The Alternative Caprese Sandwich

Enter into any eating establishment and ask for a sandwich and you would expect to receive your chosen filling in between two slices of bread, and rightly so.
This week we had on the cafe menu mozzarella, basil, tomato and pesto on warm ciabatta as our sandwich of the day, as shown below.



Mozzarella, Basil, Tomato and Pesto on warm Ciabatta

One customer's order I received this week had the strange request of the sandwich but with the filling on the side. It's always hard when customers request changes as a chef serves any dish their own way and it's not always easy to interpret exactly what the customer is asking for, if that makes sense.

Charging the same as the sandwich on the board I also had to ensure I didn't get carried away putting more ingredients on the plate. Good for the customer but not good for the business profits. As one of my previous managers always stated "we are a business not a charity".

So, using the same amount of ingredients but spreading them out to fill the plate, I placed the mozzarella and tomatoes in layers on a small bed of rocket with basil leaves tucked in between, and the pesto in a small dish on the side. The oven warmed ciabatta was sliced and placed on the side.
 

Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil and Pesto with Ciabatta

The result looked lovely and the customer was happy that her request had been executed to how she wanted it.
For me I thought what a novel and alternative way to serve a sandwich this way in a cafe. I do love doing things differently, and with a twist.

The Alternative Caprese Sandwich

I wonder if all customers would be happy with this alternative way of  serving the cafe sandwich.

Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil, and Pesto with Warm Ciabatta.
The Alternative Caprese Sandwich