Finally, an answer to the age-old question: basil pesto or honey mustard?
Some sandwiches are just sandwiches. And then there’s Emmy Rossum’s re-creation of the EJ’s Garden Club, a sandwich she rebuilt from memory in a California kitchen because she missed her mom and NYC neighborhood so much. A sandwich that turned out so well, it brought her to tears. (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)
Welcome back to The Great American Sandwich Show, where a celebrity steps into comedian Lindsay Ames’s kitchen for a simple, delicious challenge: make your favorite sandwich. Then, Lindsay makes a twist. They swap plates and stories, then pick a winner. And somewhere between the bread, these two people always end up finding a surprising amount of common ground. Because sandwiches, as it turns out, really are the great American equalizer.
This episode celebrates a first for the show, as we welcomed the very first gluten-free bread in its history. Emmy traded snacking opinions and shared childhood memories of growing up in New York. Oh, and at one point, she casually mentions that she can unhinge her jaw. (It’s all part of her singing technique.)
Without further ado, let’s dive in!
The Guest: Emmy Rossum
Emmy Rossum has been performing since she was seven, an age when most of us were still figuring out shoelaces. She started her career singing in the Metropolitan Opera’s children’s chorus. Eventually, that led to acting, and she’s been a tour de force in movie musicals like Rent and Phantom of the Opera. And of course, the role most of us still can’t shake: Fiona Gallagher, the fiercely protective big sister holding an entire family together on Shameless. These days, she’s trading Fiona’s South Side grit for an FBI badge in Furious, a Hulu and Disney+ crime thriller.
Offscreen, though, Emmy is refreshingly rooted: She’s raising her family in the New York neighborhood where she grew up. In the episode, she talks about wanting to pass down the memories of the same corners of the city her mother once showed her. That includes her weekly order at the old-school diner she’s been going to since she was a kid—which is exactly where today’s sandwich comes from.
The Sandwiches
Emmy’s entry was the EJ’s Garden Club, a tribute to a New York luncheonette she’s been ordering from for decades. And she still gets this sandwich at least once a week. She stacked avocado, tomato, cucumber, sauteed mushrooms, cheddar, basil mayo and a tangle of alfalfa sprouts onto toasted gluten-free bread. It was so good that it turned Lindsay, a self-proclaimed gluten-free skeptic, into a believer.
Lindsay’s twist swapped warm tofu in for the mushroom and honey mustard in for the basil mayo, all piled onto untoasted bread. As Lindsay’s sandwich grew taller and taller, the two joked about how they were going to eat it. Lindsay said that Emmy might have to pull out the tofu like Jenga blocks to do it. That’s when Emmy dropped the knowledge that she can actually unhinge her jaw, so she wasn’t going to sweat it.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a true professional: of stage, screen and sandwiches.
Overheard in the Kitchen
“I went to the farmers’ market and I re-created [the sandwich]. It actually brought me to tears because it reminded me so much of home and my mom.” —Emmy Rossum
During a stretch of COVID isolation in California, she rebuilt this exact sandwich from memory because she missed it, New York, and her mom so badly. I was really touched by this, because I have such strong ties to food and my mom as well. It reminded me of just how important food traditions are.
“There are two sandwiches here, and they are like our two lead characters, the FBI agent and the serial killer. They are more similar than they might think.” —Emmy Rossum
She drew a clever parallel between the sandwiches and the characters on Furious. This immediately got me excited to devour this show, most likely while eating a sandwich.
“By the way, don’t put fish and cheese together. A tuna melt? It’s not for me.” —Emmy Rossum
This revelation actually made me laugh out loud! Fans of The Great American Sandwich Show will know that Lindsay made a very fancy tuna melt for Joel Kim Booster when he visited the kitchen. Thankfully, Emmy wasn’t there on the same day.
