The Sacramento Bee, 4/20/2007

Judges crown a king of clubs

We showed up at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center on H Street one morning last week for the final judging of the third Ultimate Clubhouse Sandwich Contest, an event heralded over the weeks in this column and on the cover of the Taste section. Remember, a club sandwich is basically a BLT with turkey and a third slice of toasted bread added.

The tantalizing aroma of cooked bacon wafted through the massive hall, where decorated tables were set up as prep-and-cook stations for the eight restaurants competing in the final judging. There were supposed to be a dozen entrants (narrowed from a field of 40 over the past two months), but four were no-shows.

Some background: "Whenever my dad and I would go out to lunch together, we would get clubhouse sandwiches," said contest organizer Wally Clark, who runs Associated Sound, a company specializing in audio-visual installation projects. "Memories like those give you the opportunity to look back into your early years."

Clark decided to put together his third club sandwich competition as a charitable fundraiser, with nostalgia as a condiment. This one raised $5,000 for the Scottish Rite Clinic for Children's Language Disorders.

"It's a good feeling to be able to raise charitable funds for a worthy cause," Clark said shortly after the competition.

After examining the restaurants' presentations of their club sandwiches and then tasting them, the five judges ranked them this way:

* Best overall winner:
Jamie's Broadway Grill (427 Broadway, 916-442-4044).

—Allen Pierleoni, Bee Staff Writer