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Chef Dennis Leary produces all the sandwiches at the Sentinel by hand.
SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Dennis Leary, the ultimate hands-on chef — who prepares the entire menu each night at his miniscule dinner house, Canteen — must have decided that he wasn’t cooking enough. At The Sentinel, a tiny new sandwich shop across the street from the Palace Hotel, he again personally produces everything each day, from pickles to mustard.
The whole operation, at the corner of Stevenson Street, is about as big as a cigar box, with two sides open to the outside. Most of the rebuilt space is a compact kitchen where Leary works nonstop with two assistants. Patrons order at the vintage cash register, the very one from the historic corner cigar store that once stood in this spot. The line doesn’t stop until the food runs out.
Leary talks to almost everyone — he knows a lot of his customers — without missing a beat. He assembles, wraps and raps, all at the same time.
The blackboard menu changes daily. Lately, creamy fresh tomato soup ($4.50), tart and sweet just like ripe tomatoes, is ladled into a white cardboard container over hunks of soft rye bread, which melt into the soup to form a caraway-scented bread pudding.
Some sandwiches appear regularly. The elegant smoked salmon ($8.50) is built on a tender and eggy house-baked roll with cream fraiche-draped cucumbers and soft butter lettuce, and is one of my favorites. Leary’s Rueben ($8.25),which includes corned beef, fresh cabbage slaw, melted Swiss and piquant Russian dressing on toasted rye, somehow comes off just as light and digestible. Every part of it radiates Leary’s signature: bright flavor with perfect proportion.
In the Sentinel version of a deviled ham sandwich ($8), little cubes of fresh pork leg, enrobed in spicy, homemade mustard, are piled into a crusty roll with gherkins, shredded carrots and butter lettuce. When I remarked that I was expecting something different, he knew exactly what I meant. “That stuff in a can,” he said. “That can be delicious too.” Leary, it turns out, is an anti-snob.
Each day he makes a special salad ($11) in a three-compartment box. Mine featured cubes of delicately marinated raw tuna and cucumber exquisitely topped with a single, thick slice of black peppered avocado; sweet corn and parsley salad in lively cider vinaigrette; and perfectly ripe sliced sweet peaches — a flavorful and satisfying summer meal.
For dessert, which runs out early, I’ve been able to score a huge warm chocolate cookie with melted chocolate chips ($2.25) and a warm blueberry muffin ($3.50), like none I’ve ever had. It’s flat, with a buttery, tender crumb and a crunchy crumble on top, bursting with berries. No one would call this a muffin, it was more like cake.
Of the thousands of sandwiches consumed at desks in the Financial District at lunchtime, I think the Sentinel’s must give the greatest pleasure. Instead of being a solution, Leary’s sandwiches are expressions, small culinary masterworks that riff on American classics but reinvent them with unexpected originality and perfect execution. Hand-in-hand with the artistry, the blushing freshness of every ingredient, every element, makes them so charming.
For those who work downtown, a Sentinel takeaway lunch is a dream come true. Those who don’t should look for any excuse to get down there to pick one up.
Patricia Unterman is author of the “San Francisco Food Lovers’ Pocket Guide” and a newsletter, “Unterman on Food.” Contact her at pattiu@concentric.net.
The Sentinel
Location: 37 New Montgomery St., San Francisco
Contact: (415) 284-9960
Hours: Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Price range: $4.50 to $8.50; one daily special at $11
Recommended dishes: Rueben sandwich, smoked salmon sandwich, chicken salad sandwich, blueberry muffin, morning coffee cake, tomato soup
Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa
Reservations: None, to-go only; pre-orders accepted the day before
Comments from Examiner Readers
3:39 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Beef: It’s what’s for dinner"
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5:57 PM MST on Wed., Aug. 6, 2008
re: "Delicious dosas rule at Udupi"
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1:21 PM MST on Thu., Jul. 3, 2008
re: "North Beach Italian done right"
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8:08 PM MST on Tue., Jun. 24, 2008
re: "Lichee Garden knows family-style cooking"
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2:34 PM MST on Tue., Jun. 24, 2008
re: "Lichee Garden knows family-style cooking"
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12:06 PM MST on Sat., Jun. 21, 2008
re: "Lichee Garden knows family-style cooking"
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12:18 AM MST on Fri., Jun. 20, 2008
re: "Lichee Garden knows family-style cooking"
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8:46 PM MST on Thu., Jun. 19, 2008
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8:33 PM MST on Thu., Jun. 19, 2008
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4:58 PM MST on Thu., Jun. 5, 2008
re: "Perfect pizza is at the ‘Place’ on Noriega"
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12:14 PM MST on Thu., May. 15, 2008
re: "A slice of the Middle East"
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3:01 PM MST on Thu., May. 8, 2008
re: "Take Mom out to the ballgame at AT&T Park"
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7:50 AM MST on Wed., Apr. 2, 2008
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10:51 PM MST on Tue., Apr. 1, 2008
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3:58 PM MST on Thu., Mar. 27, 2008
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12:28 PM MST on Thu., Feb. 21, 2008
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Examiner Reader said:
There's also Anh Hong in Berkeley, Ca. The best place I've ever went to. People there are so friendly. If you ever want to have a birthday dinner or just dinner with friends & families this would be the #1 place to have it. It's a fun place to enjoy with people you love!!!!!!!