The Winning Sandwich
Both women took time complimenting each other’s creations, but eventually Emmy’s EJ’s copycat took the win. Lindsay, who admits she gets defensive of her own sandwiches, ended up genuinely agreeing that Emmy’s was better. It’s a satisfying verdict, honestly, and it made me want to make both sandwiches ASAP.
Fittingly, the winning sandwich got crowned the “Emmy Nom-Nom,” a name that pulls double duty as a pun on Emmy’s name and a nod to her actual awards-season resume. Emmy sealed the deal by drawing the logo herself: an open, smiling mouth mid-bite, which Lindsay immediately clocked for having suspiciously good teeth. (Veneers, probably.)
You Be the Judge
Would you have picked the savory-meets-sweet twist or the nostalgic EJ’s Garden Club?
The Full Play-by-Play
Lindsay: Welcome to the sandwich shop.
Emmy: Thank you.
Lindsay: I’m very excited because today we’re going to be making the very first gluten-free sandwich in the sandwich shop. Thank you for that.
Emmy: People just stopped watching.
Lindsay: No, actually, can I tell you? I have so many friends. I have so many friends who are gonna run to it and be like, Thank God.
Emmy: Oh, good!
Lindsay: So I would actually like to know about your sandwich if you could tell me a little bit about it.
Emmy: The EJ’s Garden Club. I’ve been eating since I was a kid. It’s a diner. An old school luncheonette. In New York, there used to be a couple of them. Now there’s the one hero location. I eat here at least once a week.
Lindsay: Do you live close to it now?
Emmy: Yeah, it’s near where I grew up. I live in the same place, in the same location that I always did. It’s so important for me to be in the place where I grew up and stay connected to the traditions of the things that I ate and the benches that I sat on, and with my daughter, that I did with my mother.
Lindsay: I love that.
Emmy: So it’s really hearty, it’s really delicious. It feels really opulent and messy and kind of sexy and a mess.
Lindsay: Kind of sounds like how people describe me.
Emmy: Yes, 100%. Yeah. When I think of you, I think of a messy, sexy sandwich.
Lindsay: And opulent.
Emmy: You’re giving opulence.
Lindsay: Fellas… OK, OK.
Emmy: Let’s check this. It’s warm.
Lindsay: You know what? But it’s like the pyramids. You’ve got to be patient. And then all of a sudden, it’s like one of the seven wonders of the world. You’re going to have, like, the eighth wonder of the world here.
Emmy: I feel like that’s so generous. Probably not the outcome here.
Lindsay: Honestly, I try to be generous. It’s in my DNA. I think as a Canadian, you know.
Emmy: Love it.
Lindsay: Also, you said no meat. Like I have that replacing the meat…but I feel like the mushrooms…
Emmy: Mushrooms are meaty. Also, I am a meat eater, for what it’s worth. I am a huge carnivore.
Lindsay: OK, people, get off her back, OK?
Emmy: You’re already like my BFF defending me.
Lindsay: Honestly, I am ride or die. If you’re going to come for her, come for me first.
Emmy: Nobody is coming.
Lindsay: Nobody is coming. OK, so you started acting super, super early.
Emmy: I started singing first when I was seven. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the children’s chorus. And I sang there for many years. And then I started going out for castings.
Lindsay: I know that you had an audition where you were crying over your dead mother, and you were crying and crying and crying, and you were giving it your all like it was a dramatic performance.
Emmy: This is true.
Lindsay: But everybody was laughing at you. And you were so confused.
Emmy: That’s true. I didn’t know it was a black comedy.
Lindsay: Right. Maybe that, like, set the table for you because you started unknowingly in dark comedy.
Emmy: That’s really interesting. I’ve never thought of it that way. I’ve always loved the duality of things, and I do find that the funniest things about life are the truest, kind of most f*cked up versions of things.
Lindsay: Yes. You know, you start acting young. You went to regular school. Did you have any after-school snacks that you remember that you either made or that were your favorite?
