Renwick’s Name-a-Sandwich Contest

Your latest edition of food stories (March issue) asks for input from readers. Here is mine:

During my sophomore year in 1955, there used to be a coffee shop (the “fast food” label was not known then) right on Nassau Street, named Renwick’s.

One day they announced a contest, open to any student, to provide the ingredients for a new sandwich. The prize was around $50 credit toward future food orders at Renwick’s. The sandwich would be included on their menu, and it would be named after the prize winner.

I submitted my entry, a combination of ingredients I derived from my younger years at a local restaurant in New Jersey. My sandwich entry was made from Taylor ham (sometimes called pork roll), grilled with melted American cheese, plus lettuce, tomato, mustard, and pickle relish, served on a toasted bun. They named it the Mackenzie ’57.

Evidently it became popular enough that it remained on their menu for several years, but with each rendition of a new menu, the name morphed. At one point, it was the McKinzie ’55, and eventually was dropped. It remained, however, as a fond achievement all my life.