5 agree | 1 disagree
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Yoga Mommies From Hell said:
"Postnatal yoga moms with SUV-sized strollers" and their dim-bulb, investment banker/software technician husbands are slowly colonizing and ruining this city. I'm really, really tired of their desperate attempts to remain hip after they've reproduced their odious selves in miniature, and named them Dakota, Paris or some other ridiculous monniker (yeah, that's for you, sf gate mommy files nimrod). One of them was pushing her way to the start line at the AIDS walk with scant regard for anyone in her path. We put her right in her place, and her self-entitled pleas for help from other walkers were completely ignored, signalling once again that San Franciscans are over the cult of the urban mommy. Please, please move to the suburbs where you belong.
2 agree | 2 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Joey and Eddie's -- I've only been there for dessert, but it was sooo bad. Pistachio panna cotta and cannolis. Huge portions, but way, way WAY too sweet. Total lack of subtlety in the flavor. I think they must order pre-packaged desserts? I don't know, but the dessert was so bad that it scared me off of trying any of the food (although I love this chef from his recent days at Pesceria!).
6 agree | 8 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
let's move to another restaurant already. It's not like there is a shortage in this city.
9 agree | 8 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Lichee Garden is by far the best Chinese restaurant I've had in town. Immigrating here from Hong Kong four years ago, I often miss out on the "authentic" Chinese food except at LG, where you can never go wrong with any dishes. I suggest you to try all Unterman's recommendations (as those are the common orders I make), and try the salt and pepper crab (the best fried crab I've ever had). I go to LG about twice a week with my family, and always enjoy the atmosphere and service from Annie. Always ask for what the chef's recommendation of the day is, and always be willing to try new dishes. The House Sparerib is classic with the perfect sweet and sour sauce. And trust me, LG does not use the same sauce for everything (that's what House of Nanking does). Just order a variety of dishes (like Unterman). I always leave LG with a smile.
11 agree | 11 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
ugh - think Untermann has lost her tastebuds. This is just another in a long line of reviews where she seems to have eaten at the restaurant on the one day it sparkled. More likely, they know who she is and pull out all the stops. I've eaten there two or three times when in North Beach, and never been impressed...sticky floors, aged linens on tables (with original spots, I think) and nothing special on the menu you can't find in a million other Chinese restaurants. You want good Chinese food around Chinatown? Head to Great Eastern - they can even get me to eat the chicken feet appetizer, their food is THAT good!
10 agree | 9 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Gee would you have said a table full of Asians, African Americans, Pacific Islanders, or just is a "table full of caucasions" not offensive? Imagine - "I revisited with a table full of Africans..."
8 agree | 7 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Lichee Garden has sticky chairs and floors. Their food taste the same no matter what it is. They seem to use the same sauce for all their entrees.I equate their food to McDonald's. For authentic tasty chinese food, go to Great Eastern or R&G lounge.
10 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
i misss their dim sum from tea times??
7 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I will have to try the pizza place but from the picture the crust does not look thin it looks california thin.
6 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
layaly have the best middle_eastren food in the bay.there food is delicious and have consistant recepie. what you taste today you'll taste tommorrow. it's a winner. I love the hookah lounge, they sereve very good hookahs & have very unique Tobacco Flavors. the hookah lonuge opens at 8pm -12am & 8pm - 2:00(fri & sat)on the weekends.i recommend this place cause it's a winner
12 agree | 7 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
My mother would beat me like a rented mule if I took her to a baseball game for Mother's Day.
9 agree | 9 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I visited Namu on a trip to San Fran a year back when the restaurant had just opened. The space is minimal and hip, and the food fantastic - the black cod was superb!
10 agree | 10 disagree
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Francis Kim said:
actually namu never closes early. the restaurant that always closes early was written right next to the namu article. I believe everyone is getting confused. And on thursday, friday, and saturday they stay open till 1am!!!! that is awesome.
10 agree | 10 disagree
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M.S. Jackson said:
Ms. Unterman's laughable dialectic suggests she is feeding on some of the large sausages at the Soul Food joint and getting more than her fill!
10 agree | 10 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I suspect they close before the posted closing time to save on staff costs on nights when the amount of business does not cover expenses. I give them another six months.
10 agree | 16 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Go early in the evening because they'll close early if the mood stikes them. Even if you have a reservation.
39 agree | 57 disagree
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