Emmy: I loved pickles, I loved Cinnabons. So really, two polarities there. A pickle and a Cinnabon. … OK, so I have this. I’m spreading it down. Then I’m going to go cucumber—are we just touching these with our hands? Yeah, we’re just touching. We’re just going for it.
Lindsay: What do you mean? Because like, you don’t have gloves, is that it?
Emmy: Yeah.
Lindsay: No, we’re not. This is not Subway. This is like we are the sandwich artist.
Emmy: This is so messy. See how opulent this is? Oh, yeah.
Lindsay: The best!
Emmy: I’m excited for you to experience my love. Not like my love through this, but also, this is my love.
Lindsay: OK, good.
Emmy: You know, when we were in COVID, you know, how you couldn’t get anything that you really loved the taste of?
Lindsay: Yeah.
Emmy: And I was stuck in California for a while. I wanted this sandwich so bad. And I went to the farmers’ market, and I recreated it and like, it actually brought me to tears because it reminded me so much of home and my mom. And it was like that moment when we didn’t know if or when we were going to see each other.
Lindsay: Yeah.
Emmy: I’m excited because I’ve never had tofu in a sandwich.
Lindsay: I’m doing a twist on your sandwich. Would you like my basil pesto on here or a honey mustard?
Emmy: Because nutritional yeast has kind of an umami thing, I think some sweetness with the umami. Because I normally do it with that. Was that like the answer you wanted?
Lindsay: It was the answer that I wanted.
Emmy: How am I? How am I gonna get my mouth around this?
Lindsay: Nobody knows.
Emmy: You know my singing technique? I can actually unhinge my jaw.
Lindsay: Really? I will say on this show, I really realized I make, like, massive sandwiches. This is probably the smallest sandwich that I have made.
Emmy: It’s high.
Lindsay: I’m gonna add like seven more things.
Emmy: Lindsay, that needs a couple more layers.
Lindsay: We’ll do a little squish down.
Emmy: It doesn’t even have—
Lindsay: The cabbage on it yet.
Emmy: How many pieces of tofu are on the sandwich?
Lindsay: Four.
Emmy: The tofu is giving a little bit of Jenga.
Lindsay: Yes. I’m gonna make you actually pull a piece out and make sure that it doesn’t fall apart.
Emmy: Wow. Oh. That’s insane.
Lindsay: That is insane.
Emmy: Wild! I can’t wait.
Lindsay: I didn’t want to be that big.
Emmy: Let’s f*cking go. … I mean, there’s only one way to cut. I really hope you make the right decision.
Lindsay: I do too. I did make the right decision! You didn’t!
Emmy: I have never felt wrongness in my soul.
Lindsay: It’s so funny because I was really close to doing that. You can see in the playback, and I did hesitate because I was going to do a diagonal.
Emmy: Are you usually a center cut?
Lindsay: It really depends on the sandwich. Ready? Oh yeah.
Emmy: Look at the rainbow. Anyone who tells me a vegetable sand…like I love a tuna. By the way, don’t put fish and cheese together a tuna melt. It’s not for me. It’s not for me.
Lindsay: We were getting along so well.
Emmy: We were. I love a grilled cheese. I love a tuna sandwich. I have never even been able to eat a tuna melt.
Lindsay: I need to make you a tuna melt.
Emmy: I also don’t do fruit in a salad. … Wow. I truly don’t know where to start.
Lindsay: You can mush it down, and you can also take out a piece of tofu if you wanted to.
Emmy: I don’t care.
Lindsay: OK, good, I don’t care.
Emmy: I’m really enjoying the tofu. It’s soft.
Lindsay: This is the second time I’ve almost choked on a sandwich on this show. But it was delicious!
Emmy: Wow.
Lindsay: If that was how I was gonna go, I’m fine with it.
Emmy: Wow, what a way to go.
Lindsay: Yeah. This bread, I have to say, as a skeptic of gluten-free bread. This bread is delicious.
