As the Saturday morning sun started to ascend, April and Rich Sigona bent their parallel bodies forward while assembling sandwiches side by side. Their “kitchen” was a table set up outside Solano Avenue’s upscale bodega, Of All Places. In motion, they looked like busy scientists meticulously inspecting each ingredient and each condiment before stacking everything together.
The Sigonas started Rosie’s pop-up earlier this year. Both have fulltime jobs outside of their passion project, but they’ve been spending their weekends cooking all over the East Bay. Over the next couple of months, Rosie’s will pop up at Flowerland, Vintage Berkeley on Vine and Morningtide.
Rich, who used to work in fine dining, manages the sandwich menu and does the heavy lifting on the cooking side of the business. On an adjacent table where customers put in their orders, April makes the cookies and pastries that sit sheltered under glass domes. She also manages Rosie’s marketing and social media accounts.
This past weekend Rosie’s menu featured four sandwich options: smoked pork, olive oil-poached ahi tuna, seared maitake mushrooms or, my choice, a turkey club. After I tore open the white paper wrapping, I could see each individual layer—wood-smoked turkey breast, bacon, lettuce, avocado, pickled red onions and toma cheese. The Sigonas aren’t stingy with their portions.
During our phone interview, Rich pointed out two things that make a sandwich great. “Making sure that there’s a good creamy mayo or aioli,” he said. “And there has to be a pickle. We’re doing different pickles for each sandwich.” The smoked pork had summer squash. The tuna, pickled fennel and shallots. The mushroom included pickled Jimmy Nardello’s, that sweet Italian red pepper.
“The best sandwiches are the ones that have the highest quality ingredients,” Rich added. “That’s something we like to pride ourselves on.”
April said, “Richie handpicks everything. He smokes all our meats, makes our bacon. A lot of love and care goes into everything that we do.” Rosie’s doesn’t serve a revolutionary or avant-garde take on the sandwich, but the Sigonas do want them to be memorable. “We want people to say, ‘Wow, this is a really, really damn good sandwich,’” April added.
The type of bread a home cook or restaurant chef uses can make or break a sandwich. The Sigonas decided to get their bread from Acme. “That was definitely a no-brainer,” Rich said. “Their bread’s fantastic. I was always like, ‘Alright, if we’re going to make sandwiches, we should use Acme.’”
Rich used the term “choreography” for when he’s pairing ingredients with a certain kind of bread. He decided upon an herb slab for the pork, a sourdough roll for the tuna, a “slightly sweet” pain de mie for the turkey and a sesame kaiser roll for the mushroom. The two were planning an “R&D” barbecue with focaccia later that afternoon.
When the Sigonas were coming up with ideas to start Rosie’s, they tried to balance making something “a little bit more elevated” with street food. “When we were looking at pop-ups and farmers’ markets, there really weren’t a ton of sandwiches,” Rich said. “Almost everyone I know really enjoys a good sandwich. And it allows the ingredients to shine and be the focal point.”
April’s brown-butter chocolate chip cookies and homemade pop tarts are difficult to ignore. The cookies contain giant melted chips, both milk and semi-sweet chocolate. Depending on what fruit is in season, she’ll highlight it in a pop tart. Last weekend, April made one with figs. They were elegantly sliced and arranged on top of a white chocolate and thyme icing. “In the past we’ve had a cherry lime and a peach cobbler pop tart,” she said.
“When people are eating our food, we both really want them to feel a sense of nostalgia,” April continued. “In terms of our brand and what we’re serving—whether that’s a pop tart or my mom’s tuna sandwiches—just to carry that same feeling when you’re eating and bonding over food. It’s such an integral part of our lives, especially now.”
Rosie’s next pop-up is noon to 3pm, Saturday, Sept. 13, at Vintage Berkeley on Vine (@vbscwine). Check out their roving weekend schedule on IG: @rosiesbayarea.
