the essential
Since October 1, Chez Micheline has been welcoming Toulouse residents looking for gourmet, homemade sandwiches. Located near Saint-Aubin, this sandwich shop is much more than just a restaurant: it is the result of a family history that Laurie Schalck, the owner, shares with her customers.
“I wanted everyone to be able to create their own sandwich, like at home!” explains Laurie, young manager of Chez Micheline. “We choose a base (protein), a sauce – butter, hummus or a sauce of the moment – then various toppings.”
After a career in the hotel industry and an expatriation to Australia, it was there that Laurie had the idea of launching her own sandwich shop. Back in France, she settled in Toulouse and refined her project. “I first tested my recipes at home with my friends, then I found a place and I started. I try as much as possible to use local or French products. For example, my bread comes from from the Saint-Aubin bakery, right next door,” she says.
Its sandwiches highlight elaborate and gourmet recipes, such as its pulled beef, simmered pot-au-feu style, for a
taste reminiscent of family meals.
A blanquette sandwich
“The initial idea was to create a blanquette sandwich. Why blanquette? It’s a French dish, the one that we like to sauce. With a sandwich, you can do it while eating it!”, explains Laurie laughing. My grandmother Micheline made an incredible blanquette, but she left without leaving me her recipe… So it’s a personal challenge: to recreate this dish in a sandwich.” Laurie hopes to offer this gourmet recipe in January.
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Chez Micheline is also a tribute to Rolande, her second grandmother. “I should have called it Chez Roline,” jokes Laurie, “because all the decoration is inspired by my grandmother’s house, with its old wallpaper, its period frames and paintings…” A warm, family-friendly place where you feel at home, to enjoy gourmet sandwiches every lunchtime, at prices ranging from €6.50 to €8.50.
