     I wrote as fast as I could trying to ask all of the right question like, “Do you want that dressed?”

Every sandwich is expertly made and wrapped in butcher paper. The roast beef sandwiches have an extra layer of waxed paper before the outer wrap is applied with two twists and the ends are secured.

     I watched Ann fill up three boxes for an order that morning. She knew when to make each group of sandwiches so that the hamburger, hot sausage, and roast beef sandwiches would be hot for the 11:30 A.M. pick-up time.

     Ann told me when we had a lull in the orders, that she and her dad used to complete orders for  the  post Tulane games. She said, “We had trays wrapped around this entire store and I made all of the dessert from scratch.”

     Dancing with Ann and her skills left me wondering how such an art could be lost to our city. I personally know that each roast beef sandwich has 12 slices of roast beef expertly grilled and flavored with that old Italian roast beef gravy. Stop by from 7 A.M. to 1 P.M. Monday through Fridays for an old New Orleans specialty.