Emmy: It’s good. Am I trying my sandwich, though?
Lindsay: Oh, yeah. Yeah. They’re both delicious.
Emmy: They’re both very good.
Lindsay: I mean, it’s hard to have a not delicious sandwich. I do like the toasting on yours. I wish I’d toasted mine.
Emmy: But I like the honey mustard on yours. I think they’re both excellent.
Lindsay: I think they’re both excellent. Would you nominate this sandwich? My sandwich?
Emmy: I would, you would.
Lindsay: Guys, I have an Emmy-nominated sandwich.
Emmy: You did that. You did that. I like it very much. I would order that.
Lindsay: Now we have to decide. Yeah. What sandwich is going up on the board?
Emmy: Well, you know, you’re really the sandwich queen.
Lindsay: Right, but yours was also—
Emmy: Don’t you think your sandwich is objectively better than mine?
Lindsay: I actually really kind of think I actually like yours better.
Emmy: Do you want to go in again?
Lindsay: I do want to go in again. Like I do think that that’s delicious, but I kind of…I kind of feel like the toasting, and maybe because I’m crazy…craving the basil.
Emmy: Listen. I’m happy for you to like my sandwich. Emmy is the winner in this.
Lindsay: Like, I usually get really upset, and I want mine to win each time, but I actually really think this is the sandwich.
Emmy: That’s very generous. I love it, I appreciate it.
Lindsay: Now we’re gonna do a quick little segment called Orders Up.
Emmy: OK, great.
Lindsay: Fiona Gallagher’s go-to sandwich.
Emmy: Old ham and cheese.
Lindsay: Favorite food city?
Emmy: Japan. Japan is not a city! Tokyo.
Lindsay: Acting or singing?
Emmy: Acting. Because when you’re singing, you are acting. You’re just acting on pitch.
Lindsay: Dream duet partner. You can say me.
Emmy: My gosh, I got to sing with Dolly Parton. That was pretty big. When I was a kid. I really wanted to sing with this Russian singer, Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
Lindsay: OK, Dmitri, hit her up. Favorite part of being a mom?
Emmy: The silliness that I got to reconnect to with my kids. Like, you know, when you become a teenager and an adult, like, the silliness gets, like, suppressed from you. You get, like, serious, and you get more adult. Especially for me, who started working when I was seven, in a very adult environment. I think for me, having kids just forces you to be playful and silly, and we play all kinds of crazy games, like echoing our voice into like OXO containers or like putting tape from across the kitchen counter and like seeing how many plums we can stack up before the tape falls.
Lindsay: Ah, the old plum-tape game.
Emmy: Yeah, just like silly things or splash pad where they all jump onto me, and it’s just like it’s impossible not to be imaginative and silly, and it makes me approach my work with a lightness and a curiosity and not take everything so seriously.
Lindsay: I want to move adjacent now, over to your new series. Which like these sandwiches, multi-dimensional. A lot of layers. Complicated.
Emmy: Sweet and salty.
Lindsay: Yeah, I will say that. I’m furious. Oh, you are that. I just got it the other day because I’m at episode three. Oh, yeah. And there is so much that happened. And I wish, like, it’s that thing where I’m like, I wish I was done it already because I want to know everything.
Emmy: You know what’s interesting? I can play off this. There are two sandwiches here, and they are like our two lead characters, the FBI agent and the serial killer. They are more similar than they might think. … The Emmy Nom-Nom. And I’m going to draw a mouth that’s open, eating a sandwich.
Lindsay: Those are nice teeth. They almost look like veneers.
Emmy: It looks like it’s smoking.
Lindsay: Put it right there on the board.
Emmy: Thank you so much.
Lindsay: Please tell everybody where they can watch Furious.
Emmy: You can find Furious on Hulu and Disney+ July 27. The first three episodes will be out, so check it out.
Lindsay: Great.
Emmy: Thank you.
Lindsay: Thank you.
