W+K Sandwich Club: Reanimating Lunchtime and Staying “Crusty”
For the last 20-odd weeks at our offices on Wilkes Street, a secretive club has been assembling every Monday with the explicit purpose of sharing their deep-seated love of sandwiches. At these lunchtime meetings, club members take turns ideating sandwich concepts, buying ingredients, and presenting them at a communal table so fellow members can assemble their own lunch.
Believe it or not, they've dubbed themselves 'Sandwich Club.'
Founded by W+K London Creatives Ben Polkinghorne and Scott Kelly, the Club is now almost 20-strong, with designs to scale their sandwich empire (of sorts). Originally hailing from New Zealand, Polkinghorne and Kelly arrived in London seven months ago with nothing lined up save for an interview with W+K. Fortunately, things worked out for the two, and they’re now members of our intrepid creative team in addition to spearheading Sandwich Club's efforts.
Read on to learn more about the good (the Gouda?), the bad, and the tasty goings-on of the creative club’s lunchtime habits.
Why did you decide to form Sandwich Club, and how did it come into being?
In New Zealand, supermarkets are a destination. In London they’re everywhere. One day, disillusioned with the array of food on offer in Shoreditch, Scott and I decided to buy sandwich ingredients from a neighboring store. Shocked at how cheap, fun and delicious assembling a sandwich at work was, we decided to make it a regular thing. Sharing the joy by inviting others to take part seemed obvious.
How many members does the Club boast today, and how has it grown since you first started?
From the get-go, there were the two of us. It could have stopped there, but the tipping point was probably Sandwich Three. Now there are around 16-18 members — or, the entire second floor of the Wilkes building.
Sandwich Club has evolved to the point of having a manifesto and motto. What’s at the heart of the Sandwich Club credo?
Writing a manifesto for the Club was born out of a conversation over a sandwich. I [Ben] had always wanted to write a manifesto in Latin, and so it was. It begins ‘Lorem ipsum.’ Actually, that’s the entire manifesto.
But more recently, a member took it upon himself to write something semi-serious. "Go him," I say. The beauty of Sandwich Club is that it’s sometimes organic, sometimes warm, sometimes a mess. It’s somewhere people are free and equal to shape and sculpt what happens next. Then we all eat whatever happens, together.
As for ‘Stay Crusty’? That’s more a philosophy than a motto.
I imagine that crafting an original, interesting sandwich concept week-on-week poses some challenges. How are members getting creative with their contributions?
Members have bought in a blow torch to melt cheese, spent their Sunday preparing a roast, organised a portable oven and even bought equipment such as a toasted sandwich machine. To say the bar has been consistently set higher since the founding ham and cheese would be an understatement.
Do you see any parallels between the creativity it takes to devise an original sandwich recipe and the work that you do day-to-day here at W+K London?
Undoubtedly. We’re all here to make stuff — to have fun, to fail miserably and to constantly surprise ourselves.
Best sandwich so far?
The ones that Scott and I have made.
What’s next for Sandwich Club?
We’re looking at ways to expand. But first, we’re taking a weekend Club trip to Lisbon to eat sandwiches.
Next month, Sandwich Club will provide us with an original sandwich recipe for you to replicate at home. Keep tabs on Optimism for more tasty morsels from Club members.
